Schumpeter and the Creative Destruction of Photography
Post on 19-Aug-2015
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The Austrian economist Joseph Schumpeter coinedthe term Creative Destruction.
To Schumpeter, growth in a capitalist society happened through the introduction of innovations, which in turn create chaos and structural change in
society.
The Austrian economist Joseph Schumpeter coinedthe term Creative Destruction.
To Schumpeter, growth in a capitalist society happened through the introduction of innovations, which in turn create chaos and structural change in
society.The shift from analogue to digital photography is a
schoolbook example of creative destruction.
The Austrian economist Joseph Schumpeter coinedthe term Creative Destruction.
To Schumpeter, growth in a capitalist society happened through the introduction of innovations, which in turn create chaos and structural change in
society.The shift from analogue to digital photography is a
schoolbook example of creative destruction.h b fThis presentation combines some quotes from
Schumpeter with images of how the camera industryh b f dhas been transformed.
“Economists are at long last emerging from the stage in which price competition was all they saw In capitalistwhich price competition was all they saw.…In capitalist
reality…it is not that kind of competition which counts but the competition from the new commodity, the new p y,
technology, the new source of supply, the new type of organization
…competition which…strikes…existing firms…at their foundations and their very lives. This kind of competition is…much more effective than the other…and [is]…the powerful lever that in the long run expands output.”
The shift to digital imaging enabled people to take anThe shift to digital imaging enabled people to take an infinite amount of photos at no cost, and made it much
easier to share them.
The shift to digital imaging enabled people to take anThe shift to digital imaging enabled people to take an infinite amount of photos at no cost, and made it much
easier to share them.But it did so by creating ugly, vandalized buildings like the
former Kodak site, where film used to be finished.
“The capitalist process, not by coincidence but byThe capitalist process, not by coincidence but by virtue of its mechanism, progressively raises the standard of life of the masses. It does so through a sequence of vicissitudes, the severity of which is proportional to the speed of the advance. But it d ff ti l O bl ft th fdoes so effectively. One problem after another of the supply of commodities to the masses has been successfully solved by being brought within thesuccessfully solved by being brought within the reach of the methods of capitalist production.”
“New combinations are, as a rule embodied, as it were, in e co b at o s a e, as a u e e bod ed, as t e e,new firms which generally do not arise out of the old ones
but start producing beside them”
“It is by no means farfetched or paradoxical to say that t s by o ea s a etc ed o pa ado ca to say t at"progress" unstabilizes the economic world, or that it is by
virtue of its mechanism a cyclical process “
“I di id l i i i l b i f h i“Individual innovations imply, by virtue of their nature, a "big" step and a "big" change. A railroad through new
country i e country not yet served by railroads as soon ascountry, i.e., country not yet served by railroads, as soon as it gets into working order upsets all conditions of location, all cost calculations, all production functions within its , p
radius of influence; and hardly any "ways of doing things" which have been optimal before remain so afterward.”
“Surely, nothing can be more plain or even more trite common sense than the proposition that innovation…is at p pthe center of practically all the phenomena, difficulties, and
problems of economic life in capitalist society. “
“Those revolutions are not strictly incessant; they occur in discrete rushes which are separated from each other bydiscrete rushes which are separated from each other by spans of comparative quiet. The process as a whole works incessantly however, in the sense that there always is either revolution or absorption of the results of revolution, both together forming what are known as business cycles.”
The former Kodak site serves as a pretty good illustration of this quote from Schumpeter:
“It is not the owner of stage‐coaches who builds railways.”
Summing up, Schumpeter suggested that growth is often associated with a rather ugly and unpleasant
process for many actors.
Christian Sandström is a PhD student at Chalmersstudent at Chalmers
University of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden. HeGothenburg, Sweden. He writes and speaks about disruptive innovation and technological change.
www.christiansandstrom.org
Find out more about Kodak and digital imaging:
www.christiansandstrom.org
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