Apple has revolutionized so many businesses that it is difficult to keep track

“Thomas Kuhn, the American physicist and philosopher, is perhaps best known to the public for the phrase ”paradigm shift.’ In his book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions, he describes the differences between ordinary scientific problem solving — what he termed ‘normal science’ — and scientific revolutions,” Barry Ritholtz writes for Bloomberg View. “His concept of nonlinear evolution became so widely adopted by popular culture and business that today the phrase he coined has become a cliche.”

“That is a shame because, despite its well-worn status, it is still a very useful construct. Every so often, a business totally upends its industry and the phrase is wholly applicable,” Ritholtz writes. “Beyond mere iterations or gradual progress, these companies completely change how they and their competitors do business, from what they sell, to how they generate a profit.”

“Apple: The world’s most valuable company — and my bet for first with a trillion-dollar market capitalization — has revolutionized so many businesses that it is difficult to keep track,” Ritholtz writes. “Co-founder Steve Jobs remade entire industries — creating the first successful digital music store; turning mobile phones into portable computers; and most recently smart watches, which seem to be devastating Swiss watch manufacturers. In a challenging era for retail stores, Apple stores have higher revenue per square foot than just about anyone else. The list of companies damaged by Apple is astonishing. The only other company close to Apple in terms of this disruptive paradigm-shifting destruction is…”

“Amazon: Delighting customers? Free delivery? Cloud computing? Rethinking retail? Logistical efficiencies? None of these are paradigm-shifting,” Ritholtz writes. “What really makes Amazon unique is its virtually unlimited access to capital at almost no cost.”

Read more, including Alphabet (Google), Uber, Tesla, and more, in the full article here.

MacDailyNews Take: When it comes to revolutionizing industries, Apple is unmatched.

Death is very likely the single best invention of life. It is life’s change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. — Steve Jobs

Also, we heartily recommend reading Kuhn’s The Structure of Scientific Revolutions.