The Lessons of GPS, a Disruptive Technology

摘要

Disruptive technology, or a disruptive innovation, is defined as a technology that overturns the existing dominant technology or status quo in the market. Stated differently, to be disruptive means one is relatively pleased with the present state of affairs. The Test and Evaluation (T&E) community was meeting Time Space Position Information (TSPI) requirements by pushing state-of-the-art instrumentation to its limits. The testers were pleased with their accomplishments. The owners of equipment under test were reasonably satisfied with the cost and results of testing. With the advent of global positioning system (GPS) technology, testers and owners were asked to "think outside the box" and consider a new approach to solving TSPI requirements. To appreciate GPS as disruptive, we need to place ourselves in the mindset of the 1980s when TSPI was defined by terrestrial techniques using radar, visual, and radio location systems. There were a number of naysayers stating "Who needs it? I can do my job very well, thank you very much!" As we are often reminded, we must be students of history to prevent ourselves from repeating the same mistakes. When we are introduced to new concepts and technologies, before we respond in a negative manner to an idea that is an interruption, or disruption, to the status quo, we need to remember the disruptive nature of GPS when it was introduced to the T&E community. This paper will describe the manner in which TSPI was being achieved in the T&E community prior to the availability of GPS, and how disruptive GPS was perceived to be to the community. It took many years for the naysayers to become proponents of GPS-based TSPI. Today, the applicability of GPS is not even a subject of discussion or controversy.