MechChem Africa February 2017

MechChem Africa

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February 2017

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Products and industry news

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here was a time when the world

consisted of discrete compart-

ments. As a ‘tradesperson’, one

was expected to be an expert in

a particular discipline. Even the question-

ing of the Renaissance of the 14

to 17

centuries failed to convince the masses

of the need to be proficient in more than

one field.

The term, ‘calling,’ comes to mind.

True Renaissance men were few and far

between. These cultured men who were

knowledgeable, educated and proficient

in a wide range of fields are exemplified

by Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo

who, in today’s terminology, thought ‘out

of the box’.

Inart, this newwayof thinking resulted

in the development of perspective in oil

painting. And, in the less lofty world of

construction, the re-

cycled knowledge

of how to make

concrete. Plus,

of course, Gutenberg’s introduction of

metalmovable type toEurope, which sped

the dissemination of ideas from the late

century.

While it is true that many so-called

professionals adoptedavocations –activi-

ties that someone engages in as a hobby

outside their main occupation or voca-

tion – it wasn’t until very recently that the

‘silo’ mind-set was challenged. Tertiary

education generallymeant concentration

on one discipline, which, when hopefully

mastered, would become the key to later

life success.

With hindsight I can now understand

why there were quizzical looks when

I admitted to studying languages, law,

economics, mechanical engineering and

architecture alongside my stated major

of psychology. Nobodymentioned ‘renais-

sance’ in describing me. Rather, I’m sure,

themonikers of ‘unsure’ or even ‘spoilt’

came to their minds.

I’d have been happy

to be called an ‘all-

rounder,’ but I’m sure

that even in my first

corporate position as

amanagement trainee

at Unilever, I was still

seen as the ‘Jack of all

trades ... master of none.’

For, in thosedayswhenevery

desk came equipped with a

crank-handle-drivenFacit calcu-

lator, the latest desktopcomputers

had cathode ray tube green screens

and you interfaced via MS-

DOS, the normwas still to

confine yourself to your

specific functional ‘silo.’

It was only with the advent

ofthegraphicaluserinterface(GUI)

that the computer becamemainstream

andtheworldofpersonalcommunications

opened up to all. This gave birth to the

second ‘renaissance’ (‘rebirth’ in English)

In this new quarterly column,

Gary i. Crawford

– Strategic Partner of Mettle Strategic Creativity

and an international strategist and stalwart of industrial marketing with experience from

beers to stainless steel – talks about increasing integration in engineering, the creative value

of interactions across disciplines and the value of breaking out of the ‘silo’ mindset.

Apple’s unsuccessful PDA,

the Newton, which went on sale

in 1993, could take notes, store contacts,

manage calendars and send a fax.

Blurring the lines

and the

new renaissance

... encouraging concepts from different

disciplines to be brought together in

‘constructs’ never before contemplated.

More than anyone else, we can thank

Steve Jobs for facilitating the ease of use

of laptops, enabling communications and

helping todispel the long-heldbelief in the

sanctity of functional silos.

First came the Apple ll (1977), the

world’s first mass-market personal com-

puter. Home, offices and schools around

theworldwould never be the same. Then,

the all-in-one iMac computer in 1998 –

marketed as being Internet-ready out of

the box. In 1991, the high-end, business-

friendly PowerBook laptop line was

launched; followed by the iBook in 1999,

with Wi-Fi technology; the iPod in 2001;

and the iPhone in 2007.

By 2010, Steve Jobs was confident the

worldwas ready to embrace a newtype of

device, a tablet computer. He was right.

The touch-sensitive iPad was an instant

success after its introduction, with15mil-

lion of the devices sold in the launch year.

The phenomenal Apple success story

was not, however, without its hiccups.

Apple’s handheld PDA, the Newton,

went on sale in 1993, at the time that ex

Pepsi-Cola’s John Sculley usurped control

of Apple. The Newton could take notes,

storecontacts,managecalendarsandsend

a fax. With it, Apple didn’t just set out to

create anewdevice. Itwanted to invent an

entirely new class of computer, one that

could slip into pockets and go out into the

world. In fact, the pocket size was a core

design requirement.

At the time, it was extremely difficult

to get component manufacturers to build

any sort of custom parts. Trying to pull

off a design referred to as ‘the Batman

concept’, a sleek black pocketable unit,

proved difficult.

Famed positioning strategists, Jack

Trout and Al Ries, with whom I was inter-

acting at the time, called the Newton “the

Tracking industrial trends