Disruptive technology is an innovation that dramatically changes the way consumers, businesses and industries operate. Clayton Christensen popularized the idea of disruptive technologies in The Innovator's Dilemma, published in 1997. It has since become a buzzword in startup businesses that seek to create a product with mass appeal.

Technological advancement is the single most exciting thing that can happen in the business world today. It shakes up markets and makes business circles question which industries will succeed or fail when the time comes for new adoptions. Disruptive technology opens the door for new entrants, such as startups, to target the overlooked customers and meet their needs at a lower price point or create a market where none existed. They take advantage of the opportunity to displace big companies in an established landscape and completely replace their predecessors by offering revolutionary benefits that are notably superior. A recent disruptive technology that originated from the internet is e-commerce. Nearly every product and service are available through e-commerce transactions, from buying movie tickets, online shopping to online stock investments, online banking, and much more.

Here are few more examples of disruptive technologies: 

• GPS Systems have replaced maps so completely that some drivers wouldn't know how to return to the former method of operation. Drivers once had to consult paper maps to find their location if they were lost. Modern GPS technology can find the user in an instant and provide a choice of routes to get to the next destination.
  

• Mobile Internet has become cheaper and more readily available it has started to displace the more traditional desktop-based internet. As mobile speeds continue to get faster and faster we can only expect it to become more prevalent.
  

• 3D Printing Technology is slowly but surely edging out traditional printing and manufacturing techniques. It’s now much easier for an individual to manufacture their own products and devices.
  

• Email transformed the way we communicating, largely displacing letter-writing and disrupting the postal and greeting card industries.
  

• Social Networking has had a major impact on the way we communicate, it has disrupted telephone, email, instant messaging, and event planning.