Collaborating across technology and cultural domains can produce the most innovative and resilient outcomes, and be extremely hard to copy.
On that last point, the best such collaborations become more resistant to duplication the longer they last.
Think Cirque du Soleil, that crossed circus and theatre domains, or Canon, that decided to target copiers at consumers, rather than corporate purchasers, or those crazy guys and gals at IBM and Apple that thought that maybe computers and persons might be a good match.
It’s hard to remember how radical these combinations were at the time, as we sit at home talking to Amazon or Google or Apple through tiny speakers that exceed the sound quality of the “Hi-Fi” systems that some of us remember.
And then there was this thing:
OK… we know this one is red, but still… at half the price of the average car, it [in black] broke through the ceilings, the walls, and the floors to the mainstream.
Anyway, there’s now another kind of “Model T” that will bring the worlds of virtual reality and real sport together, and usher that combo to the mainstream:
So… this is happening.
It’s hard for the organisers and motivators of this project because we need to make it easy for the players to play… and compete.
That’s the whole point of this: to make competing hard… easier.
The world is filled with great cross-domain collaborations, that give the world things that are so much the same and so different.
So many of the really great new things come out of this kind of cross-domain collaboration, and the skill and nerve to make them happen is a fundamental differentiator and a formidable competitive barrier.