This week, celebrity and billionaire, Donald Trump, emerged the presumptive presidential candidate of the Republican Party sending cold shivers down the spines of many Americans and other citizens of the world. In the truest sense of it all, very few people gave Trump a chance since his campaigns were ridiculous and laughable. But he isn’t the only underdog that caught global attention this week.
Leicester City Football Club shocked everyone when it emerged the winner of the English Premier League. Its chances of winning were so slim that betting platforms gave it a 5000 to 1 bet yet, against all odds and much to the chagrin of those that detest Arsene Wenger, the premier league newbies won the highly coveted trophy.
The humble world of cryptocurrency is gradually emerging from its underdog status this week when it was announced that the world’s leading remittance company, Western Union, has made a strategic investment in the Bitcoin sector. It appeared to be one of the much needed approvals for the cryptocurrency and a strong indication of a pivotal role for Western Union in the future of Bitcoins.
Innovation Village also reported this week that the new algorithm by Instagram could revolutionize influencer marketing, while Terragon Group is planning to make augmented reality to become mainstream in Africa. A new app is also attempting to change how we idealize the process of text messaging by making it possible to recall sent messages.
In an attempt to support several African underdogs in the energy space, a $7 million fund has been launched and application is now open, another fund targets smallholder farming services.
But the greatest attestation this week to the underdog potentials of all innovations was the announcement by TIME Magazine that iPhone is the most influential gadget of all time. Just like Leicester City’s EPL victory and Donald Trump’s candidacy, the beginning of iPhone was basically that of a man with a simple idea that the creator, Steve Jobs, described as the future. In his address at the Macworld Conference & Expo held in Moscone West in San Francisco, California, Jobs said, “I have been looking forward to this for two and a half years”, and that “today, Apple is going to reinvent the phone.” Jobs introduced the iPhone as a combination of three devices: a “widescreen iPod with touch controls”; a “revolutionary mobile phone”; and a “breakthrough Internet communicator”.
Looking back, it appeared Jobs was right, such is the power of the disruptively innovative underdog.
