A developing
technology that has the
potential to
radically change the current
method of doing things, destroying
established procedures and
products,
displacing and
bankrupting companies, and possibily seriously changing or destroying current
social order.
For example, the development of nanotechnology would be a highly disruptive technology, especially after the technology matures. Businesses made on selling material objects would need to completely change their business model, as the nature of the material world would change. When diamond is easy to construct, and a popular material to use in objects for it's properties, a company that simply mines and/or buys diamonds, and then controls the market when selling them, like DeBeers, would suddenly be irrelevant.