What is the Difference between Product and Service?

 Short answer: NOTHING!

I know. Controversial. But: consider that answer in the context of tech.

The whole process of technology has in effect shifted, changed, destroyed, dismantled and reinvented the old service vs product paradigm.

Think of it, this way:

1: An 'app' is all well and good. 

Download it to phone. Use. Cue millions, even billions in revenue for the creators and an easier life for users. 

But: HOW to USE it? In effect, the app requires its own training regimes. 'How to' guides etc. Has to be part of the whole package. Equally, chances are, said application, be it mapping, social, whatever, is connected TO service provision. 

2: 

If I create the ultimate transport aid, to rival City-Mapper et al? 

It is yes, prima facie, a kind of 'product'. At the same time, however, I am thereby commenting on, interacting with and growing from a SERVICE. As in, the service of transport or whichever sector my app targets? 

3: 

Flip that logic for a second. Treat say, transport as a product rather than service industry? Then my app becomes a service which enables better use of said product. 

4: 

IE: NEW PARADIGM! Tech is no longer an either/or scenario. It is both service AND product, via PROCESS. 

5: 

You are selling a result, an outcome /objective. The means by which that is devised starts with the algorithm / AR/VR /a n other /IOT style tool. But that is only the beginning. It is ultimately your commercial vision, awareness, expertise and savvy, which count every bit as much, if not more so, than the genius of your technological pitch. 

6: 

Parallel / precedent here. Once upon a time, we thought that private and public sectors could not match up. Now? We take PFI initiatives for granted, as part of our civic and commercial outlook. 

NHS is great but even they require that little bit of private sector insight and collaboration. 

'Public' schools now shrink in fear as 'Academy' style state counterparts, encroach on their imagery and fuse elite ambition to egalitarian access. Paradigms shift. Businesses and indeed, public groupings, evolve, accordingly, or face extinction. 

7: 

And what do we notice about change, frequently? The fact that NOBODY um, notices it! THAT is why, still, in every second incubator, accelerator, investor call, teleconference and expo et al, the 'are you a service or product' question will arise and even, hold you back? 

DON'T LET THAT HAPPEN! OWN IT! Be the FIRST, not the last. Remembering, as well, that just as with anything in life, changes can be undone, too and yes, the old models may re-emerge. 

The best way to navigate the transition? PLATFORMS! As in, your company provides BOTH service AND product via template technologies that can be moulded into applications or simply, adopted and adapted by clients, on a bespoke model, via consultancy. If you think that is impossible? Nonsense! This company is GOING to do it. In fact? They are at it, already!