# Professor Melissa Schilling discusses innovation in consumer technologies

1 Faculty News January 11, 2016 ![Machine Design logo](/sites/default/files/styles/246w/public/assets/images/machinedesign192x144.jpg?itok=jMHTbxPM)>

Excerpt from [Machine Design](http://machinedesign.com/engineering-essentials/how-spot-tech-trends) -- "'... Sony invested in improving their technology of Super Audio CD at a time when they believed customers cared about every increasing fidelity,' says [Schilling](http://www.stern.nyu.edu/faculty/bio/melissa-schilling). 'Unfortunately, we were already nearly at the limits of human hearing in terms of audio fidelity, so the payoff to increasing fidelity wasn’t very big. While Super Audio CD and HD Audio were competing to be the highest fidelity audio formats, the MP3 format offered customers something they valued more—portability—and wiped Super Audio and HD Audio off the map.'"

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