[j-g-faustus]

I think it's similar to eBay: eBay didn't invent "buying and selling stuff", but it was still disruptive e.g. to classified ads in local newspapers. It's a limited form of disruption, but still disruption.

Airbnb is potentially disruptive in the same way as early eBay, by providing a larger market (more options for buyers, more customers for sellers), and by inserting themselves as a trusted intermediate (potentially increasing convenience and trust in the marketplace, which can lead to a larger total market - more people engaging in short-term rentals when the process becomes more convenient).

One model of technical innovation: Once in a great while there is a major technical innovation, but to become a product in widespread use the 'technical' innovation (inventing a new type of product, say "horseless carriages") needs decades worth of 'process' innovation (making the product simpler and cheaper to produce, e.g. Henry Ford's assembly lines, and making it easier to use, e.g. by standardizing the controls for steering/braking/etc across all cars).

In this model, Airbnb is, or could be, a process innovation that makes short-term rentals a viable option for more people. If it succeeds - too early to tell, but looking good so far - it would be a disruption in that sense.