Persistence Is Futile

The rubber thing holding my car exhaust in place has perished to the point that it's no longer holding my exhaust in place. I don't remember the last time I had to replace an exhaust, but it could be as long ago as 1993, back when I drove a 1978 vintage 1275GT Mini called Fudge. Things have changed since them.

I fired up google, looking for "tyre and exhaust" centres nearby. I found plenty of places selling tyres, but virtually none selling exhausts. I was puzzled. I wondered what had changed to make the replacement exhaust a thing of the past. My hypothesis is that as car manufacturers were obliged by law to add expensive catalytic converters to their cars, the exhaust ceased to be a regular maintenance part, and needed to last as long as the car. The costs appeared so high a few years ago, that a perfectly serviceable banger would be uneconomical to repair if the cat was knackered. Prices have dropped, but the quality of exhausts hasn't.

No doubt this caused a number of businesses to downsize, go bust to diversify. Instead of exhausts, they'll push servicing, they'll have become MoT centres etc. I don't recall a particular outcry against car manufacturers or environmental legislators lamenting the passing of these businesses.

When new technology emerges, be it durable car exhaust or broadband internet, it'll kill some business models. Businesses based on dead models will also perish. Businesses that make new models to exploit the technology have a pretty good chance, whether they're start-ups or not.

Media businesses seem to want the status quo to persist. It seems to me that media businesses are just middle men. The least imaginative, the least creative, the least entitled to the status quo.