I read this article today, Electric cars give Japan anxiety over fate of gas engines and I'm reminded of the stockholder meeting speech delivered by Danny
DeVito's character Larry 'the Liquidator' Garfield in the movie Other
People's Money when he said "I'll bet the last buggy whip maker made
the best damned buggy whip you ever saw. How'd you like to own stock in that
company?"
The point he was trying to make was that times change, and as they change, companies must change with them. Making buggy whips was big business when horses drew carriages. When the internal combustion engine became the heart of the horseless carriage, it was only a matter of time before the last horse-drawn cart would be left behind. The companies who accepted this reality and migrated their core competencies survived; those who held on to a dying paradigm died with it.
The point he was trying to make was that times change, and as they change, companies must change with them. Making buggy whips was big business when horses drew carriages. When the internal combustion engine became the heart of the horseless carriage, it was only a matter of time before the last horse-drawn cart would be left behind. The companies who accepted this reality and migrated their core competencies survived; those who held on to a dying paradigm died with it.
Which brings us to the gasoline engine,
and the cloud of parts manufacturers surrounding it. Like the horse as a mode
of transportation, and the ancillary components surrounding it such as buggy
whips, it's all long in the tooth.
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