Disposing of the Past

We’ve all heard the adage, “The only thing constant is change.” Most of us recognize technological change and either embrace it or leave it heaped on the floor. So the individual has a strategy for dealing with the continuous parade of newness they are deluged with. But what of those whose livelihood is directly effected by the change? It no longer becomes a take it or leave it style for dealing with the issue. If you are not the brains or cash flow behind the innovation, there is a lag where you must keep up but in today’s world, copying someone else’s idea is not a major issue. But what if the change is so significant; it obsoletes your entire future.

The one that comes to mind is the typewriter. How many companies based their entire future on producing typewriter? When the computer revolution hit, these companies attempted to make the transition by adding computer style innovations to their machines but in the end, they lost. Word processing and spreadsheets have proven to be a superior method of presentation. What happened to these companies that relied solely on selling typewriters for their livelihood? If they are not gone, they are barely breathing. But IBM with its Selectric Typewriter and Big Blue technology was poised to step into the future.

We are on the path of technological change that could alter the entire concept of utility companies. The introduction of hydrogen as a fuel source would alter everything from how we get our electricity, to heating our homes, to getting our drinking water, and foremost fueling our cars. Producing cheap, plentiful hydrogen in the home will allow individual households to run themselves. The utility companies will become the next typewriter manufacturers. The overhead power lines will be gone. The pipelines will disappear. The corner quickimart will no longer have pumps setting in front. And how will these businesses respond to such a drastic change? You can bet they will not go quietly into the night. With their heavy investment in machinery and property, they will fight tooth and nail for government regulations that keep their power in place.

Let us hope that the free market is allowed to do its job. We will get these intrusive companies out of our households and realize a major savings every month as we no longer pay for electricity, natural gas, propane, water and gasoline. That adds up to a nice yearly savings for the average American. Thinking globally, it amounts to a revolution for the underdeveloped nations of the world.

Icool

Cobb