Originally Posted by
Charles Wahl
"The Man" always seems to be around in the form of Shimano, Microsoft, GM (or Mercedes, if you prefer), whatever. It's a moot point whether we'd all be in a better place if they hadn't dominated their industries in the same way. The reason that most of their competitors aren't around is not that they made inferior products, primarily -- it's marketing (at every level) and the herd instinct of the consumers. I'm thankful that we still have Apple and Campagnolo and the other smaller companies around to leave a bit of choice. Shimano's path has been one of increasing (and unnecessary) complication, designs without replaceable parts, with a high obsolesence, and incompatibilities that cause dizziness and despond. I don't agree that this is where cycling should be; that's no fun for me, anyway.
Amen. Many times the small defunct companies were the real inovators, and the giant monolithes eventually adopted their ideas in a far less efficient manner many years later. Who invented the GUI; it wasn't Microsoft. Who invented the slant parallelogram derailleur, indexed shifting and clipless pedals; it wasn't Shimano. If companies like Suntour were still around today, I think we might have seen more significant advancements and inovations. Instead, we just see a continuing trend towards intellectual mediocrity, and an indifferent and uninformed consuming public that passively accepts it all.