Competition - isn't it great?
We're constantly told that the consumer demands choice, competition is good & monopolies are bad. And, to be sure, competition has delivered some remarkable things. Would we have had Intel's remarkable i-series chips if AMD hadn't been nipping at their heels all these years?
But is competition always good? I offer this as a discussion point.
Motor Cycle News has been published weekly since 1955. And, in the years before the Internet, it had a virtual monopoly on the advertising of motorcycles (and associated paraphernalia) for sale in the UK. Far from being 'bad', this was in fact jolly good.
If you were buying a bike you'd get a copy, settle down with a cup of tea, certain that the pages would contain every bike for sale in the UK. If you were selling you could be sure that your one advert would reach every potential customer that week. Which was perfect for everyone.
Now, of course, we have choice. Which is a complete pain in the ****. As a buyer you have to trawl endless websites & publications, never quite sure you have seen all that's on offer. As a seller you'd have to place a great many adverts to approach the coverage the old monopoly gave you.
Of course, the oft-stated problem with monopolies is that they can charge inflated prices for their services.I don't recall MCN ever being accused of abusing their position in this way. And I promise you this, gentle reader: the cost of advertising a bike for sale in the UK is a darned sight higher now than it was in the 'good old days'.
And here's another thing. Competition is supposed to drive down prices - which it often does. And the first casualty of that is profit margin. Businesses have to cut costs to survive, and the first casualty of that is often customer service. If you're unlucky competition becomes a 'race for the bottom'. So, when you're dissatisfied with the customer service you get from the cheap box-shifter who sold you that laptop, just keep telling yourself 'competition is always good'. It won't help, but it'll keep you in tune with the clowns that form opinion in this country.
But is competition always good? I offer this as a discussion point.
If you were buying a bike you'd get a copy, settle down with a cup of tea, certain that the pages would contain every bike for sale in the UK. If you were selling you could be sure that your one advert would reach every potential customer that week. Which was perfect for everyone.
Now, of course, we have choice. Which is a complete pain in the ****. As a buyer you have to trawl endless websites & publications, never quite sure you have seen all that's on offer. As a seller you'd have to place a great many adverts to approach the coverage the old monopoly gave you.
Of course, the oft-stated problem with monopolies is that they can charge inflated prices for their services.I don't recall MCN ever being accused of abusing their position in this way. And I promise you this, gentle reader: the cost of advertising a bike for sale in the UK is a darned sight higher now than it was in the 'good old days'.
And here's another thing. Competition is supposed to drive down prices - which it often does. And the first casualty of that is profit margin. Businesses have to cut costs to survive, and the first casualty of that is often customer service. If you're unlucky competition becomes a 'race for the bottom'. So, when you're dissatisfied with the customer service you get from the cheap box-shifter who sold you that laptop, just keep telling yourself 'competition is always good'. It won't help, but it'll keep you in tune with the clowns that form opinion in this country.
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