H L V <hveeder...@gmail.com> wrote: If this video is accurate then no music cassettes are sold today whereas > at one time they dwarfed vinyl sales. > > This says something about the nature of obsolescence. > A technology doesn't become obsolete simply because it is "obviously" > inferior or less affordable. >
That is true. The book "The Innovator's Dilemma" describes some situations in which the new technology wins out even though it is inferior in some ways, or more expensive. For example, around 1982, 5 MB personal computer hard disks cost more per megabyte than minicomputer disks. They had less storage, they were slower and probably less reliable. They sold well because they happened to fit that market segment. It is complicated. See p. 71 and 72 for a look at the book: https://lenr-canr.org/acrobat/RothwellJcoldfusiona.pdf Vinyl sales are up partly as a fad, or a fashion statement. Music cassettes were a lousy technology. Fidelity was poor and they soon broke.
