In recent years, cab drivers everywhere were suddenly confronted with unexpected competition from the likes of Uber or Lyft. Like most competitive offerings these were very similar in form and function (a person driving you in a car) to what before existed but with a different business model (independent contractors driving their own vehicles).
Nearly three hundred years ago in, London cabbies in London were threatened by an invention that looked nothing like a vehicle. The invention took a while to be accepted (cabbies felt so threatened that one even tried to run over the inventor). It was referred to as “a scandalous invention” but eventually it became so ubiquitous that I’m sure you probably own several. Cabbies survived, but consumers had a new and valuable choice.
Any idea what it might have been? This 2 min 43 second video will reveal that feared innovation…..and should warn you that competition to your offering can come in unexpected and unfamiliar forms.
