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Re:Lyft Is Said to Seek a Buyer, Without Success by MichaelApproved on Friday August 19, 2016 @05:04PM (#12323458)
I believe that everything will reset when automated cars come out. Whomever is in the lead now will not matter because automated rides will be such a game-changer that it'll reset the entire market.
Re:Lyft Is Said to Seek a Buyer, Without Success by rhizome on Friday August 19, 2016 @05:21PM (#12323552)
What are some historical examples of markets that have rebooted in the wake of the availability of a single product?
Re:Lyft Is Said to Seek a Buyer, Without Success by nostrademons on Friday August 19, 2016 @05:42PM (#12323719)
Transportation is actually a huge one. Clipper ships dominated up through the mid-1800s; when steam power became reliable enough to cross the Atlantic, all the major sailing ship companies went under, and were replaced by Cunard, White Star, and Inman, all of which were founded within a decade or two of the development of reliable steam power. Then when airliners became reliable enough to cross the Atlantic, all the major steamship lines went under (Cunard is now a division of Carnival Cruises) and were replaced by air service.

Ditto with the transition from propeller to jet aircraft. The major aircraft manufacturers before WW2 were companies like Curtis, Wright, Hughes, Douglas, Grumman etc. After the jet age, the companies that successfully developed jet aircraft (Boeing, McDonnell, Lockheed, Grumman, etc.) survived, while those that didn't were bought up in firesales by their replacements.

You also see examples of competitive industries that are entirely replaced by a single monopolist because of new technology. For example, tobacco was the cash crop of the south, lucrative enough to start a war over, with several numerous wealthy plantation owners forming the backbone of the South's social structure. When American Tobacco adopted the tobacco-rolling machine, they soon ended up with >90% of the market, the most thorough monopoly ever (even moreso than Standard Oil). It was broken up via antitrust legislation on the same day as Standard Oil; descendants include R.J. Reynolds and Liggett group, and still account for a significant portion of the tobacco industry.

Re:Lyft Is Said to Seek a Buyer, Without Success by iiiggglll on Friday August 19, 2016 @06:25PM (#12323948)
Smartphones. Blackberry, Symbian, Palm, and Windows were the leaders just a few years ago, but now iOS & Android pretty much own it all.[1][2]

[1] https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2013/09/20...

[2] http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/3415117

Re:Lyft Is Said to Seek a Buyer, Without Success by fernandopj on Friday August 19, 2016 @05:34PM (#12323648)
Fax machines.

PC Word processors (vs. typewriters).

Re:Lyft Is Said to Seek a Buyer, Without Success by niftich on Friday August 19, 2016 @05:23PM (#12323567)
Phones.

Horse-drawn carriages.