[grecy]

This mentality is what's holding back the establishment in any field from doing anything radical. The status quo is worth trillions and trillions of dollars, and a lot of people will fight very, very hard to keep it that way, even when it's horribly inefficient, outdated and just plain stupid.

Electric cars? Nope, we've invested too much in ICE R&D and need to pay it back over another 100 years.

Solar? Nope, we promised the private coal plants decades of profits.

Public Healthcare (In the USA)? Nope, waaaaaay too many billions being made on insurance.

etc. etc.

Which is why we need to ignore what the establishment things and just do our own thing whenever possible, or at least support anyone trying to go clean slate.

[1996]

And this is also why the establishment rightfully fears disruption: because they could have done marginal improvements for a long time: they chose not to for valid strategic reasons. But then there is a competitor which leapfrogs all that and who threatens to just wipe them out!

Once it happens, as usual, the establishment begs/lobbies for political protection (think about jobs!) which will often be granted. But political favors can just at best slow their demise.

Reusable spacex rockets will be to the EU spatial industry what uber was to its taxis: turning them immediately irrelevant, and unsavageable as an industry.

A better example might be the high administrative costs of the US healthcare system. Obamacare couldn't cut all these jobs during a downturn, so they were preserved. But even now, for a lot of people it makes more sense to opt out of that craziness and just get healthcare abroad. This sector is ripe for disruption. Maybe not now, but in 10 years even more so.

[ahartmetz]

The taxi thing totally did not happen in most European countries. Taxis are just fine here (specifically: in Germany), and the labor regulations, too, so Uber can kindly take a hike.

[1996]

Political connections make miracles happen!

[ahartmetz]

Not sure what you are talking about.

[1996]

I mean that surely, the existence and political power of taxi unions are orthogonal to the decision by various government to protect the taxis!

The governments have just acted in the interest of the public, as usual.

[ahartmetz]

Dunno, not much happened. Uber came in, broke the law, and went. The law already existed, and the taxi organizations aren't particularly powerful. Note that anybody can start driving taxis here after some mandatory course and exam, there's no bullion system.