Yeah, I've noticed that too; I don't know what the deal is with people, though. Perhaps their taste in products does change, but I think it's more like industry has an agenda and is trying to push or take away things thinking it'll maximize their bottom line. I don't have anything agaist companies maximizing their bottom line. In fact, I want them to maximize their bottom line; but I want them to shoot for the long run. When they do, that just means that they're making their customers happy.
The problem is that they often implement tricks that work in the short run, but in the long run they tend to ruin things and have to be done if they want to stay in business, in many cases. Maybe if producers would just put enough effort into figuring out how to do things right, whether it's simply to just be honest, not cut too many corners, market it to appear to be far more valuable than it actually is, design the product with too much "aesthetics" that robs it of peripheral utility (for example, structuring the housing so it can fit in more spaces, or so they can be stacked to save room), or whatever the factor is, then I think everyone would be happier - both the product makers and their customers.
I'm sure the shrewd investor is aware of this. I can picture the scenario: the wealthy & successful investors find the "trends." They know the signs or signals to watch out for that indicate when the trend is about to expire. When the stock price is way up there and they see the light at the end of the tunnel, that's when they bail out and make a killing. Then they take their killing and reinvest it in the next trend, repeating the same cycle. It's investors who look for these things and invest in something that makes it appear like it's a very successful product or company, when in actuality they're just taking advantage of companies that do tricks while at the same time giving them the illusion that they're better than they really are. These investors are like surfers, and hitting these waves is where they get their high.
This seems to make more sense for technology or new companies, though. Could that affect a company that's been around for a while that mainly sells a certain kind of pastry?
I was thinking about my favorite toilet paper when I wrote my first paragraph.
Well, we do have a market and it's predominantly free.
No it is not. From licensing that stifles new competition, to behavior modifying sales tax. From price/wage controls, to bailouts of businesses to big to fail. From IP laws that prevent innovation, to parasitic lawsuits. From the misinterpretation and misuse of the Interstate Commerce Clause, to import tariffs. From certified Unions, to incorporated corporations. From outright prohibition, to a fiat currency. And all the government intervention into our society (economy) in between; EPA regulations, FDA regulations, FCC regulations, ATF regulations, IRS regulations etc. Did I mention income tax? There is a market, but in no way is it a Free Market. Not even F**KING close. Gibson Guitar was SWAT raided on the basis that they broke a law from a country halfway around the world. Truth is Gibson didn't pay it's protection money to the right Mob.
But does that affect the overall capability of the market for being feasible? As far as my lemon-filled donut is concerned, I doubt that the problem has to do with IP.
Maybe not, you gave very little information to determine anything. I only gave an example. Start a business making lemon-filled donuts, just the way you like them. Then you will find out if another company believes they own the recipe.
There's a lot about this I'm not sure about; for example: if a product is not profitable for a larger company, how can it somehow be profitable for a smaller company?
You may be unsure about this, because your insight may come predominantly from text books and not from the experience of operating a small business. There is such a thing as a "Niche Market". As an example, my Nephew owns a small home repair business. He is a general contractor and has three full time carpenters, a full time estimator and he hires a freelance accountant. He has little competition of the type known as large contractors. Most of his competition over the past five years comes from laid off construction workers looking to supplement their unemployment insurance. He finds a profit in his niche market that can sustain him and his employees, that a large general contractor with a thousand employees will not bother with. Another myth that persists, is that less productive people would not survive in a true Free market. Take for example an older carpenter who can't keep up with the younger carpenters in building cabinets in a factory setting. Now there is nothing wrong with these factory cabinets, as these provide affordable cabinets for the middle class and the poor. Fortunately for the older less productive carpenter, there is a rich class of customer, that prefers a finer quality handmade custom cabinet and is willing to pay a premium price for it. He has found a niche market. Unfortunately for the older less productive carpenter, in reality he lives in a Manipulated/Distorted market, that makes it undesirable to launch his own business. It takes less effort (all that Fing government paper work) and is less dangerous (see EPA, IRS, etc. SWAT raids above) to simply pay for union protection and take the governments unemployment handout when he is not working.
Don't larger companies tend to drive smaller competitors out of business?
Only in a government Manipulated/Distorted market. In a true Free Market the smaller competitor most likely has the upper hand.
Yeah, that's another problem too. I don't want to switch to something that has proven to be worse. It's as though there seems to be no solution when it comes to products being discontinued.
You're being purposely obtuse, the idea of instantaneous satisfaction is ridiculous. Life is full of problems, if these problems are not solved fast enough for you, end your life and your problems will be gone. A Free market does the best job at solving problems. The freer the market the better job it does at solving problems.
