A story about bricks.
Long ago, there was a small company that was in the business of making bricks. The founders were visionaries, and realised that most of the people live in homes made either of stone which were hard to build, or simple caves which were just enough for a simple life. What they built was a new type of construction material that allowed for very efficient, durable and cost effective homes.
The business boomed. More and more bricks were sold, people built more homes, and lived happier lives. The home builders were pleased and supportive at first becase they could build more of a better product and sell more. But at some point they realised that if they make their own bricks, they can have a better bottom line. Everybody knew by now how to make them. With all these, the company in our story kept making the product better, in all sizes and shapes, added colors, kept on adding layer after layer of thermal and noise insulation, all new and useful. They were the leaders. The company grew from few brick visionaries to tens of thousands of workers: marketing people, product managers, lawyers, and lots and lots of brick engineers. Everybody knew in detail his side, or edge, or grain of the brick.
By year 30 though, the bricks were everywhere, everybody was making them, they were cheap and better than ever before. Under market pressure some of the newer products the company was making started failing, or were just not relevant. The bricks were cheaper and better by the day.
And people got used living in these better homes, like they existed since ever. Their kinds were taken in field trips sometimes to see the old caves their ancestors used to live in. And people didn't pay attention anymore to the bare walls made with all these nice bricks. They started decorating their homes, buying art and rugs and furniture, listening to music, cooking, watching movies online, dreaming... The walls were still there, but just as a canvas for this new life style that they enabled.
And after all these years the company still exists. It is smaller now, still making some of the best products on the market. You can hear sometimes the few veterans still around, telling the story of the great times when the brick was The Brick.
The End!