My favorite example was about The Contender, an NBC show which followed various boxers as they competed among themselves in a pseudo-tournament for an eventual grand prize. My friend pointed out that since boxing is a sport where people fight each other in a pseudo-tournament for an eventual grand prize, any reality show structured in the same way is not much different than 'just boxing'. Therefore, if the reality show was 'just boxing', then why would people watch it more than boxing, a sport that no one watched to begin with? NBC cancelled the show after two months (1).
I experienced a similar moment recently myself when hearing a discussion about how self-crashing cars might change the morning commute. One comment pointed out how cars ('pods') could pick up small numbers of people (perhaps between three and six) and zip them off to work in the morning. The same process would bring people back in the evening.
At this point, I started to wonder - how was this different from a small bus? I'm sure the answer is simple - it isn't. For whatever reason, though, this type of system doesn't exist yet, and I have a hunch the big obstacle has nothing to do with the bus drivers that would be replaced by the magical, mythical self-crashing car.
Footnotes / endnote
0. One more for the sports fans...
I noted a similar moment last year while listening to a soccer podcast. The debate was about 'goal line technology', an idea being piloted in the sport to help referees determine if the ball went over the goal line in certain situations. One co-host pointed out how calling this 'technology' obscured the underlying truth that the 'technology' involved was basically a pretty good camera, something that's been around for decades.
1. Well, technically, I'm right...
To be fair, the show did get picked up by ESPN for a couple of additional seasons.
But ESPN was already airing boxing, so... right?
