Adapt or Divest From Dying Technology

When the music industry introduced CD's, they were delighted to have something that took up less shelf space and was easier to ship than a record and could not be accidentally degaussed like a cassette. Instead of passing the value on to the consumer, they played up the premium technology angle and gleefully jacked up the price of the new format. When the technology to rip mp3s evolved, the music labels could easily have afforded to buy out Napster. They didn't. They could have taken the lead instead of making it adversarial. When digital technology began to take over photography, Kodak - especially the printing arm - insisted on staying with photographic emulsion. They could have incorporated a digital aspect to their business model. Instead, they faced some struggle. Energy companies that seem to be dominated by fossil fuel concerns could easily begin to shift their focus to solar and wind. Nuclear could also do this, so they are not completely out of the loop when there is finally more of a hard cut than a dissolve to new technology. My fear is that they are and will continue to, as a way to undermine those technologies. Projects such as oil pipelines with guaranteed leaks and fracking that causes earthquakes will be seen by wealthy investors as "fleas that come with the dog," the dog being profit. They won't care about Natives and anyone directly impacted by contaminations until they force people to resort to vandalism - destruction of pipelines with incendiary devices, for example. It is remarkable how civilized and how tolerant protesters have been while they are gradually killed off by the ivory tower class. Obviously labor and police get caught in the middle somewhat. But something has to be done to put a proverbial gun to the head of the gun-loving conservative investor. Divestment en masse needs to happen. Perhaps if it is made clear that pipelines and fracking operations will be destroyed as a matter of principle, divestment will me the logical option for financial self-preservation.