Seems like a headline from another age, right? Well, replace Luddites with Viacom and power loom with GooTube and you’ve got the present day headline. It’s an instructive model of technology is disintermediating a group whose living depends on the “old way.”

Garden Variety Hand Loom



For those not quite up to speed on Luddites, they are a group led by Ned Ludd who were against the technological advances of the industrial revolution. Specifically, they were hand loom workers being threatened by the adoption of mechanical power looms. There were incidents of Luddites attacking and destroying power looms all over England in the 19th century. Alas, the technology of the power loom existed, was more cost effective, produced more, was broadly adopted, and ultimately displaced hand looms in the textile industry.

Yes, a $1B judgment, or threat thereof, is the functional equivalent of destroying a power loom factory. But in the end, don’t expect the outcome to be different in the present day Luddites vs. technology struggle. It’s simply a matter of time. Investment advice: Short Viacom.


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