World turns, things change.
I've been thinking a lot about the whole business of chains of retailers going bust, independent shops closing down, not just in Bicester but across the country if not the world, and I have come to the conclusion that efforts made by us to fight it are ultimately doomed to failure. Not a pessimistic outlook, just a realistic one. The fact of the matter is, the world is constantly evolving, new and more efficient ways are found of doing things, and the old ways disappear. Not immediately, of course. Every new technology that comes along has its early adopters but is initially both unproven and expensive. These things take time. Eventually the new technology is so much more efficient and economical than the old that it takes over. Gradually the population embraces the new thing, whatever it is. This can take 5, 10, 20, maybe even 50 years but eventually the transformation is complete, except for a few die hard fans and a "niche" market. In order to understand what is...