I, of course, immediately apply this lesson to my favourite hobby, pinball. Early pinball tables were hugely varied. They all had some kind of plunger that launched the ball to the top and it'd trickle down and hit different stuff, but after 50 years or so the first machine was created with flippers… all over the place [0]. Then within a decade or so of experimentation the "Italian Bottom" [1] took hold and now every pinball machine has two flippers facing each other on the bottom, with two inlanes, and two outlanes. Every couple decades someone will try to deviate, but it's never popular.
Great insights and lessons.
I, of course, immediately apply this lesson to my favourite hobby, pinball. Early pinball tables were hugely varied. They all had some kind of plunger that launched the ball to the top and it'd trickle down and hit different stuff, but after 50 years or so the first machine was created with flippers… all over the place [0]. Then within a decade or so of experimentation the "Italian Bottom" [1] took hold and now every pinball machine has two flippers facing each other on the bottom, with two inlanes, and two outlanes. Every couple decades someone will try to deviate, but it's never popular.
[0] https://www.ipdb.org/machine.cgi?id=1254
[1] https://www.thisweekinpinball.com/understanding-the-italian-bottom/
Is the problem here that while new is not always better, better will usually be new.