Creative Destruction: Typewriters and Space Shuttles

Two good examples of creative destruction. And a funny subtext - note the last entities still using typewriters. ;-) (ht: Rachel Barnhart)

The World's Last Typewriter Factory Is Closed - Global - The Atlantic Wire: "Up until recently, there was a typewriter factory still in existence in India. And, for the better part of this past decade, Indians were still buying the unwieldy device in droves. Even this February, the AFP ran an article explaining that the seemingly-ancient technology was 'flourishing' in the nation. Sadly, that era has now ended. Godrej and Boyce shut down its Mumbai, India plant because of declining orders. The company has only 'a few hundred' typewriters in stock, most of which are Arabic language models. 'Till 2009, we used to produce 10,000 to 12,000 machines a year,' the factory's general manager told the India's Business Standard newspaper. 'Now, our primary market is among the defence agencies, courts and government offices.'"

With Flights Winding Down, NASA Astronauts Seek New Opportunities - NYTimes.com: "What happens when you have the right stuff at the wrong time? Members of NASA’s astronaut corps have been asking just that, now that the space shuttle program is ending and their odds of flying anywhere good anytime soon are getting smaller. The Endeavour is scheduled to launch this week, and the Atlantis is supposed to fly the last shuttle mission in June — and all the seats are spoken for."