Wednesday 4 February 2009

Choice is good for you

Sometimes I wonder if I am cut out to be a Conservative: I was disappointed to hear the Competition Commission had forbidden BBC ITV and Channel 4 from launching Kangaroo, a one stop portal to view their programmes over the internet. Because something so useful and popular would prevent competition.

Why wouldn't consumer usefulness come first?

I'm not sure that competition and choice is always helpful, particularly where consumers have much less information than suppliers. Competition authorities for example took directory enquiries and made it a disorganised mess; and just how many types of orange juice or Ribena does a supermarket shelf really need? And are mobile phone tariffs a consumer benefit? And the Competition Commission has over the years given backing to Tesco's monopolistic control of our shopping and destruction of high street services.

I'm probably just a grumpy old man.

2 comments:

Troy said...

Old?

Sarah said...

Yes, grumpy!
But rightfully so; these kind of choices can blind a person to the really important choices in life.
Notice the choices offered are only ever a compromise; that what you really, really want is never on the shelf in front of you.
Hopefully it never will be.
Sarah