According to Wikipedia,
The Darlington Bus War was a series of events between 1986 and 1995 in the UK bus industry in the town of Darlington, County Durham, culminating in the wholesale entry of Stagecoach Group onto the Darlington bus scene, and the collapse of Darlington Corporation Transport.
Follow this link to read the full article
but the relevant paragraph is this one
It was the combination of Busways’ actions in recruiting so many of DTC’s drivers so quickly, registering services on all its routes and running free services which caused DTC’s final collapse. We find these actions to be predatory, deplorable and against the public interest.
— Monopolies and Mergers Commission
Essentially, Darlington Transport Company Ltd (DTC) was unfairly forced out of business by a much bigger competitor offering free rides.
I grew up near Darlington, and I remember the bus war. I remember seeing three different nearly empty buses pulling up at bus stops. Naturally, given the choice, passengers would catch the free one. The free buses were funded by a much bigger company, DTC couldn’t compete and went out of business. After that, the fares went up and the service plummeted.
It’s a business model used by tech companies all the time. Undercut the competition, drive them out of business and then raise the prices for all. It’s one of the driving forces behind enshittification
Apple, Microsoft and Google are all guilty of this. I touched on it in this recent post: It’s the dishonesty I can’t stand
Frankly, I’ve had enough. I’ve championed open source software for years. I’m now going all in. I’m beginning the process of cutting my ties with the big tech firms completely. I’m not alone in this. Here’s one example of a German State that is replacing Microsoft with open source software. There are many other examples.
This is an example of Digital Sovereignty, taking back control of your data, something I’ve been doing for years, but am now stepping up the pace.
Why? Because as long as the big tech firms hold my data, they can lock me out of it.
It can happen by accident as happened to this long term Apple user who lost access to 20 years of his digital life
Or worse, it can happen deliberately. The current situation in the Middle East has thrown up examples where all sides have been locked out of accounts by the big tech firms. You can search for your own examples of this.
And even if I still have access to those services, who is regulating the cost?
Tech firms have long introduced charges for services that used to be free, they are now rapidly raising prices at will, and by all sorts of ways. Pay extra to remove adverts that never used to be there from streaming services, anyone?
But can an individual establish digital sovereignty? Of course you can. Throw away all your computers and go back to pen an paper.
Okay. Can you do this whilst still enjoying the benefits of IT? Yes, quite easily. You’re going to lose some of the convenience of modern integrated systems, but you are regaining control of your life. And the more people that do it, the better it will be for everyone.
Listen to me. I’m a survivor of the Darlington Bus War. I know what I’m talking about.
I’ll be writing about the process here occasionally. Let me know if you want to know more…
Tony Ballantyne 