Back in 1987 (the mists of prehistory), Curmudgeon and I opened a video (waaaay pre-DVD) shop specializing in foreign films, classic films, idies, and the totally off-the-wall. We did it because that was our taste in film and we thought Portsmouth, NH ("Venice on the Piscataqua") and the surrounding university community in Durham could support it.

It couldn't. Then, to make matters worse, Blockbuster moved in. No way a mom & pop niche market could compete. Cinematheque went out out of business in 1990.

The problem with mass marketing is that you lose choices and options. Whether it's in soda (remember the '60s when there was a lot more on the market other than colas and Coke or Pepsi products?), or in what's played on the radio or available in the "record" shops. There's no classical radio station around here anymore, and jazz, blues or folk outlets are pretty limited. And traditional English language folk gets lumped in with world music and singer-songwriters in the shops.

Fortunately the internet allows easier access to the niche or obscure, but in meat space it's becoming a more and more vanilla world with only a couple brands or choices available.

Linn