The textbook example here has long been the qwerty keyboard. Its critics argue that it is less efficient than other key arrangements. Their position is that it has dominated for a century merely because one of the first manufacturers of the manual typewriter, E. Remington, adopted it early on, ensuring that it would become the standard. Path dependence emphasises, sometimes close to exclusively, the competitor as victim. Bunkum, say two professors of economics, Stan J. Liebowitz of the University of Texas at Dallas and Stephen E. Margolis of North Carolina State.
Markets are meritocracies where good products win, be they mouse traps or operating systems.
An item's success is due more to its quality than to any industrial predation. Start with the qwerty keyboard. The professors argue that qwerty was hardly the competition-free gladiator that received wisdom makes out. It turns out that there were 51 rivals to Remington's qwerty at the outset. Remington's qwerty prevailed not because of market share alone but also because qwerty typists won at much-publicised typing contests.