Leslie got it wrong. This is not an OFF TOPIC at all. This is a Forum of/for Sony Creative Software. Seems a very appropriate posting?

During the Gold Rush it was the companies who sold the axes, lumber and service industries of " "hostelries" and so on that made serious fortunes. Making a secondary or tertiary business viable makes that same venture sustainable.

Also, is being out of the "business" ia fair/same comparison as that which existed 40 years ago and now with the hardware-lite environment and viral complexity of marketing and market opportunity both unrecognisable or even envisioned four decades ago. Leslie, you aren't out of the business. That business bares very little similarity to the market-matrix now on offer. Or have I got it wrong?

No, not OFF TOPIC at all.

Grazie

@vidmus - if i was to dismiss every news source i read because at some point they, or one of their journos screwed up (no matter how big time either), i doubt i'd ever read another article. whilst there are holes (some very large) to be found in it, overall it is a pertinent article (at least so i think) to many people here and in the industry in general.
i credit the readers of anything i post the intelligence to be able to sort the chaff from the wheat, the meat from the bone. just because i read about, say, trump, it does not necessarily mean i believe in what he says (maybe he does?), nor do i believe a lot of what's said by politicians - however, if you read between the spinning lines, you can usually fathom out the truth.

@bernard - thank you. i don't post 'ot / sot' lightly. i have usually found that talking with others prior to my posting a good indicator of the items relevance.
your analogy is good, service industries did / could / and might in the future prove more profitable and longer lasting than some of the industries themselves. madison ave still thrives whilst the demand for curling tongs, hair pins, etc., has almost vanished.
my present knowledge of 'production services' is somewhat scant. my clients (all old farts like myself) are still working to 20 year old paradigms. i do know from some of my past students and friends still in the 'industry' that times have changed mightily in some areas, in others it continues pretty much the same, eg. feature films, high-end advertising, etc.,
once i would simply be the 'off / online editor' in the chain of production, prior to me would have been (below the line), camera op, dop, gaffer, etc., etc., after me, sound, fx, music, vo, etc., etc., by the time i got out it was pretty much pared down to myself and a multitasking offsider.
now, apparently, it's down to the producer to actually produce the project from a to z themselves. even a quick look at tv news shows one-man band reporters where there used to be a crew of at least three.
no grazie, you haven't got it wrong - but i do believe that the 'market-matrix' now on offer diminishes the overall skill of the talent pool, leads to rate prostitution, and a future where all but a few specialized areas become a general free for all based on formulaic production at the lowest cost.

of course, i'm an old fart living on 5 acres in the middle of nowhere, so what the f**k do i know? ;-)