Good things come in pairs?

[ava1enzue1a]

Might there be a universal pattern that for every major company/product/corporation etc there seems to be another major one that can match in rank/competition? I know the idea seems kind of vague and ambiguous, at least for a few reasons 1) there may even be a third/fourth/etc entity that can compare just as much as the "top two"; 2) rankings and actual popularity of runner-ups may not even compare with their top competitors; 3) every entity may not fit cleanly into each category or with that of its competitors; or various other reasons. Still though, as far as I'm concerned, there seems to be an unusually high consistency between the "top two" of many categories. Here's what I've come up with so far (no particular order) w/categories in parenthesis:

• B&M vs. Intamin AG (roller coasters!)
• Microsoft vs. Apple (computers & software)
• iTunes vs. Spotify (music/media platform)
• Cedar Fair vs. Six Flags (amusement parks!)
• Marvel vs. DC (comics)
• Smith & Wesson vs. Peerless (handcuffs)
• Pixar vs. DreamWorks (computer-animated films)
• Bing vs. Google (search engines)
• Nook vs. Kindle (eBooks)
• Amazon vs. eBay (online shopping)
• Chevrolet vs. Ford (American automakers)
• Facebook vs. Myspace (social networking. not so much anymore though of course given how dead Myspace is anymore)

I'm sure there are many more that I can't think of at the moment. Can anyone else add to this list?

P.S. Yeah I know gotta lot of time on my hands. Still though I found this interesting.

 

[kimahri]

• Marvel vs. DC (comics)

Ugh, Image all the way.

 

[Smithy]

Half of those have several other high profile competitors that you've just neglected to mention.

 

[Pierre]

Yeah its not really 'pairs'. Good things come when the competitors have other competition so they have to raise their game... otherwise everyone would just be happy with the original product as there would be nothing for the consumer to switch to.

 

[ava1enzue1a]

Half of those have several other high profile competitors that you've just neglected to mention.

Uh, yes. See my reasons/exceptions; one of them is:

I know the idea seems kind of vague and ambiguous, at least for a few reasons 1) there may even be a third/fourth/etc entity that can compare just as much as the "top two"...

I am aware I could be overgeneralizing this idea :wink:

Good things come when the competitors have other competition so they have to raise their game... otherwise everyone would just be happy with the original product as there would be nothing for the consumer to switch to.

Yep, refer to the case with what would have been iPod vs. Zune. I guess Microsoft just couldn't compete with Apple's concept of portable MP3 player so as to why they opted out of the product, or so I heard.

New addition! Coke vs. Pepsi. Come on, no one can deny that one

 

[kimahri]

Coke vs Pepsi was a media fabrication.

 

[Ethan]

A better topic would be things that are BETTER in pairs...

Twinks and Bears
Boobs
Bread and Butter

etc.

 

[kimahri]

^ Chromosomes?

 

[ava1enzue1a]

Coke vs Pepsi was a media fabrication.

? K.

A better topic would be things that are BETTER in pairs...

Twinks and Bears
Boobs
Bread and Butter

etc.

Ha. Come to think of it, how bout analogous or complementary? Better theme imo. Yep, "good things come in pairs", overgeneralized and too vague.

 

[madhjsp]

I'd say Twitter, not MySpace, is Facebook's companion social media platform. And does Google really have a competitor as a search engine?

Also,

^ Chromosomes?

As a biology major in college with a focus on genetics, I appreciated that. :lol:

 

[Nic]

Boobs

I came into this topic with the sole purpose of posting that. Thanks for ruining my life

 

[Jake]

 

[ECG]

^Brilliant! :lol: