After reading the 'INC.' article and further reflection the well-known proverb "Necessity is the mother of Invention" comes to mind; Mike Wolf realizing from the outset that there was a market for more detailed, higher quality scale O gauge product and Lionel - as a result of Mike's growing market share and successful court case - eventually realizing that they must 'step up to the plate' if they wanted to remain in business.
Unfortunately, as the article points out, the 'saturation' of O gauge product by the various manufacturers which existed at the time turned out to be detrimental to the assorted companies; notwithstanding that competition is generally regarded as good by hobbyists for several reasons including variety, innovative features and quality to name a few. That said, with fewer O gauge manufacturers today now the feeling among many hobbyists seems to be that the latter will be compromised.
Only time will tell.
