Carpenter and the Ivory Tower

Long time ago there was a small village of carpenters building all kinds of furniture. All carpenters of the village we're lead by a wise leading council. All council men lived in a shiny Ivory tower built in the middle of the village.

In their wast wisdom the council had decided an optimal set of tools quite well suitable to all kinds of constructions, from simple shelves to ornate thrones ordered by kings world wide.

For a long time all the carpenters we're happy to construct whatever requested, using fine tools provided to them by the council. Not knowing of anything better they felt that for sure it was a good thing that everyone used the same tools. How else they could they continue serving their clients and fix a broken chair constructed by someone else?

Then one day one of the carpenters purchased a screwdriver and a box of screws from a travelling peddler. The tool was extremely nicely crafted and it fitted his hand perfectly. Formerly all they had had we're hammer, nails and some glue. So even better it provided him a new way to make even sturdier furniture where they we're needed and made it easier to fix them as the screws could be easily opened.

Soon the village was buzzing with the news. What was this new tool? Could it really build reliable pieces of furniture? Why waste time learning to use it as the old ways we're good enough. No clients could possibly trust chairs built with these strange screws, those thread seemed so thin that they must break easily. Besides using this screwdriver seemed to be awfully complicated.

The buzz was even heard on the top of the tower. Hearing the news wise men became worried. How could we trust this new thing? We have no one competent in it's usage. And so they decided to mandate usage of the old tools. They had proven themselves.

For a while all but that one carpenter, who had already got accustomed to his screwdriver continued happily. But slowly they started to notice losing clients. First it was just some farmers not buying anything from them any more, but after some years almost no orders came in. Villagers astonished. Our carpenters are the most competent hammer users anywhere, how could anyone not buy from us?

As it was, another village had started to accumulate carpenters, not specialized in some particular tools, but instead keen on finding the best tools to serve their clients. And now armed with their assortment of nonuniform tools they we're building better and more beautiful furniture faster than villagers ever had. And so slowly but surely the village of carpenters and their already smudgy ivory tower perished in the lack of clients.