Don Havey

I’m not sure that this is an established paradox, but it should be. Here are my thoughts:

In the beginning there was the computer. It was rather worthless by itself. Just a big old calculator. No one wants a calculator.

Then, someone invented the aquarium screensaver. Computers suddenly had purpose: they supported vibrant ecosystems of fake fish and coral.

The aquarium screensaver market boomed. It became lucrative. It became competitive. The business pitted brother fish animator against brother fish animator. Companies frantically struggled to be on the cutting edge of fish-emulation technology. Other underwater creatures were demanded! “What about dolphins and sea turtles?” cried the consumer. And the aquarium screensaver companies responded with larger aquariums! And rotating views of different types of aquarium! Rare tropical fish, dolphins, turtles, jellyfish, seahorses! No creature was left behind! A rekindled interest in marine biology swept across the planet.

Image advertisements became popular. The screensaver aquarium companies were the first on board, vying for the coveted title of Most Popular Aquarium Screensaver. They survived the bursting of the ecommerce bubble. The demand for animated fish and underwater scenes never yielded. And soon the paradox emerged:

After 15 years of aquarium screensavers, who is still downloading them??

How is it possible that the aquarium screensaver market is still expanding? Browsing through websites with Google image ads, I still observe an average of one aquarium screensaver ad per day, out of perhaps 200 image ads that I allow to register in my brain. That’s an enormous percentage! I do not visit fish-oriented websites. I have shown no interest in aquariums or screensavers or sea creatures in my browsing habits. The only possibility is that the aquarium screensaver business is still thriving and has the revenue to continuously purchase advertising, even after 15 years of downloads.

Perhaps it takes 15 years for some users to become convinced that they need an aquarium on their desktop? Or perhaps dedicated aquarium screensaver fans require nearly real-time upgrades to the latest and greatest versions? Or is the number of computer users growing rapidly enough to allow for a steady influx of new customers to this magical niche market?

Someone help me understand this phenomenon.