When Nissan introduced the Altima in 1992, we remember wondering what would happen to the Maxima. We wondered that because, once introduced, no product is ever made smaller, less powerful, or slower. As a perfunctory knowledge of physics tells us, whatever goes up must come down — except prices. And as a passing familiarly with human nature makes eminently evident, once we have this, we will not be settling for that. So, as the Altima continued to evolve, the Maxima would be forced to follow suit to retain its big brother status. (No. Not that Big Brother.) And so it has.
Likewise, we recall (not so fondly) the AT&T calling card. When introduced, it was a means of charging calls to the account of one’s land line. (“Hi. I’m in a phone booth in East Jabroni. I’d like to call Wilbur Antonucci in Cornflake, Kansas, and charge the call to my home phone.”) Most important, it was free. Then Citibank acquired the AT&T calling card. And before we knew it, our calling charges were no longer appearing on our phone bills. Rather, they were showing up in separate billing statements for the AT&T Credit Card we had no idea we’d gotten, for which we were provided the privilege of paying a 24-percent interest rate. Thank you very much.
There are two ways to look at this:
- The more things change, the more they stay the same.
- The more things change, the more they stay the same.
If you’re inclined to go with #1, it means that — while the Altima and the AT&T Calling Card evolved — they remained the same products, at least fundamentally, with new features, colors, terms, and usability. If you’re inclined to go with #2, it means that — as the Altima and the AT&T Calling Card evolved — they became completely different products all together, unrecognizable from their former selves. But their prices went up, as prices always do.
Either way, they’re reminders of the fact that there is, indeed, no free lunch. And no company worth its salt will give you a loyalty card with the objective of getting less of your money.