Juggernaut, the bowling ball makers are no different than many other industries. I do a lot of freshwater fishing in addition to bowling. The kinds of fishing lines have exploded in recent years: braided lines, fluorocarbons lines, and super lines like "Fireline." For my money, there is no substitute for a good monofilament line like DuPont Stren. It is not as sexy as the other products, but Stren is much cheaper, more versatile, and actually more effective.
A lot of guys here play golf. The same principles apply.
I know. There are many examples of things like this. Even those who actually started out with good intentions, but got lost somewhere along the way.
I will give away the fact that, when looking at a "regular" old rubber ball, there was a lot of room for "improvement", and I mean the kind that actually IMPROVED the product.
But, the question is, when did it stop being change for actual improvement, and become change just for changes sake? Just for a way to move more product?
It is my OPINION that we reached that point in the mid to late 1980's. Somewhere after that era in time, it became a game of trying to replace physical abilities (or rather, the lack of physical abilities) with equipment designed to "level the playing field". By supplying the lowest common denominator with equipment that allows them to overcome skills it took
others many years to acquire, they basically negated all the hard work and practice that thousands of bowlers spent thousands of dollars and hours to learn.
Just because you CAN do something, doesn't always mean you should.