I just can't decide if this is Good or Bad. Maybe you can.
I just can’t decide if this is Good or Bad. Maybe you can.
by Ephraim Gadsby
I was reading a blog today at Lab Soft News entitled “Reference Lab with a Money-Back Guarantee“. It got me to thinking how far our industry has declined or from another point of view, how far our industry has advanced. I just can’t decide which has happened.
The above referenced blog writes about how the Reference Lab industry has become so competitive that they are starting to take on the business model of Delivery Pizza Franchises. “If we don’t deliver your lab results in 3 days or less you get your money back.” Sort of like, “if you don’t get your pizza in 1 hour it’s free”. Mind you, this is a pure Business-to-Consumer play here; where the lab is selling testing services directly to the end consumer. What can you expect from a consumer business.
It seems like only yesterday that Crick and Watson discovered the structure of DNA and now we have testing labs on every corner selling paternity testing utilizing science and DNA analytical techniques that would have WOW’d even Crick and Watson and what’s more, with a money back guarantee. I don’t think Crick and Watson gave a money back guarantee.
Here is my problem… Where is this world heading? We have science being commercialized to the point that you can confuse it with a pizza delivery service and Big Box Stores turning many individuals employment prospects into dust. On the surface all of this sounds awful, at least when you put it the way that I just did. However, to be fair, the commercialization of science has brought us pocket calculators, personal computers, cheap DNA testing, the Internet, the list goes on and on and on. I cannot see necessarily the bad side to all of this except that my profession appears to be heading towards being made a commodity. Is that bad…? For me…? The answer just might be… Yes, then again maybe No. I am just not sure. I feel that I am pretty adaptable but what about those who have spent their lives and careers learning and working only to find their jobs are decreasing in value by the day. What are they to do?
I will leave the rest of this discussion to your imagination and to your written thoughts.
Please let me know what you think about where the laboratory industry is going. Especially from your personal perspective. Please post to my blog so that everyone may enjoy the discussion.
