>Almost no other category of consumer good works in the modular way that we nerds wish that everything would.
One exception I can think of are bicycles.
One exception I can think of are bicycles.
At the end of the cable is a 3.5mm TRS phone jack connector, which has a passive adapter to 6.35mm (1/4"). The 1/4 inch phone jack was invented in 1878, for use in the repetitive insertion environment of a manual telephone switchboard.
Basically every set of headphones you've used in your life has used a phone plug/jack connector. It's a pretty good bet that a hundred years from now there will still be people using phone plug/jack systems to connect up systems where some part needs 2-4 wires and will be repeatedly removed and re-inserted.
As for the seat post, it's these molded carbon frames that seem to be built for short use and then the trash that are problematic in my eyes. They're just wasteful and most of the people buying them are doing it just to buy some time for their various races.
Having gotten in to triathlons a bit lately, I'm constantly annoyed that someone can literally buy gear to make themselves minutes faster, even though our engines may be comparable. I wish the organizing bodies would standardize the equipment for competition.
Drivelines are more integrated now, with derailleurs, cog tooth profiles, chains, and shifters designed as a system with minimal thought given to cross compatibility. At best you could use a non-Campy/non-Shimano chain.
My understanding is that they aren't, at least where we are talking about indexed shifting (which is pretty much everything these days). The amount of cable pull per "click" is different between SRAM and Shimano, which means you can't use a Shimano shifter with a SRAM derailleur. Or maybe that's just true in MTB world and not road bike world, not sure.
OTOH, chain, cogs and chainrings are pretty much compatible, at least within the constraints imposed by the changes in chain width to accomodate the newer, denser cassettes. Eg, 10 speed chain or 9 speed chain won't work with an 11-speed drivetrain.
That said, people who come into triathlon from a running background do tend to do better than swimmers or cyclists who have to learn the other two events.