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| Kodak advert c.1915 |
Wednesday's in-character Shadowrun post referred to "Dakkers." Depending on accents, that may sound a lot like Deckers, but - as a rather incompetent and pedantic early 21st Century President used to say, "make no mistake" we're talking about Dakkers.
The term Dakker has two meanings:
- Doomed and complacent salaryman
- Dinosaur industry that's too big NOT to fail
Few people in our home town remember this today, but we once had a global corporation called the Eastman Kodak Company, or Kodak for short. They employed just about everyone. They specialized in emulsion-based photography. Polluted the entire city with their industrial wastes. Failed to innovate. Smugtown's biggest industry.
They REALLY didn't keep up with the times. Didn't even try. They missed the digital age entirely. There's no Deckers among the Dakkers, as the smart alecs say.
One of their "late" products was a camera that almost went to market with a lithium battery that could have exploded in the user's face.
So today the term Dakker is used for any megacorp (and its employees) who are set in their ways, and losing their edge. You know the type: they've hit the monopoly stage, and the rate of profit is starting to decline. Their main operation is using bureaucracy, financial tricks, mergers and buyouts, as well as payoffs and mercs to nip the bud on upstart competitors. Hold onto existing markets as long as they can. Charge rent on their brand, and get the golden parachutes ready to drop
OGL MECHANICS
Dakker
Dinosaur industry; doomed, complacent salaryman
ASPECTS:*
- Smugtown's finest industry
- A job for life - with no future
- Too big to fail - for now
- They can lay off thousands and still have a huge work force
- Dilution is the solution
*You decide which are High Concept and which are Trouble. Take your pick...
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