In the world of bicycling in America, Kryptonite locks are the gold standard. Or at least they were until the power of the modern lock succumbed to the power of the modern blog.

The story of how Kryptonite was humbled by a blogger is a morality tale no US business can afford to ignore: but what exactly is the moral? In September, a viral video spread through the blogosphere, showing how to pick a Kryptonite lock with a ballpoint pen. The company scrambled to reply, but its tiny offline PR team was no match for the citizen forces mobilised in real time on the internet. Blogs spread the word that Kryptonite was flawed and the company ended up offering everyone a new lock.