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Here Are 30 Things That Were Supposed To Be The Next Big Thing, But Ended Up Forgotten, As Shared By People Online
While it’s fun to guess and debate what the next big thing will be, regardless of whether it’s technology, political or social situations, or any other aspect, it’s much more fun to take a look at the things people said would be the next big thing that never did.
Reddit has recently been discussing just that—all of the things that people thought would be huge, but that most of us have now forgotten (or didn’t even know) about.
The online community’s user u/LineOfDeath (very appropriate given the question) asked people “What was supposed to be ‘The Next Big Thing’, but totally flopped?” and over 50,000 comments later, the AskReddit post blew up with over 76,000 upvotes in under a day.
Bored Panda invites you to take a look at the things people answered in the list below. And while you’re there, vote and comment on the best ones. Well, OK, not the best ones, but you get what I mean.
More Info: Reddit
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Not entirely relevant, but I liked the trend where everybody wanted the smallest cell phone possible. For 20 years cell phones got smaller and smaller. Often being the main selling point of the phone.
Then all of sudden you could watch videos on your phone, and almost overnight the trend reversed to “larger is better”
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#4
The Segway. It was supposed to change the way everyone lived. The invention of the century or something like that. A really big deal.
#5
Airship travel. These were the next, awesome way to travel long distances; in fact the spire on top of the Empire State Building was meant as an anchoring point for airships.
The Hindenburg kind of put a damper on it, though
#9
Hoverboards? I remember in a span of 3 months everyone had them and showed them off and then they just disappeared.
#13
This one might be a bit obscure just because I've only ever met one other person familiar with it, but Google's Project Ara modular smartphone was looking like it could've been the end all be all of smartphones.
Based off the Phonebloks idea of having a Lego-like hot-swappable module phone, the idea was that you could switch out any components of the phone on the fly. Camera, fingerprint scanner, even different quality screens. Conceptually, it really looked like it could take over the phone market, as it would lead to people not having to buy whole new phones anymore, but rather replacement or upgraded parts to a phone they already liked, thereby reducing costs and increasing utility.
You don't want a phone with 5 cameras that inflate the cost unnecessarily? Just buy a one camera module. You want a 1440P Super Amoled screen to replace your 720P regular screen? Buy one and swap it in.
However, like many Google projects, it died off for myriad reasons and the longstanding era of $1000 dollar smartphone slabs lived on.
#15
What ever happened to those curved televisions? I remember seeing one on an advert a few years back bit havent seen or heard about them since.
#17
Asbestos
Technically it was a hit! Right until it flopped when people figured out the whole 'inhaling rockfibers is not healthy' thing...
#18
Dip N Dots...
Been the "Ice Cream Of The Future" for 40 years now it seems.
#22
QR Codes.
After so many years, they're finally getting some traction during Covid. I wonder if it will last.
#24
Amazon’s shopping buttons. They pushed really hard for those and I never saw the point.
#26
At the time video calling with your phone completely flopped because 3G couldn't support it. There was so much advertising about this thing that was meant to be huge but the tech really didn't work yet. But it did blow up later on with 4G, better phones, wifi in more public spaces.
#27
Hydrogen cars were a promising new form of motorized vehicle. They were supposed to be incredibly good for the environment, emitting only water as the exhaust. They exist, but not like how some people imagined. I was a pretty big hydrogen car believer at the time. There are some hydrogen stations, but mostly centered around California. Thing is that the hydrogen is quite expensive and not very efficient compared to smaller engines, hybrids, and EV’s. The hydrogen is also somewhat inefficient to produce, store, and distribute as well.
You can actually get a hydrogen car though, they’re out there. The Toyota Mirai is a really good example. Out of all hydrogen cars, that one is definitely most popular. In fact, Toyota pays for $15,000 worth of hydrogen in your first few years of ownership since it’s so expensive. This means that for your first 3-ish years of owning one, you might not have to pay a penny in fuel. As you can see I’m still a hydrogen advocate. Don’t expect to be able to take it very far from your nearest hydrogen station though.
#29
The Wii U
Romery Wells 3 years ago
YES. i still have my Wii U pad and all the acceseries to this day. and they work perfect
Guy MacGregor 3 years ago
Fun fact: I actually have my Nintendo Wii U Game developer certificate. And never touched a single Wii U (The development kit, once)
Aliquid A 3 years ago
Why is this on the list.... just add every previous game system. What makes Wii U special?
Vermillion Ace #443 3 years ago
O.o; it had potential, but the flaws it had were just too hard to ignore. That gamepad was a nightmare to work with, and all of that unnecessary touchscreen support stuff...it did at least spawn some decent titles though.
FloridaMan 3 years ago
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA STOP THJE NOSTALGIA ;( I MISS WII IK THEY STILL SELL IT BUT ITS EXPENSIVEEEEEE AND I LIKE WII FIT ITS MY FAVORITE GAME
Jenn Pouzar 3 years ago
My 6 year old really wants a wii u because some Mario games she wants aren't on the Wii...
#30
hat streaming service that lasted like two months. ‘Qubi’ or ‘Qupi’ I think?
Even bad timing aside (a mobile based streaming service at a time when no one could really leave their house) the marketing was just horrible. I saw ads for it for nearly a week before I realized it was a new video streaming service, and by that point was so annoyed by the ads untrusting everything I didn’t care at all, just out of spite. Also I mean it was just YouTube you have to pay for and got worse content.
EDIT: it was Quibi. It made so little impact I couldn’t recall at first.
What do you think ?
GirlFriday 3 years ago (edited)
Remember those robot pets? They were supposed to be the wave of the future. It was an advanced Furby that you could teach tricks and maybe to speak.
Nerds All the Way Down 3 years ago
I do remember that! That's the only thing i recognize tho.
Load More Replies...
Tim Haight 3 years ago
Hair in a can - Hyped breathlessly on off-hour infomercials, spray-on hair is supposed to cover up bald spots. In practice, the can emits a fine powder that ends up looking a little better than if you had used a can of spray paint hairinacan...39d94c.jpg 
Becky Samuel 3 years ago
This is in everyday usage for people on camera. Hardly a failed product.
Load More Replies... Tim Haight 3 years ago
Released at the height of the tech boom in the late 1990s, the CueCat was a massively expensive failure. Millions of the cat-shaped bar-code scanners were produced and shipped for free across the U.S., in hopes that people would use them to scan specially marked bar codes to visit Internet sites. (How this was easier than a typing a link, the company never did answer.) Despite a much ballyhooed launch, with CueCat codes printed in Wired and BusinessWeek, consumers never got into the idea of reading their magazines next to a wired cat-shaped scanner, and the CueCat became little more than a high-tech paperweight. cuecat-608...1eb66c.jpg 
M O'Connell 3 years ago
Their software no longer works, but if you happen to have one of the devices, there is a driver available that lets you use it as an ordinary text-entry barcode scanner. There's a bookstore by me that uses one at checkout.
Load More Replies...
chi-wei shen 3 years ago
What about Youtube Premium? It's still not big and hopefully, it never will be.
Spork420 3 years ago
Those community bikes or scooters or whatever they were that showed up by the hundreds in cities a few years ago and littered every corner. Those came and went real fast.
AzKhaleesi 3 years ago
Those are still all over california but I think everyone realizes how much they cost to up keep etc. plus they were getting stolen.
Load More Replies...
Alex Little 3 years ago
No-one mentioned the Sinclair C5? Although its going back quite a few years, to the mid-80's
ivan bolitekurac 3 years ago
VR doesn't seem to take of as they imagined it.Not saying people aren't using them...
Dee Pond 3 years ago
Those are still a really big thing, they're just called smart phones now.
Load More Replies...
GirlFriday 3 years ago (edited)
Remember those robot pets? They were supposed to be the wave of the future. It was an advanced Furby that you could teach tricks and maybe to speak.
Nerds All the Way Down 3 years ago
I do remember that! That's the only thing i recognize tho.
Load More Replies... Tim Haight 3 years ago
Hair in a can - Hyped breathlessly on off-hour infomercials, spray-on hair is supposed to cover up bald spots. In practice, the can emits a fine powder that ends up looking a little better than if you had used a can of spray paint hairinacan...39d94c.jpg
Becky Samuel 3 years ago
This is in everyday usage for people on camera. Hardly a failed product.
Load More Replies... Tim Haight 3 years ago
Released at the height of the tech boom in the late 1990s, the CueCat was a massively expensive failure. Millions of the cat-shaped bar-code scanners were produced and shipped for free across the U.S., in hopes that people would use them to scan specially marked bar codes to visit Internet sites. (How this was easier than a typing a link, the company never did answer.) Despite a much ballyhooed launch, with CueCat codes printed in Wired and BusinessWeek, consumers never got into the idea of reading their magazines next to a wired cat-shaped scanner, and the CueCat became little more than a high-tech paperweight. cuecat-608...1eb66c.jpg
M O'Connell 3 years ago
Their software no longer works, but if you happen to have one of the devices, there is a driver available that lets you use it as an ordinary text-entry barcode scanner. There's a bookstore by me that uses one at checkout.
Load More Replies... chi-wei shen 3 years ago
What about Youtube Premium? It's still not big and hopefully, it never will be.
Spork420 3 years ago
Those community bikes or scooters or whatever they were that showed up by the hundreds in cities a few years ago and littered every corner. Those came and went real fast.
AzKhaleesi 3 years ago
Those are still all over california but I think everyone realizes how much they cost to up keep etc. plus they were getting stolen.
Load More Replies... Alex Little 3 years ago
No-one mentioned the Sinclair C5? Although its going back quite a few years, to the mid-80's
ivan bolitekurac 3 years ago
VR doesn't seem to take of as they imagined it.Not saying people aren't using them...
Dee Pond 3 years ago
Those are still a really big thing, they're just called smart phones now.
Load More Replies... 
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