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Our world is constantly evolving, and there always seems to be some “next big thing” that’s supposed to have a major impact on our lives. But while some of these promises come true, many more are heavily underdelivered.

There have been plenty of occasions when something seemingly so impressive turned out to be nothing more than an absolute flop. As one Reddit user found out, these oversold disappointments are not so easily forgotten because when they asked other netizens to point them out, the answers came pouring through. Scroll down to see some of the best ones!

More info: Reddit

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#1

35 Times Something Failed Miserably Despite Being Declared As ‘The Next Big Thing’ NFTs

w3tnut123 , pinguino k Report

Final score:
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#2

35 Times Something Failed Miserably Despite Being Declared As ‘The Next Big Thing’ Olestra. If you were old enough in the 90s, you remember everyone s******g their pants over it.

jano808 , Alena Shekhovtcova Report

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TheGoodBoi
TheGoodBoi
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

"Olestra can cause diarrhea and loose stools, abdominal cramps, flatulence, and other adverse effects. Those symptoms are sometimes severe."...Oof

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#3

35 Times Something Failed Miserably Despite Being Declared As ‘The Next Big Thing’ Modular phones. I can remember reading about how being able to choose and change the different modules based on your phone needs (better camera, better speakers, etc.) was gonna kill the iPhone. Kind of a shame really, they sounded pretty cool.

SheogorathMyBeloved , Maurizio Pesce Report

Final score:
120points
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Jeremy James
Jeremy James
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

But then, if one component failed, you could just easily replace it instead of throwing the whole phone in the trash and buying a new one. Obviously, we can't have that! /s

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Probably the top reason for big things flopping is overpromising, followed by underdelivering. A good deal of people keep doing that over and over, and people keep falling for that time and time again. 

With this forming a certain pattern, we became curious to understand why this keeps happening. With this in mind, Bored Panda reached out to Nick Hatter, a therapeutic life coach, who had some interesting takes on the subject. 

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#4

35 Times Something Failed Miserably Despite Being Declared As ‘The Next Big Thing’ Google+. Everyone thought it's gonna be the facebook killer, now it's just a history.

AnIgnorablePerson , Mohamed Hassan Report

Final score:
111points
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Luke Branwen
Luke Branwen
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I was on G+ for some time and it was actually a fun site in a sense. Something like Tumblr lite. Met a lot of good people there.

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#5

35 Times Something Failed Miserably Despite Being Declared As ‘The Next Big Thing’ 3D TVs

anon , Joe C Report

Final score:
110points
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#6

35 Times Something Failed Miserably Despite Being Declared As ‘The Next Big Thing’ New Coke. The company changed the recipe, and people were so mad that within 3 months they brought back the old one, which is why today it's called Coke Classic.

repairmanjack Report

Final score:
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randombard avatar
Robin
Robin
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Wasn't this all a tactic to change the recipe to cheeper products, new coke was made to fail intentionally so they could bring back "old" coke but actually changed the recipe a little. Or am I misremembering?

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The expert began by saying that there are several different reasons why people tend to act this way, including personal gain and insecurities. But while many people usually associate the “next big thing” with something of a worldwide scale, this can just as well apply to smaller things, like dating, that, on a personal level, can have just as much, if not more, significance. 

“In online dating, people oversell and lie -- a lot! Around 80% of online daters lie, according to one study,” said the therapeutic life coach, explaining that many men oversell themselves by embellishing their job title and lying about their height, age, or even marital status. 

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#7

35 Times Something Failed Miserably Despite Being Declared As ‘The Next Big Thing’ Crypto

Responsible_Prune_34 , David McBee Report

Final score:
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Paul Macdonell
Paul Macdonell
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

At some point governments, sick of criminals using crypto, will require full sender and receiver exposure. This will kill the need for crypto

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#8

35 Times Something Failed Miserably Despite Being Declared As ‘The Next Big Thing’ Meta. Lol, who ever thought that rebranding would would be a good thing was an idiot.

A_Bit_Off_Kilter , Julio Lopez Report

Final score:
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Erik Decker
Erik Decker
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It wasn't a rebranding, it was a restructuring. Google did it to, they're actually Alphabet. Doing so allows them to more efficiently use funding, and boosts the entire flow of the company. Next.

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#9

35 Times Something Failed Miserably Despite Being Declared As ‘The Next Big Thing’ Metaverse

anon , Roland Legrand Report

Final score:
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Virgil Blue
Virgil Blue
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The problem.is in my eyes is that they tried to replicate real life things like shopping malls and clothing stores almost 1 to 1 in VR instead of making new and amazing things people would want to experience. Who the heck wants to hold a VR meeting in a replica digital office looking like a giant teddybear or something.

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But while we found out why people tend to oversell things, the question of why some also fall for them still remains. Well, according to the expert, it’s sometimes as simple as people desperately wanting to believe in something because of how incredibly wonderful it would be if it were true. 

When we fantasize about something that we want strongly enough, we can become blind to every sign saying that it’s not real. Continuing on his dating example, Nick said, “The human desire for love can be a strong one -- and even if there are obvious red flags (such as something appearing too good to be true), some may still choose to ignore such red flags to fulfill the fantasy of finding love and lasting happiness.”

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#10

35 Times Something Failed Miserably Despite Being Declared As ‘The Next Big Thing’ The U.S. “going metric.” We were taught as kids that we’d be thinking in kg and meters by the time we were adults.

jk1962 , cottonbro studio Report

Final score:
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Jeff White
Jeff White
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I am from the US. The Metric system is demonstrably better than Imperial. I can "force" you to admit that after 3 - 4 one minute demonstrations. The US is being idiotic maintaining its adherence to the Imperial system

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#11

35 Times Something Failed Miserably Despite Being Declared As ‘The Next Big Thing’ BlackBerry without the keyboard. Fell flat on its face. Too bad was a great Canadian company and a world leader in mobile devices until they got so arrogant they thought they knew what the consumer wanted but didn't. Buh bye BB.

SaintJohnBiDog , aaltonen Report

Final score:
86points
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sprite420 avatar
Jeremy James
Jeremy James
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I miss physical keyboards on mobile devices. Even the clunky old T9 keypads were cool because you could discreetly write and send a text message from your pocket. Try doing that on a touch screen.

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#12

35 Times Something Failed Miserably Despite Being Declared As ‘The Next Big Thing’ Quibi, the streaming service with 5-10 minute long tv shows meant to be watched on mobile. They spent nearly $2 billion, recruited A List celebrities, were run by a former Disney executive/cofounder of Dreamworks, and completely tanked within 6 months. I believe they try to blame their failure on the pandemic, but realistically, this is what happens when a bunch of out-of-touch media executives get too into being “data-driven” and think they can synergize and scale their way into being cool. I have worked with this particular kind of star-f*cker executive and it was so satisfying and validating to see this stuff fail.

crushingqwerty , Andrea Piacquadio Report

Final score:
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Shane G
Shane G
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

They did indeed try to blame the pandemic, which is hilarious since the pandemic greatly increased streaming.

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But when it comes to something that’s supposed to be the “next big thing,” perhaps it’s not always about overselling something that you know is not what you present it to be. After all, there is a saying that the more you announce your goals to others, the less likely you are to achieve them.

When we asked Nick whether he thought there was any truth in this saying, he answered that it depends on who you’re announcing to and how you’re doing it. “Social accountability can actually be a powerful tool,” said the expert, explaining that announcing your goals can be very useful if you do it for something more than just attracting attention. 
#13

35 Times Something Failed Miserably Despite Being Declared As ‘The Next Big Thing’ World war I. It was supposed to be the war to end all wars.

stokatabrat , Veteran Affairs Canada Report

Final score:
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Donald
Donald
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Tbf I believe it was referred to as "The Great War" until WWII kicked off

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#14

35 Times Something Failed Miserably Despite Being Declared As ‘The Next Big Thing’ The term “Fetch”

epmoya , TM & © Paramount (2004) Report

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#15

35 Times Something Failed Miserably Despite Being Declared As ‘The Next Big Thing’ Flying cars.

anon , wiki commons Report

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Mike D
Mike D
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

After seeing how people drive on rods, do you really want them free in 3D space?

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“12-Step recovery programs like Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) involve a lot of social accountability, such as by sharing progress in meetings or with a recovery coach (known as a ‘sponsor’),” continued Nick, adding that according to one study, when it comes to keeping people sober, AA has actually shown a lot more effectiveness that therapies like cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT).

“As human beings, some of us do not like to look bad in front of others or let people down. As a life coach myself, accountability is also something I find for my own clients to be quite an effective tool for helping them break through procrastination and helping them achieve their goals,” summarized the therapeutic life coach.
#16

35 Times Something Failed Miserably Despite Being Declared As ‘The Next Big Thing’ Minidiscs.

AhFourFeckSakeLads , Matt Cornock Report

Final score:
67points
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Philly Bob Squires
Philly Bob Squires
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I still have 2 recorders and a player! I used the extesively in recording live shows off of soundboards in the day. A great concept but MP3s and streaming killed it.

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#17

35 Times Something Failed Miserably Despite Being Declared As ‘The Next Big Thing’ The Titanic.

Teaandbiscuits7 , Fidodog14 and SandyShores03 Report

Final score:
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#18

35 Times Something Failed Miserably Despite Being Declared As ‘The Next Big Thing’ Ngage, a phone and and a videogame system! Too bad you had to remove the battery whenever you wanted to change games.

Commander_Random , Evan-Amos Report

Final score:
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Jesha
Jesha
Community Member
9 months ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Ah, the sublime beauty of the design of the faceplate looking like goats.e. Breathtaking.

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In the end, just like Nick said, there are many reasons why people tend to oversell things that eventually flop. But whether it’s because of personal gain, insecurities, overexcitement, or anything else, we can’t really stop people from doing it. There will always be big promises that sound too good to be true, and it will always be nice to fantasize about what it would be like if they did come through. But to avoid disappointment with these things, keeping just a bit of skepticism won't hurt.

What did you think about this story? What are some of the “next big things” that eventually flopped that you would add to this list? Type it all in the comments below!
#19

35 Times Something Failed Miserably Despite Being Declared As ‘The Next Big Thing’ 400 million in funding that evaporated gives it to Theranos.

WannaTeleportMassive , TechCrunch Report

Final score:
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#20

35 Times Something Failed Miserably Despite Being Declared As ‘The Next Big Thing’ M. Night Shyamalan was once called the next Spielberg...

TheNinjaDC , The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon Report

Final score:
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#21

35 Times Something Failed Miserably Despite Being Declared As ‘The Next Big Thing’ Laserdisc.

Material_Ambition_95 , @LIQUIDBONEZ Report

Final score:
49points
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2bwhctmvgn
2bwhctmvgn
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

:( It was an amazing format at the time. It was about twice the horizonal resolution of VHS, and supported anamorphic encoding, so you didn't lose a significant amount of that horizonal resolution to letterboxed black bars (if you had a compatible TV). It's most long-lasting innovation, though, may have been that it introduced commentary tracks.

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#22

35 Times Something Failed Miserably Despite Being Declared As ‘The Next Big Thing’ 2012 apocalypse

neeeenbean , cottonbro studio Report

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Luke Branwen
Luke Branwen
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

People say that the 2012 apocalpyse was fake, but in a sense... it was around that time the world ceased to feel real.

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#23

35 Times Something Failed Miserably Despite Being Declared As ‘The Next Big Thing’ Fidget spinners were big in 2017. I can't find one now, and I don't know what else to do with my hands.

JFKRFKSRVLBJ , David Bartus Report

Final score:
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Nichole Harris
Nichole Harris
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Go to the dollar only store in a bad neighborhood..... Meth heads love those

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#24

35 Times Something Failed Miserably Despite Being Declared As ‘The Next Big Thing’ Amazon's Fire Phone.

rntopspin100 , Romazur Report

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Lisa B
Lisa B
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The Kindle Fire tablet is such garbage, a phone would have been a joke.

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#25

Betamax

tejt99 Report

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DeShotz
DeShotz
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

VHS was a more open format, whereas Betamax was tightly controlled by Sony. That, and some people say that the adult entertainment industry going with VHS may have been a major factor.

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#26

35 Times Something Failed Miserably Despite Being Declared As ‘The Next Big Thing’ There was this lady who said laboratory testing could be reduced to a machine the size of a microwave… turns out it was all a scam.

knomore-llama_horse , Chokniti Khongchum Report

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#27

DivX.
DIVX was a rental format variation on the DVD player in which a customer would buy a DIVX disc (similar to a DVD) for approximately US$4.50, which was watchable for up to 48 hours from its initial viewing. After this period, the disc could be viewed by paying a continuation fee to play it for two more days. Viewers who wanted to watch a disc an unlimited number of times could convert the disc to a "DIVX silver" disc for an additional fee.

It lasted for about a year back in the late 1990s before dying — even with the backing of major studios who wanted a piece of the video rental market.

Edit: thanks to those who pointed out the error in my reference to DIVX (the unsuccessful rental company) vs DivX (the compression CODEC).

Viperlite Report

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Csaba Horvath
Csaba Horvath
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

DivX was not a fail. It was used widely for a decade or longer.

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#28

35 Times Something Failed Miserably Despite Being Declared As ‘The Next Big Thing’ Google Stadia/Streaming Games (in general)

Ok_Chocolate3253 , Marco Verch Report

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#29

35 Times Something Failed Miserably Despite Being Declared As ‘The Next Big Thing’ Taleo. It was supposed to be this site that, if I remember correctly, would enable you to just have a resume and you could quickly apply to a job and submit a cover letter.

Guess HR people got tired of all the resumes that were junk. We have LinkedIn and Indeed Instant apply, but really, I just wanted a central place to upload my resume to apply for jobs.

elementaryfrequency9 , cottonbro studio Report

Final score:
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TheGoodBoi
TheGoodBoi
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Upload resume. Now type in the resume. Now answer 200 questions :)

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#30

35 Times Something Failed Miserably Despite Being Declared As ‘The Next Big Thing’ Sega Dreamcast

anon , Ryan Somma Report

Final score:
35points
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TheGoodBoi
TheGoodBoi
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Looooved the Dreamcast. Visiting my cousins, we'd play this all day and night.

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#31

35 Times Something Failed Miserably Despite Being Declared As ‘The Next Big Thing’ The XFL

badlilbadlandabad , ajay_suresh Report

Final score:
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Mike F
Mike F
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Personally, they could play football (US football) on my lawn and I wouldn't watch it so the addition of yet ANOTHER league appeals to me even less.

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#32

35 Times Something Failed Miserably Despite Being Declared As ‘The Next Big Thing’ Lifi, WiFi that works with light reflections, all reflective surfaces in the house must be eliminated, so safe to assume it wasn't very successful amongst people who use their phone in the toilet.

Muted_Warthog_942 , Joel Paim Report

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#33

Single-stage-to-orbit spacecraft. This one might take a bit of explaining.

You'll obviously be familiar with the Space Shuttle, which was retired in 2011 with no immediate replacement. But the thing is, even back in the 1990s, NASA was already looking at what the Space Shuttle's successor would be. And one idea they really fixed on was that, whatever this replacement would be, it would have to be a *single-stage rocket.* See, the space shuttle itself was reusable, but it relied on disposable outboard rockets to reach space, and those had to be replaced after every flight. So, the logic went, if a spacecraft could launch and reach orbit all in one piece-- without dumping its rocket boosters every time-- then it would be cheaper and more efficient.

NASA decided to build something called the X-33, which was this funny-looking triangle-shaped spacecraft that could fly up to space and back using just its own engines. It didn't need any rocket boosters the way the shuttle did. So for a while in the 1990s, it looked like single-stage spacecraft were the way of the future. But as they say, reality bites. It turned out that the X-33's special engines made it too heavy to fly, let alone reach space, and it was cancelled in 2001 before the prototype was finished. After that, NASA kind of fell out of love with the whole single-stage-to-orbit concept, and to this day they've never built one.

ElSquibbonator Report

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DeShotz
DeShotz
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The solid rocket boosters were recovered and reused. Only the external fuel tank was expended with each launch.

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#34

The resurrection of the DCEU, now will get a reset.

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#35

35 Times Something Failed Miserably Despite Being Declared As ‘The Next Big Thing’ Ouya.

Beard341 , Carlos Sancho Report

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Jesha
Jesha
Community Member
9 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

So many of my friends were completely geeked about this thing and SO excited for it to release. Never heard them talk about it again, but I'm still curious to try one.

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