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35 Times Something Failed Miserably Despite Being Declared As ‘The Next Big Thing’
Interview With Expert
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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#2
Olestra. If you were old enough in the 90s, you remember everyone s******g their pants over it.
TheGoodBoi 9 months ago
"Olestra can cause diarrhea and loose stools, abdominal cramps, flatulence, and other adverse effects. Those symptoms are sometimes severe."...Oof
#3
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.
Jeremy James 9 months ago
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
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.
#4
Google+. Everyone thought it's gonna be the facebook killer, now it's just a history.
Luke Branwen 9 months ago
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.
#6
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.
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.
#7
Crypto
Paul Macdonell 9 months ago
At some point governments, sick of criminals using crypto, will require full sender and receiver exposure. This will kill the need for crypto
#8
Meta. Lol, who ever thought that rebranding would would be a good thing was an idiot.
Erik Decker 9 months ago
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.
#9
Metaverse
Virgil Blue 9 months ago
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.
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.”
#10
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.
Jeff White 9 months ago
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
#11
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.
Jeremy James 9 months ago
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.
#12
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.
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
World war I. It was supposed to be the war to end all wars.
#14
The term “Fetch”
Dee Breezy 9 months ago
What???? Me and my fancy pantsed hipster friends use "fetch" all the time!!
Crybabyartist 9 months ago
If you're going to use fetch, then you should stay consistent and call them fancy bloomers.
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Ravens Mom 9 months ago
I don't even use that with my dog - I just say "get the ball" and he does :)
“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
Minidiscs.
Philly Bob Squires 9 months ago
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.
#17
The Titanic.
#18
Ngage, a phone and and a videogame system! Too bad you had to remove the battery whenever you wanted to change games.
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
400 million in funding that evaporated gives it to Theranos.
#20
M. Night Shyamalan was once called the next Spielberg...
#21
Laserdisc.
2bwhctmvgn 9 months ago
:( 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.
#22
2012 apocalypse
Luke Branwen 9 months ago
People say that the 2012 apocalpyse was fake, but in a sense... it was around that time the world ceased to feel real.
#23
Fidget spinners were big in 2017. I can't find one now, and I don't know what else to do with my hands.
Nichole Harris 9 months ago
Go to the dollar only store in a bad neighborhood..... Meth heads love those
#26
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.
#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).
#29
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.
#30
Sega Dreamcast
TheGoodBoi 9 months ago
Looooved the Dreamcast. Visiting my cousins, we'd play this all day and night.
#32
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.
#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.
What do you think ?
DeoManus Argentem 9 months ago
No Segway? Was kept secret for so long as the thing that would "completely revolutionize our society."
Rostit.. . 9 months ago
no, segways are doing just fine. They are all over the place.
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Guess Undheit 9 months ago
ALL “12-step recovery programs" are religious cults, and their claims of "success" are buckshot. They only count the "successes" and don't count the failures when claiming percentages.
bElLa sTairZz 9 months ago
hey, some of them are just cults. no religion involved
Load More Replies... Rostit.. . 9 months ago
You all just posted this exact thread a week ago. Same items basically too. Also, Blackberry was not a company. They were called RIM.
bElLa sTairZz 9 months ago
okay mate, how about we go read some other lists then :)
Load More Replies... Carl Roberts 9 months ago
Nuon. Was supposed to be the next step in DVD interactivity, and intended to compete with video game systems. Only a handful of players were made, only 4 films were released on the format, and a few games.
Csaba Horvath 9 months ago (edited)
Many of these were never released. Others were used widely, so not failed, but got succeeded by something after a long period. Nobody mentioned MMS. So that was a fail.
Tiffany Wilson 9 months ago
Does anyone remember the streaming service that Movie Gallery tried to launch 18 years ago? I worked at the home office at the time and the box you had to buy was extremely expensive. You would pick a video and you had 48 hours to watch it and then it would disappear. They called it Movie Beam. It never left the ground.
SadieCat17 (she/her) 9 months ago
It wasn't exactly a total flop, but the steam deck is my favorite example. It's incredibly well made and worth the price, especially since unlike the nintendo switch you don't have to buy any new games. Playing elden ring in a coffee shop/airplane/bed? Count me in. It can run ultra graphics on high end rpgs and still have an 11 hour battery life. Sadly though valve absolutely choked on marketing so it's essentially never thought about. I promise that this isn't an advertisement, but I'm so sad how it flopped.
Rostit.. . 9 months ago
They're not a flop at all. It has a healthy user base.
Load More Replies... DeoManus Argentem 9 months ago
No Segway? Was kept secret for so long as the thing that would "completely revolutionize our society."
Rostit.. . 9 months ago
no, segways are doing just fine. They are all over the place.
Load More Replies... Guess Undheit 9 months ago
ALL “12-step recovery programs" are religious cults, and their claims of "success" are buckshot. They only count the "successes" and don't count the failures when claiming percentages.
bElLa sTairZz 9 months ago
hey, some of them are just cults. no religion involved
Load More Replies... Rostit.. . 9 months ago
You all just posted this exact thread a week ago. Same items basically too. Also, Blackberry was not a company. They were called RIM.
bElLa sTairZz 9 months ago
okay mate, how about we go read some other lists then :)
Load More Replies... Carl Roberts 9 months ago
Nuon. Was supposed to be the next step in DVD interactivity, and intended to compete with video game systems. Only a handful of players were made, only 4 films were released on the format, and a few games.
Csaba Horvath 9 months ago (edited)
Many of these were never released. Others were used widely, so not failed, but got succeeded by something after a long period. Nobody mentioned MMS. So that was a fail.
Tiffany Wilson 9 months ago
Does anyone remember the streaming service that Movie Gallery tried to launch 18 years ago? I worked at the home office at the time and the box you had to buy was extremely expensive. You would pick a video and you had 48 hours to watch it and then it would disappear. They called it Movie Beam. It never left the ground.
SadieCat17 (she/her) 9 months ago
It wasn't exactly a total flop, but the steam deck is my favorite example. It's incredibly well made and worth the price, especially since unlike the nintendo switch you don't have to buy any new games. Playing elden ring in a coffee shop/airplane/bed? Count me in. It can run ultra graphics on high end rpgs and still have an 11 hour battery life. Sadly though valve absolutely choked on marketing so it's essentially never thought about. I promise that this isn't an advertisement, but I'm so sad how it flopped.
Rostit.. . 9 months ago
They're not a flop at all. It has a healthy user base.
Load More Replies...
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