30 Times The So-Called ‘Next Big Thing’ Crashed and Burned

In the fast-paced world of technology and innovation, the promise of the “next big thing” is a constant source of excitement and anticipation. However, not every groundbreaking idea or revolutionary product lives up to the hype.

A Reddit thread recently surfaced, gathering insights from users who shared their perspectives on the epic failures that shattered the dreams of being the next big thing. Let’s take a look at some examples that demonstrate how even the most promising innovations can fall short of expectations.

More info: Reddit

#1

Crypto

#2

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.

#3

NFTs

#4

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.

#5

Olestra. If you were old enough in the 90s, you remember everyone s******g their pants over it.

#6

Google+. Everyone thought it’s gonna be the facebook killer, now it’s just a history.

#7

Sega Dreamcast

#8

Betamax

#9

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.

#10

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).

#11

The XFL

#12

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.

#13

Fidget spinners were big in 2017. I can’t find one now, and I don’t know what else to do with my hands.

#14

3D TVs

#15

Meta. Lol, who ever thought that rebranding would would be a good thing was an idiot.

#16

Metaverse

#17

The term “Fetch”

#18

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.

#19

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.

#20

Minidiscs.

#21

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.

#22

Flying cars.

#23

World war I. It was supposed to be the war to end all wars.

#24

Ngage, a phone and and a videogame system! Too bad you had to remove the battery whenever you wanted to change games.

#25

The Titanic.

#26

M. Night Shyamalan was once called the next Spielberg…

#27

400 million in funding that evaporated gives it to Theranos.

#28

Laserdisc.

#29

2012 apocalypse

#30

Google Stadia/Streaming Games (in general)

Saumya Ratan

Saumya is an explorer of all things beautiful, quirky, and heartwarming. With her knack for art, design, photography, fun trivia, and internet humor, she takes you on a journey through the lighter side of pop culture.

20 Things That Were Destined To Become “The Next Big Thing” But Ended Up Flopping

Every year we’re introduced to some new tech or item that claims to be “the next big thing”. Sadly, after the initial hype dies down, most of the time we stop hear about it completely until it eventually fades into obscurity. However, not everyone has forgotten some of these technological blunders.

Recently, one Reddit user asked others to share some things that claimed to be “the next big thing” but ended up flopping, and some of the answers might bring back some memories. Google Glass, curved televisions, Segways and much more – check out all of the groundbreaking things that failed to live up to their expectations in the gallery below!

More Info: Reddit

#1

Google Glass

#2

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”

#3

The Panama Papers

#4

2020

#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

#6

Google+ was supposed to be the answer to Facebook

#7

Mini disc

#8

3D TV

#9

The Segway. It was supposed to change the way everyone lived. The invention of the century or something like that. A really big deal.

#10

Hoverboards? I remember in a span of 3 months everyone had them and showed them off and then they just disappeared.

#11

The European Super League.

#12

The area 51 raid.

#13

The “Dark Universe” cinematic universe, starting with 2017’s THE MUMMY.

#14

Windows phones.

#15

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.

#16

Xbox Kinect

#17

Asbestos

Technically it was a hit! Right until it flopped when people figured out the whole ‘inhaling rockfibers is not healthy’ thing…

#18

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.

#19

Dip N Dots…

Been the “Ice Cream Of The Future” for 40 years now it seems.

#20

McDonald’s pizza.

Aušrys Uptas

One day, this guy just kind of figured - “I spend most of my time on the internet anyway, why not turn it into a profession?” - and he did! Now he not only gets to browse the latest cat videos and fresh memes every day but also shares them with people all over the world, making sure they stay up to date with everything that’s trending on the web. Some things that always pique his interest are old technologies, literature and all sorts of odd vintage goodness. So if you find something that’s too bizarre not to share, make sure to hit him up!