With technological innovations seemingly breaking the speed of sound, it’s easy to believe that we’re always on the verge of revolutionary breakthroughs. The hype machine tells us that thing X or Y is going to “change the game”, and, most of the time, many of us fall for it, especially at the early-adopter end of the bell curve.
Someone asked an online community, “What was supposed to be ‘The Next Big Thing’ but totally flopped?” and netizens didn’t hold back with their answers. From NFTs to Cybertrucks, here’s a collection of some of our favorites.
More info: Reddit
#1
Segway.
vikki_1996 reply:
SNL news once discussed the Segway launch by saying ‘this amazing invention is going to revolutionize…the way people get hit by cars.’
#2
NFTs.
Capt_Rons_Lost_Eye reply:
I still don’t understand the purpose of them
Image source: Sprzout, Coinhako
#3
Cyber truck.
WeeklyMath9 reply:
They’re just so ugly. I always felt like the design team stopped like 25% in and said “we’re done”
Image source: Ok-Resort2364, Maxim
#4
Facebook’s MetaVerse.
prettythings87 reply:
Yes LOL I still think about the lame thumbnails they released to show what it looked like
Image source: no-guts_no-glory, ZookeepergameWaste94
#5
Y2K.
peternormal reply:
Y2k might have been the last time we listened to scientists as a society.
It happened, and it would have been bad, but we knew it was going to happen and put resources into fixing it ahead of time.
As someone who worked in banking software at the time. It was a big big deal, the fact that nothing happened was a testament to executives and the government actually believing computer scientists and spending money to fix the issue.
Image source: realheadphonecandy, Ben Szymanski
#6
Google+ was supposed to be facebook big rival.
BituminousBitumin reply:
It couls have been if Google hadn’t fumbled so hard. It came about at a time when Facebook was making some very unpopular changes. The platform was actually really good.
Image source: Powerful-Papaya-2411, Shutter Speed
#7
As an American I was told we would be switching over to the metric system when I was growing up in the seventies. Never did see that really happen.
Image source: Ok-Dress-4791, Mark Owen Wilkinson Hughes
#8
Virtual reality, like two or three times.
LordsOfFrenziedFlame reply:
I wouldn’t say it flopped. It comes in waves, with each wave bringing progress
Image source: WranglerNew673, Azwedo L.LC
#9
When Radio Shack rebranded itself as “The Shack”. It was one of the stupidest rebrands in history.
Image source: G-Unit11111, Mike Mozart
#10
Augmented reality glasses.
eac292625 reply:
They still have limited use in warehouses. We use them to quickly show item info and they’re really cool for that.
Image source: Dakota1228, patrickdaxenbichler
#11
Microsoft Zune.
TypicalDaydreem reply:
Haha I asked my grandma for an iPod for Xmas one year and I got a pink zune. 😂
Image source: Dont_Touch_Me_There9, LennyFaze0
#12
Russell Brand. When that dude hit the States he was shoved down our throats from all angles. Good to see he failed.
Image source: mcrib, WikiMedia
#13
AI. Mark my words.
Tech companies are already tempering expectations.
wagwa2001l reply:
AI shares a lot in common with Flat Earthers – it doesn’t have the ability to distinguish good information from bad and so mostly just regurgitates garbage that confuses some people into thinking it’s intelligent.
Image source: RiskyMFer, Emiliano Vittoriosi
#14
3D tv.
dayofthedead204 reply:
Im still disappointed this didn’t take off.
I still have 3D Blu Rays and a 3D Projector home theatre at home – and Jurassic Park kicks ass in 3D. It’s basically the only way you can watch 3D movies at home (unless I’m mistaken). And the only way you can watch a 3D movie is when it’s in theatres.
Which is kinda disappointing.
Image source: Flaky-Debate-833, Sigmund
#15
Olean was supposed to be the future of healthy potato chips.
Training-Athlete4348 reply:
I loved when they added the warning “do not assume it is gas”.
Image source: Upstairs_Principle48, hotbowlsofjustice
#16
Betamax.
co0p3r reply:
Betamax flopped commercially but became the standard for professional use and had a very good run.
Image source: HolymakinawJoe, CaptainGibb
#17
Countries coming together to combat climate change.
Image source: swimming_in_agates, Getty Images
#18
Democracy.
Carma_626 reply:
I wouldn’t say democracy failed. Of all the forms of government it seems to be the lesser of evils.
No regime is going to be flawless. As long as humans are involved, with their greed and self interest, it is virtually impossible to have a fair and equal government body.
If only the general population weren’t so completely stupid…
Image source: RamblinLamb, Drazen Zigic
#19
Google glass.
kytheon reply:
Tried it, hated it. The idea is great, the execution was so bad that nobody else tried ever since.
Image source: crazycatlady331, freepik
#20
I remember when I was in middle school during the Bush administration we were told about how great hydrogen fuel cells were going to be and how every car would run on them. Haven’t heard much about hydrogen fuel cells since.
Image source: Pometacomet, Getty Images
#21
HD DVD lost out to Blu-ray pretty spectacularly.
No-Author-2358 reply:
The picture quality of Blu-ray is amazing. So much better than DVD.
Image source: _paaronormal, OkBluejay5742
#22
Minidisk.
BlacksmithInformal80 reply:
Early 90’s my uncle took me out with him to rent some CDs (yeah you could rent CDs), and he pointed to some stand and said “those are the wave of the future. They’ll replace CDs in a few years”. They were mini disk. The first last and only time I had ever heard of them.
Image source: Tasty_Celery_5124, Bodega
#23
Dippin’ Dots.
Admiral_Ash reply:
I’m from Kansas and Dippin Dots are everywhere here. Still going strong.
Image source: westex74, Martin Lewison
#24
Crystal Pepsi.
rakozink reply:
It was better than regular Pepsi. Not a high bar but I did appreciate it.
Image source: Habibti143, Dry-Appearance7290
#25
Windows phone.
Rikers-Mailbox reply:
Had one, loved it. I was so disappointed that MSFT whiffed the smartphone afte being the leader for so long.
Image source: Repulsive_Side2492, JÉSHOOTS
#26
Sub Prime Mortgages.
Image source: godzillabobber, rawpixel.com
#27
Curved screen TVs. I thought I was in the future the first time I saw one of those.
Image source: makinglunch, XDA
#28
I would argue Blockchain never attained its promise of a transformative technology. I would not be surprised if Bitcoin ends up in the same place.
Image source: AusTex2019, Worldspectrum
#29
Those Apple 🍎 Glasses 👓
Image source: Ok_Respond2064, Hans Herrington
#30
Self driving Teslas
Image source: Silver_Mousse9498, Vladimir Srajber
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