Our world has changed immensely over the past few decades. The future is now!.. And that can be a thrilling yet frightening thought. With the spread of the internet, the rise of social media, more and more automation, and the oncoming tide of AI, it’s hard to make predictions about what even the near future might look like.
One Reddit user, u/HRJafael, fired up an interesting online discussion about the seemingly obsolete companies that folks were surprised to find (somehow) alive and kicking even in 2023. And it turns out that AOL and Xerox are two of them which took us completely by surprise. Scroll down to see what other businesses aren’t as forgotten as many might think.
Bored Panda wanted to learn about the features of thriving companies and how once-successful businesses can become relevant again. That’s why we got in touch with Matt Johnson, Ph.D., a consumer psychology specialist, host of the human nature blog, and the author of ‘Branding that Means Business.’ According to Johnson, some of the oldest companies in the world go all the way back to the 500s and they were focused on long-term thinking, a stable industry, and private ownership. You’ll find our full interview with the expert as you read on.
#1
I’m just happy altoids are still around and still in metal packages :)
Image source: tay_tot, wikipedia.org
#2
Smith-Corona Typewriter Company is still alive and well.
Write on!
Image source: skaote, wikipedia.or
#3
Microcenter. Outlived circuit city, radio shack, and Fry’s. They’re the last man standing.
Their prices match those you can find online, and their employees are old-school helpful.
They deserve to have survived this long, and I’ll be genuinely sad if they disappear.
Image source: OkGene2, wikipedia.org
#4
There’s a secret society among us that is keeping Long John Silvers afloat
Image source: EMPRAH40k
#5
I had some older woman knocking on my door at like 2pm on a Wednesday trying to come in and give me a demo of a Kirby vacuum cleaner.
Also, door-to-door salespeople are apparently still a thing in 2023
Image source: jimx117, Mike Jones
#6
No one will see this as it’ll get buried. But Chuck E Cheese.
How did they survive the pandemic? They were even on DoorDash during that time too. Who in their right mind would say “you know, I’m really wanting some cardboard pizza”.
Image source: Slayer_2K
#7
Beauty pageants and sea world.
Image source: Intelligent_Put_3594
#8
I read that Netflix just announced they are going to stop mailing DVD’s for rental in the next few months. I thought they stopped doing that a long time ago.
Image source: King_Kong_The_eleven, AGOTFAN
#9
Catholic Church
Image source: AtlasShrugged-
#10
Applebees. I can microwave my own food.
Image source: User8675309021069, wikipedia.org
#11
Party city. Their stores are huge and every time I go there’s less then 10 customers
Image source: iamnotkelly, wikipedia.org
#12
Any MLM company.. I’m not sure how there are still people that dumb.
Image source: dennydiamonds
#13
tupperware offers close to free replacements of your products, forever. you only need to buy something once and then you basically have it for life. how do they make any money? we haven’t bought anything new from tupperware in like 20 years, we just send stuff back and they replace them
Image source: horriblyefficient, colorado_sunrise86
#14
The British Royal Family.
Image source: MoggyFluffyDevilCat
#15
World Book Encyclopedia.
Image source: urkdor73, wikipedia.org
#16
MySpace.com is still fully functioning
Image source: Highscore611, wikipedia.org
#17
The yellow pages.
Image source: AlternativeSelfee, wikipedia.org
#18
Yahoo!
Image source: Burwylf
#19
Hooters
Image source: ojiret
#20
I mean we all know Mattress Firms are a nationwide front right?
Image source: willpowerpt, wikipedia.org
#21
I’m truly shocked that buffet restaurants like Golden Corral survived the pandemic.
Image source: Many_Statistician587
#22
XEROX.
It’s like they have been actively and consistently trying to snatch defeat from the jaws of success for the last 3+ decades.
Their in-house researchers were the first to pioneer, and subsequently discard, graphical user interfaces for computers (later copied to huge success by Apple and Microsoft), the ethernet protocol (backbone of the modern internet), the computer mouse, modern WYSIWYG editors which are now the industry standard way of building interfaces for modern apps, and SO MANY OTHER THINGS.
If XEROX had just followed through to market on one or two of their prototypes, instead of giving them away, they might have had a bigger market cap than Microsoft and Apple combined today.
Instead, they are mainly still just making copier machines like they are perpetually stuck in 1958, yet somehow they are still in business.
That’s just crazy to me. It’s like if IBM had decided that electronic computers were just a fad and were instead still focusing on electromechanical typewriters in 2023.
Image source: cardoorhookhand, wikipedia.org
#23
Office depot. Twice the price of amazon and just as s****y of product. Somehow corporate accounts just keep buying paper there.
Image source: mrbear120, The_ODP_Corporation
#24
Herbalife. Don’t the people know? Lol
Image source: CThreePHo
#25
Fels Naptha soap. I mean, that s**t was invented to be used with a manual washboard back in the 1800s. Hell, I think people used to use it on laundry cleaned by beating clothing on rocks down by the village fresh water stream.
Image source: anon
#26
GameStop.
The customer service experience is terrible and the workers actively discouraged me from coming in and buying a game. Which isn’t that hard to do considering their selection and prices are god awful.
Image source: NotTheSun0
#27
Eastman Kodak. In 1996 the king of photography had 2/3 market share on film and photographic supplies and $16 billion in sales (equivalent to $30.78 billion today).
Kodak was blindsided by the digital revolution that swept over the world of photograohy and they became an after thought. Kodak’s 2021 sales were only $1.15 billion and I’m surprised they were that high.
Image source: ShaneFerguson, wikipedia.org
#28
Oh man your post was made for me. I love Bethlehem Pennsylvania. There is a store on a commercial street here amid other stores. Vape shop, pho Vietnamese food. Amid them is a store that sells typewriters and calculators. I kid u not. I need to take a pic because everytime I see it I just can’t believe it’s not only open but still here.
Image source: mattg4704, wikipedia.org
#29
Jenny Craig just bottomed up this week. I’m surprised it lasted this long.
Image source: BlackPopeye_03
#30
They’re gone now but I was shocked that not overly long ago Columbia House finally closed up. No more 16 CDs for a penny lol. EDIT: there’s an online version I guess, ceased the old familiar approach in 2015.
Image source: DragonflyScared813, Brett Sayles
#31
Precious moments
Image source: kreated2BHated, reddit.com
#32
Not a company actually a product. You can still buy brand new MP3 players.
Image source: EatMoreCardboard, Pixabay
#33
Blackberry.
Image source: DinoDave17
#34
Blows my mind that aol.com is still a thing.
Image source: Iliveacrossthegreen, Ike OrangeBox
#35
Blockbuster. One store left. However, I still have my Blockbuster card, just in case they open up a store in my town.
Image source: Safe_Document_1140
#36
Winrar. Like 7zip exists and is free and you want me to pay? No. F**k you.
Image source: Redkirth
#37
Pandora
Why be forced to sit through s**t when you can listen to whatever you want whenever you want with any number of streaming services?
Image source: Lordofhowling
#38
Publishers Clearinghouse.
Image source: Moonguardkills
#39
QVC or HSN. I know it’s the same company now but I don’t anyone who actually watches or buys things from them. With Amazon and all the other options for shopping how do these still exists?
Image source: danlib21
#40
Pinkerton Detective Agency.
The fact a single employee survived outside of a prison or noose after the year 1870 is one of this nation’s greatest failures. The fact they not only still operate but seemingly operate with some level of ridiculous authority and protection is proof this country has never been run ‘by the people,’ or ‘for the people.’
Image source: FleefTalmeef, wikipedia.org
#41
Atari is still around.
Granted, it *shouldnt* be still around and we’d be better off if it died. The Atari that exists now is basically a zombie that remains animated due to the legal system. As [one article put it](https://www.kotaku.com.au/2022/12/ataris-shambling-zombie-corpse-is-once-again-in-trouble/), Atari basically died in 1984; the Atari that exists now is a skin-suit that various other entities have tried and failed to wear over the years since then.
I beleive that there is nothing really *preventing* Atari from actually and genuinely making a comeback and getting involved in development and games publishing again. The entity still holds a great deal of IPs that many devs would salivate at the chance to renew, but the beancounter corpo-vampires in control don’t understand videogames as a medium lack the creativity and vision to do this, so the brand just continues to lurch from bankruptcy to bankruptcy.
Im pretty sure its main business is patent trolling, developing a console that basically noone wants (Atari VCS) and getting involved in crypto b******t and *gaming hotels* of all things.
Image source: Crembels, wikipedia.org
#42
TomTom navigation software
Image source: Jac33au
#43
Interestingly, telegrams are still used here.
Image source: SimpleNo4678
#44
The bulbs and battery store. Who is buying bulbs and batteries so much that I need a store just for it.
Image source: loveisking
#45
Rentacenter. Seriously who rents a TV or a couch, I’ve never known anyone to go there lol.
Image source: datyoungknockoutkid, wikipedia.org
#46
classmates.com
Image source: VegasRoy
#47
Bed bath and beyond
That store is very expensive and very limited
Image source: throwaway129655
#48
Newspapers. Maybe its just me, but does anyone read them anymore?
Image source: mamatealhearts
#49
Radio Shack still exists in Guatemala lol. I thought they were gone gone
Image source: artemasfoul
#50
Suez, the waste management company
A direct descendant of the Suez Canal Company, which finished building the Suez Canal in 1869
Image source: toastedquestion
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