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.
#21
I’m truly shocked that buffet restaurants like Golden Corral survived the pandemic.
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120points
“I think we can expect to see the ebb and flow of experiences that bring people together offline and then on screen, or online, as well. In the last few years, we’ve seen the rise of interactive and immersive venues like the museum of ice cream or the Dr. Seuss experience,” she said,
“These are places we can go, with friends and family, and have a shared experience. It feeds back into our online experiences because we can share photos or memories and these environments are designed to foster that. Certainly, as we find ourselves in a time of social distancing, we’re seeing new creative ways of “being together” even when we’re apart. So I think we can expect to see entertainment that helps us connect, be it online or off, and immerses us in an experience, story, or community.”
#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.
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117points
#23
Office depot. Twice the price of amazon and just as s****y of product. Somehow corporate accounts just keep buying paper there.
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106points
#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.
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98points
#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.
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98points
#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.
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94points
#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.
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93points
#29
Jenny Craig just bottomed up this week. I'm surprised it lasted this long.
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91points
#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.
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85points
#32
Not a company actually a product. You can still buy brand new MP3 players.
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80points
#35
Blockbuster. One store left. However, I still have my Blockbuster card, just in case they open up a store in my town.
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77points
#36
Winrar. Like 7zip exists and is free and you want me to pay? No. F**k you.
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77points
#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?
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73points
#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?
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71points
#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.'
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67points
