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These forgotten products and businesses never stood a chance. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the top 20 products that killed competitors.
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00:00 Welcome to WatchMojo and today we're counting down our picks for the top 20 products that
00:10 killed competitors.
00:12 Just to be clear, the product that was defeated does not necessarily have to be dead and gone,
00:16 just overtaken.
00:17 And don't forget, some of the products seen in this video can be purchased from the links
00:21 in the description.
00:29 Gone are the days of forking up money to try out a new band on CD, only to discover you
00:34 don't like their style.
00:40 That was how we did it in the 90s and early 2000s.
00:43 But with the advent of Napster in 1999, a new way of thinking was established.
00:48 What if we could share and access music online?
00:55 Huge mainstream music streaming services didn't come until years later, but when it did, it
00:59 represented a much simpler and cheaper way to access your favourite and unknown music.
01:04 In-store CD purchases have fallen drastically, replaced by subscriptions to online streaming
01:09 platforms, Spotify being the most popular as of 2023.
01:20 Okay so, typewriters are arguably much cooler than computers, but they're also far less
01:24 practical - in pretty much every single way.
01:28 Back in the 1970s, the first word processor came about, leading some typists to make the
01:33 digital switch.
01:34 By the 1980s, MacWrite on the Apple Macintosh and Microsoft Word on the IBM PC were in full
01:40 swing, which spelled the beginning of the end for the humble typewriter.
01:47 And with the invention of super-slim, super-portable laptop-style computers, typewriters were all
01:51 but wiped out - except for maybe in prisons, certain government buildings and hipster's
01:55 apartments.
02:05 Speaking of computers, here's another retro blast from the past.
02:08 There was a time when Commodore stood tall.
02:10 From its establishment in 1954, Commodore International made a name for itself in the
02:14 production of home computers, from the Commodore PET to the Commodore 64.
02:21 Unfortunately, its rival company, IBM, made strides in developing computer technology
02:26 further than ever before, while Commodore was increasingly seen in the 1980s as the
02:31 producers of cheap and disposable hardware.
02:37 IBM's constant evolution and rising profits, coupled with Commodore's existing troubles,
02:43 may very well have led to the latter company's bankruptcy in 1994.
03:01 Up until the early to mid-2000s, bulky, cathode ray-tubed TVs were still very much staples
03:06 in homes all over the world.
03:07 And they still have their place today, especially with retro gamers who praise their superior
03:12 contrast ratios and high refresh rates.
03:14 However, LCD, plasma and OLED displays pretty much wiped out CRT screens from the mainstream
03:20 in the space of about ten years, and it's easy to see why.
03:24 They're slimmer and lighter, consume less power, have a longer lifespan and don't
03:31 suffer from the dreaded CRT image burning, which would leave permanent discolouration
03:35 on the screen if an image was left on screen long enough.
03:38 Ah, the memories.
03:40 Although the iPod was effectively just another MP3 player, it really wasn't just another
03:51 MP3 player.
03:52 The first iPod was introduced in 2001, and it had a better user interface and a sleeker
03:57 build than conventional MP3 players.
03:59 It also had the ability to store up to 1,000 songs, which at the time was mind-blowing.
04:10 It also helped form an entire Apple ecosystem, along with iTunes, allowing users to seamlessly
04:15 purchase and listen to music on the go.
04:17 Once people got a taste for the iPod, other MP3 players felt like antiques.
04:21 Of course, 20 years later, the iPod would cease to exist, due to advancements with the
04:25 iPhone.
04:26 More on that later.
04:35 The Medal of Honour series was absolutely untouchable in the World War II first-person
04:39 shooter game franchise.
04:40 That was until "Call of Duty" joined the party.
04:46 "Call of Duty" had some solid first entries, focusing on World War II.
04:49 In fact, its first instalment was codenamed "Medal of Honour Killer" before its release.
04:54 But it was the shift to modern warfare that really knocked "Medal of Honour" off its
04:57 perch, and "Call of Duty's" legendary multiplayer was the final nail in the coffin.
05:06 In fact, as of this video, there hasn't been a significant Medal of Honour game released
05:09 for almost 15 years.
05:11 Search and destroy indeed.
05:20 The world of computer technology can definitely be a heated one.
05:24 Such was the case with the conflict between Dell and Gateway, two companies competing
05:27 for the computer hardware market in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
05:37 While Gateway buckled under the effects of the dot-com bust, Dell thrived with its embrace
05:41 of direct sales and customising one's PC to fit the consumer's intent.
05:45 Struggling to compete, Gateway scaled back its operations further and further.
05:49 It's at once sad and fascinating.
05:57 Sometimes, success can be a fleeting thing.
06:00 Take for instance the GoBots line of transforming toy robots, introduced in 1983 by Tonka.
06:05 The year before, Hasbro launched the Transformers brand of toys.
06:09 Despite being similar in design and themes, the Transformers proved to be the more enduring
06:19 toy line, while sales dropped for the GoBots after initial success.
06:27 In the end, Tonka ceased production in 1987, four years before Hasbro would buy the GoBots
06:33 brand altogether, integrating them into the Transformers franchise.
06:40 There was nothing quite like the browser wars of yore.
06:42 In the 1990s, the world saw an influx of internet browsers, with two of the most competitive
06:47 being Microsoft's Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator.
06:51 For several years, Netscape and Microsoft updated their respective browsers at a breakneck
06:56 pace, though Microsoft's greater resources and decision to make Internet Explorer free
07:00 for Windows users eventually gave them the victory.
07:03 Though Netscape's browser code still lives on through Mozilla Firefox, it's clear that
07:07 Internet Explorer won its place in history.
07:14 The Uber ride-hailing service was born out of frustration, with its founders looking
07:24 for new ways to make transport more affordable and more readily available.
07:28 The app-based service allows users to hail a cab quickly and easily from wherever they
07:32 are.
07:33 Add to that the fact that Uber employs drivers who use their own vehicles, and you've got
07:37 a recipe for disaster - at least from the point of view of traditional cab drivers.
07:46 Like everything nowadays, Uber is all about convenience, which has unfortunately led those
07:51 that would usually seek out a cab on a street corner or by phone to look elsewhere.
07:55 And Uber isn't the only one, with the likes of Lyft also contributing to the demise of
08:00 the trusty cab.
08:06 With the dust settled, Google's electronic mail service stands tall.
08:12 Yet this was not always the case.
08:14 Its competitor Hotmail, established in 1996 as one of the world's first webmail providers,
08:19 had a foothold for quite some time.
08:21 Sporting integration with Microsoft-owned programs and being free to use, Hotmail certainly
08:25 stood out.
08:30 Until April 1st 2004, when Google Inc launched their simply titled Gmail service.
08:36 With its more flexible interface, greater amount of storage space and general polish,
08:40 Gmail rose in popularity and left Hotmail to be slowly phased out.
08:55 Cameras have always had their place, but the technology has seen its share of conflict.
08:59 With the advent of the smartphone, people have taken to its plethora of features, including
09:03 cameras with increasing quality of images.
09:09 Thus, the digital camera has been overcome, in spite of being known for high-quality photography.
09:14 It's said that from 2012 to 2013, smartphone sales rose to over one billion, while digital
09:20 camera shipments fell by around 30%.
09:23 So it would seem the market has spoken.
09:34 We could have picked various different movie format battles for this list - Betamax vs
09:38 VHS, DVD vs Blu-ray - but the VHS and DVD rivalry was arguably the most significant.
09:45 VHS ruled the roost for about 30 years, but when DVDs rose to prominence in the early
09:57 2000s, their clearer picture, compact size and clever menu functionality made the mass
10:02 switch to DVD inevitable.
10:04 Movie fans adapted their home collections, video stores loaded up on DVDs and eventually,
10:14 VHS was left in the dust - or at least, stacked up in garages and closets everywhere.
10:31 We take for granted how easy it is to quickly grab a pen and write something down, and that's
10:36 thanks to the ballpoint pen.
10:37 Before the ballpoint pen, we had to rely on dip pens or at best, fountain pens - and they
10:41 could only write on certain surfaces.
10:48 The first patent for the ballpoint pen actually dates all the way back to 1888, but it wasn't
10:53 until Laszlo Biro filed a patent in 1938 that the ballpoint pen as we know it was on its
10:58 way to achieving commercial success.
11:00 By the 50s and 60s, the classic ink-in-a-tube pen was mainstream, and so the more impractical
11:05 quills and fountain pens were relegated to the pen pot, reserved only for fanciful calligraphy.
11:11 The Amazon Kindle e-reader is to books what the iPod was to MP3 players.
11:25 Sure, it does the same thing, except it doesn't.
11:28 It does it better, in most ways anyway.
11:35 The first Kindle was released in 2007, and it represented a new way to read and listen
11:40 to books, with storage for up to 200 titles.
11:43 This changed the way people read at home, on public transport and of course on holiday.
11:47 And since 2007, there have been tons of new and improved Kindle iterations, giving you
11:51 a literal bookshop worth of titles at your fingertips.
11:54 But let's be real, books will never go away, although the tradition of going to a local
11:58 bookshop for a browse has likely changed forever.
12:07 A bold claim?
12:14 Maybe, but not really when you look at the figures.
12:17 Brands like BMW, Mercedes and Lexus have had a solid foothold in the US car market for
12:21 a long time, but over the last few years, the eco-centric car brand Tesla has accelerated
12:26 past its competition and actually outsold its German and Japanese rivals by a pretty
12:30 hefty margin.
12:35 The combination of opulence, coolness and electric power seems to have won over those
12:39 seeking a luxurious ride, and Tesla is looking stronger and more advanced every single year,
12:44 signifying a possible transition to an all-electric car market.
12:54 Sony and Sega, both innovators, both participants in the console wars.
12:58 Sega's final home console would be the Dreamcast, built to cut costs and contrast its more expensive
13:04 predecessor, the Sega Saturn.
13:08 While the Dreamcast started out with a strong launch in America in the late 90s, the public's
13:12 interest in the system soon faded, replaced by growing fixation on the then-upcoming Sony
13:17 PlayStation 2.
13:18 Sony's eventual embrace of third-party developers and general financial security contrasted
13:23 Sega's financial losses and limited third-party support, leading the PS2 to succeed where
13:28 the Dreamcast could not.
13:41 Farewell rental stores, your time has passed.
13:43 Once upon a time, video rental chains such as Blockbuster cornered the market in terms
13:47 of providing people with films, television and other media.
13:50 However, that all changed with the 1997 founding of Netflix, initially a video rental service
13:56 that transitioned into media streaming.
14:04 The ease of viewing films and TV on Netflix, matched by a reasonable service fee, ensured
14:08 the downfall of traditional rental outlets, including Blockbuster's liquidation as of
14:13 2014.
14:21 Facebook killed MySpace.
14:29 Two social media services enter, one service leaves.
14:32 Acquired by News Corporation in 2005, MySpace stood tall as the world's largest social
14:37 networking site for three years, even briefly surpassing Google as the most visited website
14:42 in America.
14:43 But that all changed with the rising appeal of Facebook, which was based around the fulfilling
14:46 of the desires and demands of users, rather than sticking to a firm portal strategy.
14:54 Contrasting with MySpace's owner-mandated planning, this looser approach served Facebook
14:59 well.
15:00 Their worldwide visitor count rose, while MySpace's user count steadily shrank.
15:12 You have the option to be notified for occasional videos, or all of them.
15:15 If you're on your phone, make sure you go into your settings and switch on notifications.
15:27 Though the iPod's triumph over MP3 players is still monumental, the iPhone's success
15:32 is on a whole 'nother level.
15:33 For several years, BlackBerry's multi-purpose devices had a strong foothold in the market,
15:38 particularly when it comes to their focuses on email services.
15:41 Yet when Apple's iPhone device came on the scene, with its sleeker interface and higher
15:44 quality of design, BlackBerry struggled to compete.
15:53 While they did make efforts to challenge Apple, BlackBerry's share in the market fell, while
15:57 Apple rose to prominence.
15:59 Truly, there can be only one.
16:08 So what competition-killing product interests you?
16:11 Let us know in the comments below.
16:23 [music]
16:33 (upbeat music)
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