- 5 months ago
Even the biggest brands can fall. From once-dominant companies to household names, these 30 huge brands were once at the top of their industries—but today, they’re gone for good.
We’ll explore what made them so popular, the mistakes and challenges that led to their downfall, and what we can learn from their stories.
From retail giants to tech pioneers, this is a fascinating look at how quickly business empires can crumble.
📌 Perfect for business enthusiasts, entrepreneurs, and nostalgia lovers alike.
We’ll explore what made them so popular, the mistakes and challenges that led to their downfall, and what we can learn from their stories.
From retail giants to tech pioneers, this is a fascinating look at how quickly business empires can crumble.
📌 Perfect for business enthusiasts, entrepreneurs, and nostalgia lovers alike.
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LearningTranscript
00:00Kodak Gold. No other film gives you truer, more consistent color, picture after picture.
00:06Welcome to WatchMojo.
00:08And today, we're counting down our picks for the major brands that have disappeared or are much harder to find than they once were.
00:16Next time you're on the internet, go to the new Netscape.com.
00:21Number 30, Palm.
00:22Before smartphones came along, the Palm Pilot was the ultimate in wireless tech.
00:27Check out this Palm handheld from CompUSA. It manages your calendar, gets email.
00:33Palm PDAs, that's Personal Data Assistance, were revolutionary, allowing users to connect to the internet from anywhere.
00:41That might sound unimpressive now, but when the Pilot 1000 was introduced in 1996, it was a big deal.
00:47The handheld device was similar to a smartphone, though its screen was grayscale and it used a stylus rather than a touchscreen.
00:55It's actually a real computer that happens to be the most popular handheld computer there is right now.
01:00Got about 11 million people using them out there.
01:02But it had familiar apps like email and even included a feature similar to Airdrop, which allowed users to send info to other pilots.
01:11When smartphones started to take off in the 2010s, Palm tried to pivot, but it just couldn't keep up with Apple.
01:19Production of the PDAs was discontinued in 2011.
01:22Number 29. Lehman Brothers.
01:26This investment bank was a cornerstone of global finance.
01:30Founded by Henry Emanuel and Mayor Lehman in Alabama in the 1840s, the business started as a dry goods store before transitioning to commodities trading.
01:40It was a manic Monday in the financial markets.
01:43The Dow tumbled more than 500 points after two pillars of the street tumbled over the weekend.
01:50Lehman Brothers, a 158-year-old firm, filed for bankruptcy.
01:54Eventually, it grew to become the fourth largest investment firm in the U.S.
01:58However, in the 2000s, the company made the fatal mistake of going all-in on subprime mortgages.
02:04When the housing bubble popped and the economy collapsed in 2008, Lehman Brothers went down with it.
02:11It filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and its assets were liquidated.
02:15Brought down by bad mortgage investments, Lehman, which has 25,000 employees, will be liquidated.
02:21It's hard to feel sorry for execs, who raked in hundreds of millions while costing other people their houses, jobs, and retirement funds.
02:29Pop culture wasn't too kind to Lehman Brothers as a result.
02:33Number 28, Borders.
02:36The internet has not been kind to brick-and-mortar retail stores, especially bookstores.
02:41Borders provides a broad selection of books, music, and DVD.
02:45With the rise of Amazon and e-readers, far fewer people are shopping for books in person, and stores are forced to adapt or die.
02:54Borders was founded in 1971 in Ann Arbor, Michigan by brothers Tom and Louis Borders.
02:59After opening their second location in 1985, the business took off, ballooning to more than 1,200 stores by 2003 and expanding all over the world.
03:10The company became a pioneer of the big-box bookseller concept.
03:14At its peak in 2003, Borders had more than 1,200 stores around the country, each with thousands of new titles.
03:22Unfortunately, 2006 was the last year the company turned a profit, and it filed for bankruptcy in 2011.
03:30You can still visit a Borders bookstore, but you'll have to travel to the Middle East to do it.
03:37Number 27, Hummer.
03:39In the 90s and early 2000s, Hummers were a bit like cyber trucks today.
03:45They were extremely conspicuous, not terribly practical, and people had strong opinions about them.
03:50Seeing the hulking proportions of a Hummer H2 SUV sitting next to you at a stoplight is a common and can be a humbling experience.
03:59But owners love these big utes and the image they project.
04:02The Hummer was actually a civilian version of a military vehicle called a Humvee.
04:07It was huge, lacked basic safety features like side airbags, and was a terrible gas guzzler, with some models getting as little as 10 miles per gallon in the city.
04:17As gas prices began to spike in the 2000s and consumers became more conscious of the emissions they were pumping into the atmosphere, demand for Hummers dropped.
04:27The last Hummer was produced in 2010, but General Motors has since revived the brand as an all-electric vehicle.
04:35It's really going to show the way of the capability and recreate the franchise that we have today in internal combustion engines into the EV world.
04:44Number 26, Blockbuster.
04:47We know there's technically still one Blockbuster left in Bend, Oregon.
04:52In downtown Bend, Oregon, you can find the last Blockbuster on Earth.
04:56It even released a viral ad on Instagram during Super Bowl 57.
05:00But aside from that, this once-great video rental store has gone the way of the VCR, much like its competitor Hollywood Video.
05:08Founded in 1985, Blockbuster was a staple of family movie nights for decades.
05:13It started with tapes before expanding to DVD and video game rentals.
05:17At its height, it had more than 9,000 locations around the globe.
05:21But as you might guess, competition from Netflix and other streaming services eventually spelled the end.
05:28When Blockbuster originally filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy about six months ago, it said it would keep all 3,300 stores open.
05:36But tonight, as you can see at this Easttown store, it just could not survive.
05:40The craziest part is that Blockbuster had the chance to buy Netflix for just $50 million in 2000 and turned it down.
05:48Bad move, Blockbuster.
05:49Number 25, Napster.
05:51If you were old enough to be on the internet in 1999, you were on Napster.
05:57It was the original peer-to-peer service for sharing MP3s, and it was huge.
06:02It's going into like a candy store.
06:03You've got thousands of songs, anything you want, as much as you want.
06:07Although it could take hours to download a single song using dial-up internet,
06:11that didn't stop music lovers from building a collection of thousands of tracks.
06:16The service was so popular that it often jammed up college dorms' networks,
06:20and with some experts estimating that the music downloads made up 60% of online traffic at the time.
06:27We will have to say, you can either stop doing this or we'll have to disconnect the service.
06:33Of course, all of these songs were copyrighted,
06:36and creators weren't too happy with their work being shared for free.
06:39In 2000, Metallica and Dr. Dre sued the service for copyright infringement,
06:44and by mid-2001, it was forced to shut down.
06:47Number 24. Radio Shack
06:49If your dad or grandpa was really into ham radio back in the day,
06:54you probably visited a radio shack at least once.
06:57I don't really know what radio shack sells.
07:02I guess that's the problem.
07:04I mean, electronics parts.
07:06The electronics retailer started in 1921 as a mail-order business for amateur radio hobbyists.
07:12It slowly expanded to nine large stores.
07:16But that model didn't work well for the brand,
07:18and by the 1960s, it was in financial trouble.
07:22Charles Tandy of Tandy Leather Goods bought it out in 1962
07:25and reorganized it from a few big locations to multiple small ones.
07:30As technology evolved, Radio Shack started carrying computers, telephones, and VCRs.
07:36Their struggle hasn't been the real estate.
07:38Their struggle has been what to put in the stores,
07:39and they have continued to make some boneheaded decisions or just some bad bets.
07:45However, as with so many retailers, online shopping was its demise.
07:50It filed for bankruptcy in 2015 and 2017.
07:55Some locations remain today, but they bear little resemblance to the original brand.
08:00Number 23. Kmart
08:02Like Borders, there are still a few Kmarts out there.
08:06In the Virgin Islands and Guam,
08:08So here you have it, the last standing Kmart in the country.
08:12So attention, Kmart shoppers, there is a blue light special right here on Kendall Drive.
08:17Founded under the name Kreskys in 1899,
08:21the first true Kmart opened in San Fernando, California in 1962.
08:25Over the next 40 years, it expanded to thousands of stores,
08:29and its sales even outpaced Walmarts until 1990.
08:32But it was all downhill from there.
08:34It filed for bankruptcy in 2002, amidst the scandal in which the chairman and CEO
08:39were accused of misleading shareholders while spending the company's money
08:43on private jets and luxury yachts.
08:46In 2004, it merged with competitor Sears, but sales continued to decline.
08:52Kmart sales went into freefall, from $16 billion in 2009 to $5.8 billion in 2018.
08:58In 2018, Sears Holdings filed for bankruptcy, and by 2024,
09:03nearly every Kmart and Sears location had closed.
09:07Number 22. RCA
09:09Founded in 1919, the Radio Corporation of America
09:13was the biggest name in electronics manufacturing for years.
09:17It even started the first nationwide broadcast network,
09:20the national broadcast company, better known today as NBC.
09:24The TRK-12's debut launched NBC's scheduled programming
09:28and an industry that would transform the world.
09:31When television came along, RCA jumped into that venture too.
09:35It showed off its first TV at the 1939 World's Fair
09:38and started experimental television broadcasts from NBC studios the same year.
09:43RCA remained profitable until the 80s,
09:46when General Electric bought it out for around $6 billion.
09:51GE promised that RCA operations would continue as usual, but that didn't happen.
09:56RCA audio, careful.
09:59It'll even make your parents' music sound great.
10:02Instead, the new owners broke up the company and sold it for parts.
10:06It turned out that General Electric had bought RCA just to get its hands on NBC.
10:11Number 21. F.W. Woolworth Company
10:14Australian viewers might be wondering what Woolworths is doing on this list,
10:19but we're not talking about the supermarket chain down under.
10:23Woolworths have so much more for you.
10:25We're referring to the American company started by Frank Winfield Woolworth in 1879.
10:31For more than a century, Woolworths was a cornerstone of American retail.
10:36It found early success by selling goods at ultra-competitive prices.
10:41By 1912, it had almost 600 locations across the eastern U.S.
10:46In the 80s, it expanded into malls,
10:49opening smaller stores that specialized in sporting goods, jewelry, and more.
10:53This move away from its original format would be Woolworths' undoing.
10:57It began neglecting its department store operations,
11:01which were outpaced by competitors.
11:03In 1997, the company announced it would close the last of its U.S. locations.
11:09The retailer in March 1997 was pulled from the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
11:14It was a slow and sad fall from grace for a retailer that started all the way back in 1879.
11:19Number 20. Worlds of Wonder
11:22Hi, I'm Teddy Ruxpin.
11:25Welcome to Worlds of Wonder
11:27and to the dawn of a brand new era in the evolution of toy.
11:32After conquering the toy market with products like Laser Tag and the Teddy Ruxpin Bear,
11:37Worlds of Wonder earned exclusive retail sales and distribution for the uber-popular NES system.
11:43It's a look that generates excitement and stimulates sales for the entire Nintendo product line.
11:49The money was flowing, until suddenly, it wasn't.
11:53The unprecedented surge in video game sales quickly dwarfed the profits of traditional toys.
11:58Then, Nintendo decided not to renew their distribution deal,
12:02leaving Worlds of Wonder without a leg, or in this case, a product, to stand on.
12:07The stock crash of 1987 was the final nail in the coffin,
12:11and the company shut its doors for good.
12:13Both the Teddy Ruxpin and Laser Tag sets have continued on in various forms,
12:18just not with Worlds of Wonder.
12:20Hi, my name is Teddy Ruxpin.
12:24Number 19.
12:25Vertu
12:26Evidently, the lifestyles of the rich and famous did not include Vertu.
12:36From their inception, the luxury phones were manufactured with an emphasis on style over function.
12:43And to be fair, they definitely succeeded in becoming a status symbol,
12:46but only because they were so ridiculously expensive.
12:50Only the richest of the rich could afford one.
12:53Working with Google, we can now offer contemporary performance products,
12:57which has attracted a younger audience to the brand.
12:59Since Vertu phones also lacked features like GPS and Bluetooth,
13:03many felt the hefty price tag wasn't worth it.
13:06Following years of messy finances, the company officially went under in 2017.
13:11Now that they're off the market, Vertu phones have ironically become the commodity
13:16the company always wanted them to be.
13:19Working with Android has allowed us to build contemporary, powerful products
13:23for people looking for that everyday smartphone,
13:26but just that little bit extra bit of refinement or exclusivity.
13:30Number 18.
13:31Alta Motors
13:32I think the doors are going to fly open for areas this bike can go, perform, compete,
13:37and that's going to open up, I think, a whole new avenue of rider.
13:41The saddest part of this closure is that it had nothing to do with the product itself.
13:45Despite an overwhelmingly positive response,
13:48Alta Motors' electric bikes just weren't selling enough to keep the lights on.
13:53Their biggest issue may have been the continuing controversy
13:55between electric and gas-powered engines.
13:58In fact, Alta Motors' bikes were banned from several official races for that very reason.
14:03I first started hearing about them a year and a half ago
14:06and just kind of seeing tidbits here and there of the bike
14:08and honestly thought it was the most legit-looking electric dirt bike that I'd seen up to the point.
14:14As a result, price cuts and new models were only band-aid fixes for their unsustainable cash flow.
14:20When two partnership deals fell through, the company was left severely strapped for funds
14:24and eventually ceased operations altogether in 2018 after just eight years of business.
14:30I think that there's definitely a future for them.
14:34Whether it, you know, overtakes all the gas-powered bikes, that's yet to be seen.
14:40Number 17. Mercury Automobile
14:43There's not a sharp corner in sight, and the drag coefficient of .32 makes this the slipperiest American sedan yet.
14:5170 years is a pretty good run for any car division,
14:54especially one that never found a consistent buyer base.
14:57See, initially, the Mercury division of Ford was created as a mid-priced alternative to their other models.
15:04However, over the years, it underwent more rebrands and redesigns than you can count on one hand.
15:09It's been a race car, a sports vehicle, an economy ride, and more.
15:13They tried targeting it to men, and then to young drivers, and then to women.
15:17This is a great find. They're a great find.
15:21Award-winning safety ratings.
15:23A brand-new hybrid.
15:25While these shifts occurred gradually across decades,
15:28the shovelings eventually began to limit the car's appeal instead of widen it.
15:32By 2010, the continuously declining sales forced Ford to put the Mercury brand in park permanently.
15:38Imagine that.
15:41Imagine yourself in a Mercury.
15:4616. Pebble
15:48The idea was brought to life by people like you just a few months ago,
15:52and we're proud to say that Pebble is now ready for primetime.
15:55These days, a smartwatch that connects to your phone isn't that crazy of an idea.
16:00But back in 2014, Pebble burst onto the scene as one of the first to put it into practice.
16:05The results were instantaneous. At the time, the smartwatch was the most funded project
16:11in Kickstarter history.
16:13Your incredible support helped Pebble smash Kickstarter records not once, but twice,
16:18and ushered in a revolution in wearable technology.
16:21Unfortunately, after that amazing start, Pebble dropped like a stone.
16:25Amid shaky marketing and an unclear vision, the company consistently failed to hit sales goals.
16:30That, when paired with growing competition from the Apple Watch,
16:33spelled doom for the luxury armware.
16:35The company shut down in 2016, and interestingly enough,
16:40was acquired by Fitbit, who did not take on any of Pebble's debt.
16:44It's focused. It's not a miniature smartphone on your wrist.
16:48It's designed from the ground up to be a truly smart watch.
16:5215. Solyndra
16:54Panels can be cost-effectively installed on typical big-box retail, warehouse, and other light industrial roofs
17:01not designed to support significant rooftop loads.
17:04On paper, Solyndra's high-class solar panels were cheaper, sturdier, and more efficient than anything else on the market.
17:11The pitch proved so enticing, they even garnered government support via a massive loan from the U.S. Department of Energy.
17:17However, Solyndra's lead didn't last long.
17:21There were going to be some companies that did not work out.
17:25Solyndra was one of them.
17:27But the process by which the decision was made was on the merits.
17:30Within a few years of its creation, the price of natural gas nosedived,
17:34removing any financial incentive to invest in renewable energy.
17:37As a result, Solyndra's abrupt bankruptcy was about as ugly as it could get,
17:43including a full-blown government investigation into their purported excessive spending and misrepresentation of finances.
17:50While they've never been officially charged with any wrongdoing,
17:53something tells us Solyndra won't be making more solar panels anytime soon.
17:57And everybody figured, okay, this company can't fail.
18:0114. McCall's
18:03If you read magazines in the 1900s, odds are you read McCall's.
18:08While its first issue technically dates back to 1873,
18:12it wasn't until the 20th century that it became mandatory reading.
18:15As the so-called first magazine for women,
18:18McCall's featured sewing patterns, short stories, home improvement tips, and more.
18:23You don't just have to take our word for it, though.
18:25These numbers speak for themselves.
18:28At its peak, McCall's had an unprecedented readership north of 8 million.
18:32With that kind of support, it's really no wonder it survived more than a century in print.
18:37Unfortunately, stiff competition over the years slowly whittled down its audience.
18:41In 2002, it shipped its final issue.
18:4513. Zune
18:47This is actually showing a photograph right here. I can flip through the photos here.
18:50Three-inch screen. Pretty bright. Pretty sharp.
18:53In 2006, Microsoft went up against Apple's behemoth, the iPod, and lost. Badly.
19:00In their defense, the Zune portable media players had plenty of potential.
19:03They had functionality with the popular Xbox 360, innovative social features,
19:08and even a partnership with United Airlines.
19:11But despite all of that corporate support, Zune failed to make a splash in the market.
19:16Experience the ease of quick play, which puts your favorite media at your fingertips.
19:20In the six years it stayed on shelves, it consistently sold less than its competitors,
19:25let alone the juggernaut that was the iPod.
19:28While several reviews praised its HD features, it wasn't enough to move the bottom line.
19:33And Microsoft discontinued production in 2012.
19:36Finding music on your player is pretty easy. There are several different ways to do it.
19:40If you want to search by letter, you can do that here. We're looking for most death.
19:4412. Theranos
19:46People don't even know that they have a basic human right to be able to get access to
19:54information about themselves and their own body.
19:58Around the turn of the century, Elizabeth Holmes founded a revolutionary breakthrough for the
20:03healthcare industry. Theranos, as it was called, created a technology that could perform rapid
20:07blood tests requiring very little of a sample at a fraction of the cost. Mesmerized by the innovation,
20:14Holmes' net worth skyrocketed to $4.5 billion. The only issue? It was all a lie.
20:20Our dream for Theranos is that every single day, someone's life is better because they can afford
20:25access to health information they couldn't afford before. Theranos' supposed science was flimsy at
20:31best and a complete fabrication at worst. The company and its incredible funding both went down
20:37in flames. But that was the least of Holmes' issues. She still faced multiple counts of fraud
20:42and was later sentenced to 11 years in prison. Given all that, don't expect Theranos to resurface
20:48ever again. 11. Vine
21:01In just six seconds, this video-looping app took the world by storm. Its short-form content was the
21:17very definition of addictive. And because of that, Vine's viral videos quickly became a staple of
21:23pop culture. However, it wasn't long before rivaling social media platforms got in on the trend. When the
21:28likes of Instagram, YouTube, and Snapchat added their own video-sharing features, Vine lost its
21:34reason to be, and most of its user base too. Right, so they're kind of shifting what Vine currently is
21:41into a new Vine camera situation. By 2017, the app shut down altogether. At the very least,
21:49a comprehensive archive of its many videos still exists, ensuring we'll never forget that
21:54it is Wednesday, my dudes. It is Wednesday, my dudes.
22:0310. Tab
22:04When someone says they want a tab, it usually means they're going to order more at an establishment
22:12and want to keep a tally so they can pay later. Not for Coca-Cola. In 1963, they introduced their
22:30very first diet beverage known as Tab. Considered very popular in the 60s and 70s, they spawned various
22:36flavors of the drink, including root beer and ginger ale. Yet when Diet Coke hit the market in
22:451982, Tab started to take a hit. The company began producing less and less of it as interests shifted,
22:51and Coke eventually announced in 2020 they were discontinuing the brand. There are, however,
22:56pockets of places here and there that still carry the cult favorite as of this writing,
23:01but those are rare and the soft drink is pretty much retired.
23:04Petition to save Tab was signed by several thousand people, but to no avail. Coke is putting Tab on
23:12ice. 9. Bugle Boy
23:14Excuse me, are those Bugle Boy jeans that you're wearing?
23:18Yes, they are Bugle Boy jeans. Thank you.
23:22Fun Fact
23:23Bugle Boy founder William C.W. Mao actually started his entrepreneurial career in electrical engineering.
23:29When outed from his company due to an SEC inquiry, Mao shifted gears and started making clothing.
23:35But you gotta start somewhere. I mean, take your clothes, for example.
23:41If you just get out of that monkey suit, you might get a positive attitude going.
23:47I mean, the world could be your oyster.
23:50Best known for their jeans and earworm-inducing commercials, Bugle Boy was also responsible for
23:56one of the surprising trends of the 1980s. Parachute pants.
23:59Parachute pants?
24:01Yeah.
24:02Does everybody parachute?
24:04Between the denim trousers and the ballooning slacks, the company sold nearly a billion dollars
24:09worth of product. Despite its success, the company had difficulty staying up with the
24:13ever-changing trends of youth culture. They eventually went bankrupt in 2001.
24:18Excuse me, are those Bugle Boy jeans?
24:25Number 8. Compaq
24:26Founded in the early 80s, this thriving computer company sold IBM PC-compatible devices, with
24:33PC standing for Personal Computer, under their own name.
24:36So, if you're looking for a powerful, portable computer that doesn't smell, we suggest you
24:41buy the Compaq Portable 2. Of course, choice.
24:49Sorry, I was miles away. Of course, the choice is yours.
24:52A few notable devices included one of the first portable computers, and the Compaq Presario,
24:58which featured a long line of desktop and laptop computers.
25:01In fact, the Compaq Presario can even answer your computing questions.
25:04Oh, and if you happen to have a phone, it can answer that, too.
25:09By 1994, they had lapped IBM and Apple in the home computer market.
25:13The most powerful PC in the world, the most powerful portable in the world, and the most
25:19powerful mid-range PCs in the world, all have one thing in common. They come from the company
25:26whose annual sales reached a billion dollars, faster than any other in history.
25:31However, with the market shifting and some bad management decisions, Compaq's star began
25:36to fall. In 2002, they were acquired by Hewlett-Packard, and the last Compaq-branded devices were discontinued
25:43in 2013.
25:457. Pontiac
25:47In the 1920s, GM discovered a major price gap between their Chevrolet and Oakland-branded vehicles,
25:57prompting the birth of the 1926 Pontiac. By 1929, the Pontiacs were outselling the
26:03Oakland's enough that they discontinued the latter in 1931. Since then, Pontiac grew to become a major
26:09success for GM. Notable entries include the 69 Pontiac GTO, the Grand Am, the Fiero, and the
26:15Firebird Trans Am. However, the turn-of-the-century was… not good for GM, as they faced bankruptcy.
26:24In a bid to rescue GM, the US government will be investing $30 billion in the company, on
26:29top of the $20 billion already lent to it.
26:32Having already taken Oldsmobile out of the picture in 2004, Pontiac largely saw its end
26:37in 2009 when the company pulled the plug on the long-standing brand in an effort to keep
26:42themselves afloat.
26:43We just didn't have a strategy that we were satisfied with that could allow us to win with
26:48the Pontiac brand.
26:486. Kudos
26:50Candy bars come and go, but some have stood the test of time. Mars Kit Kat and Twix are
27:02just a few who've hung on over the years. Kudos, on the other hand, did not. It was
27:07a granola bar snack introduced by Mars in 1986 with a Simply Kudos offshoot that was meant
27:13to address the high-calorie count in the original. Oddly enough, in 2017, a post on the company's
27:24Facebook page confirmed the brand had been discontinued. No official reason has ever been
27:28given and the fans of the granola snack were left scratching their heads. All may not be
27:33lost as Mars apparently re-registered the brand trademark in 2020. Maybe we'll see it again
27:38someday.
27:395. Orbitz
27:41We have no idea what this company was thinking when they released their beverage back in 1997,
27:47but to no one's surprise, it didn't last. Made as a clear, non-carbonated fruit drink,
27:52Orbitz became infamous for the reaction it spawned from onlookers. If it had been released today,
27:57we're sure the likes of YouTube and TikTok would be filled with reaction videos of people
28:02trying to figure out exactly what the orbs floating in the drink were. Not only did it look
28:07like a lava lamp to go, the drink itself tasted poorly, and the orbs were apparently even worse.
28:16This is a drink we, thankfully, kicked into orbit.
28:194. Netscape Navigator
28:22She was 18 years old.
28:23She doesn't even know what Netscape is.
28:25Unless you used the internet in the 90s or recognized the icon from a quick scene in Captain
28:31Marvel, you've probably never heard of this browser. At a time when the World Wide Web was just starting
28:37out, web browsers were few and far between. Netscape reigned king for a while until Microsoft
28:43came onto the scene and the browser wars began.
28:46You can get unlimited internet access for only $9.95 a month.
28:49Well, what about all those other low-cost guys? Don't you want an ISP that's fast,
28:54safer, reliable, and more secure? Netscape won the first few rounds, but by the time
29:00Internet Explorer 3.0 and 4.0 came out, Netscape was already lagging behind. And it didn't help that
29:06Microsoft included Explorer with every version of Windows. Everything has to change faster,
29:10obviously. You know, look at Netscape. It was born and died. I don't want to use the word died,
29:15they wouldn't like that word, but it basically was born and overtaken within four years. That's pretty fast.
29:21Netscape came to an end in 2007, but left JavaScript as a legacy since it's used by virtually every
29:28webpage out there. 3. Enron
29:31There's one thing that I hope we can achieve. It is to create an environment where our employees
29:37can come in here and realize their potential. It's a wild ride.
29:41Enron is a name that went down in history as one of the biggest financial scandals to rock the United
29:47States. Known mainly as an energy company, Enron grew by leaps and bounds as it began to diversify
29:53its portfolio beyond just the basics of energy. Sure, that all sounds great as many companies broaden
29:59out. That's our vision. We're trying to change the world. The problem for Enron was that as large as
30:04they were, much of their financial success was due to creative accounting. In basic terms,
30:11they said they were doing fine, all the while hiding massive debts and liabilities from everyone.
30:16I understand how upper management would allow. It's because Enron actually used the same estimates
30:21in their earning reports, which magically transformed themselves into revenue, which translates directly
30:28into higher stock prices for investors. And higher bonuses and stock option payouts for execs.
30:32Everybody wins. They filed for bankruptcy in 2001 and a full investigation into their practices was
30:39launched. Like most things that end terribly, it didn't start out that way. It started with
30:44a lot of people who thought they were changing the world. And over time, they became victims of their
30:49own hubris, victims of their own greed. And so it's like taking so much promise and possibility and
30:54looking at it in a mirror and seeing the flip side reflected back at you. Number two, Kodak.
30:59Life is filled with moments just waiting to be taken.
31:03Trademarked in 1888, Kodak is a name synonymous with photography. For years,
31:09the term Kodak moment referred to a perfect instant to capture in a photo.
31:13Aren't all your moments worth Kodak film?
31:15Kodak cameras hit the market shortly after the company was formed and became the de facto standard
31:21for all things photography for decades. In 1975, they produced the world's first digital camera,
31:27but scrapped it for fear of losing their film camera business.
31:30It's sort of the classic innovator's dilemma problem. If you have this great cash cow,
31:37which is your film camera business, and you're one of the dominant players there,
31:41you're reluctant to totally disrupt it yourself.
31:45Company executives held the line on film photography, but did eventually give in and
31:49joined the digital revolution, which helped the company for a short time.
31:53A combination of both market growth, the explosion of the smartphone, and other competitors eventually
31:58pushed Kodak out of photography, and it now only operates as a print company after filing for
32:03bankruptcy in the early 2010s.
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32:301. Pan Am
32:40Air travel in the mid-20th century was a whole other world. Pan American World Airways, or Pan Am,
32:47practically held a monopoly on international travel at the time. They were also responsible for shifting
32:52the types of aircraft being flown to much larger planes such as the Boeing 747. They had an advanced
32:58collection, top-notch service, and were not owned by any government entity.
33:03It was second to none. I didn't think you'd even see it in some of the finest restaurants.
33:07That state-of-the-art fleet of planes ultimately hurt them, however, when the 1973 oil crisis struck.
33:13No one was flying, and the company was taking a hit. Their accumulating debt and failure to adapt to
33:18an ever-changing industry saw them sell off their assets to various other airlines as they went under in 1991.
33:24It broke people's hearts, really. Not just people that work for the airline, but for many other
33:30people that flew it and knew it. And it was the flagship airline of America.
33:36Which of these major brands would you like to see make a comeback? Let us know in the comments below.
33:42Polaroid's SX-70 Solar. The finest instant camera ever made.
33:48Ilene Princess
34:00Libertarian
34:03Percent
34:03Percent
34:06En olun
34:08Percent
34:12Percent
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