Things that were meant to be the next big thing, but then never lived up to the hype, failed, or disappeared without a trace... What do you remember??

[matticus]

Ghetto blasters

<insert political joke about war in Gaza>

 

[Sharky]

You don't see many Ronco Buttoneers any more?

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

When I was working in IT in the 1980s/90s lots of "the big new thing" came along and then

went

mostly very technical and better than anything else
until another company came up with a better idea

I have recently heard that OpenVMS - an operating system - is being discontinued
it was always massively better than anything Microsoft came up with
(even when then recruited the person who wrote it!!)


but marketing won out as usual

sorry - probably means naff all to most people - but VMS being kicked out means ANOTHER load of my memories, expertise and experience is now as much use as if it was based on designing new Steam Trains

 

[Vapin' Joe]

Pressure cookers. Massively popular for a time in the eighties and they were going to make ovens redundant. Hardly anyone uses one now, mainly because the food they produced was shyte.

 

[Beebo]

3D tv.
My cousin had one, awful.
You had to wear silly glasses and it wasn’t very good.

 

[Mad Doug Biker]

Pressure cookers. Massively popular for a time in the eighties and they were going to make ovens redundant. Hardly anyone uses one now, mainly because the food they produced was shyte.

My parent swore by them!

I was always scared that they would explode though! 😆

 

[Vapin' Joe]

3D tv.
My cousin had one, awful.
You had to wear silly glasses and it wasn’t very good.

Curved screen TV's were another. About a decade ago they were the next big thing in viewing with the retailers full of them, then they vanished overnight.

 

[Dogtrousers]

Kodak disc cameras - the negative was 10mm by 18mm ie tiny. Picture quality was awful. By this stage, Kodak had already built a digital camera but decided not to develop it.

Many years ago (late 80s/early 90s) I entered a competition in a photography magazine predicting the next big thing. ISTR the prize was quit good. I described digital cameras pretty accurately, although I didn't foresee the smartphone and assumed everyone would still want prints.

I didn't win.

 

[Dogtrousers]

Curved screen TV's were another. About a decade ago they were the next big thing in viewing with the retailers full of them, then they vanished overnight.

One of the offices I work in has ginormous curved monitors. I don't like them. I just use my laptop screen.

 

[T4tomo]

Many years ago (late 80s/early 90s) I entered a competition in a photography magazine predicting the next big thing. ISTR the prize was quit good. I described digital cameras pretty accurately, although I didn't foresee the smartphone and assumed everyone would still want prints.

I didn't win.

demand a recount! albeit the prize is probably now obsolete

 

[raleighnut]

The Wankel engine as a power unit for cars and motorcycles.

Have a look at the Crighton *CR 700W over 200bhp and under 130Kg, OK they're only making 25 initially and they are quite expensive but Brian is looking at possibly making a road version.

* Brian Crighton was the guy behind the Norton that won multiple championships as the JPS Norton and was the last British bike to win a TT with Steve Hislop beating Carl Fogerty.

 

[Mad Doug Biker]

demand a recount! albeit the prize is probably now obsolete

It could be a collector's item now though... Although somehow I doubt it.

 

[Dogtrousers]

demand a recount! albeit the prize is probably now obsolete

I remember that a feature I described was that hotels and shops in tourist destinations would be able to instantly print postcards of your photos of yourself to send to friends back home ... I kinda predicted social media too, but got the medium (post) wrong.

 

[VinSumRox]

HS2?

 

[Mad Doug Biker]

Have you seen Accy’s titles!

I BEG your pardon??!!

Oh, you said 'titles'.

And yes, I have actually, but there is a character limit (for me anyway), so that is as much as I could write.

Friends reunited, I guess Farce book superseded it. Never did either personally.

Facebook is ok, but I think it has been about far too long now and I am currently trying to take a break from it anyway.