Don't fear the reaper
We are almost into July and soon enough it will be 2012. My oh my has time flown. There have been many new and awesome things that have contributed to our obsession with technology and staying connected. For example in the last few years we have become obsessed with Facebook, the iPhone, Androids, etc. These brands will probably be around for a very long time but some brands will be gone by 2012. MSNBC and countless others have compiled the brands they believe will be gone by this coming year. I only want to touch on a few of them and I will provide a link below to the main article so that you can take a peak at the rest of them.
Myspace - This was once the place to be before Facebook came along and blew it out of the water. One could log on and check out what everyone else was doing, check your message, customize your page to fit it to your liking, and try to use their crappy built in chat service that almost never worked. One could even add a music playlist or a photo slideshow and your personal page even had a counter to show how many times your page had been viewed. It sounds good and all but once Facebook hit the scene it provided a simplified layout and better features. It was easier to connect to those you knew and eventually Myspace died. It has been dead for a while now and even with a new logo and color scheme with an entertainment base the brand has drowned in a pool of success known as Facebook. If you have pictures, videos, or anything else on there it would be best to remove them. The brand is set to fold on its subscribers if a buyer is not found.
Blockbuster - This company has been slowly dying for a while now and it is finally dismantling its stores, one by one. Back in the day if you rented a flick you went to Blockbuster. I remember traveling several miles to do so but it was worth it for the selection in movies and video games. Toward the end of 1999 I even managed a Blockbuster on the south side of Holland and it was great. DVD's were making their appearance in Blockbusters everywhere and it seemed as though they would be around forever. During that same time a new company had surfaced on the Internet. Netflix came out of no where and though it seemed unbelievable I tried it out. I have pretty much been a member since then because of it's convenience and I quit my job at Blockbuster. This was not because of Netflix but because I found a better job. Either way though, Netflix is now offered on major gaming consoles and other devices to stream movies and shows to your television. Blockbuster you have been blown away and there is no way to come back from it. If there is anything that I will miss from you it will be the Smash Bros. tournaments that I used to hold while working...I mean for my employees after work.
Kellogg's Corn Pops - Finally I would like to touch on Kellogg's Corn Pops. I realize this has nothing to do with technology but it is on the list of brands that will be gone by 2012 and since I dig this cereal I have to mention it. I remember back in the day, when Saturday morning cartoons were worth getting up at 7am for, I would get a bowl out and get some Corn Pops. They are sweet, crispy and they simply kick ass. Well now that I am older I rarely eat cereal and when I do I like some good ole Cheerios, Crispix, or some Mini-Wheats on occasion. The cereal I eat is somewhat healthy I suppose but this is probably why Corn Pops are dying. We live in a time where our society has opened their eyes to what's healthy and what's not. We pay more attention to labels and ingredients and we want to set a good example for our kids. Corn Pops doesn't cut it anymore and if you're checking ingredients you will find that Corn Pops contains mono- and diglycerides, used to bind saturated fat, and BHT for freshness. Without the article below I would have never known that these ingredients are also used in embalming fluid. Marinade on that one!