Episode 51 - Failed Technology Brands... a History

2023-06-29

The technology field, like any other business sector, is made up of… well… businesses… Those businesses have their own brands, and they fight tooth-and-nail to protect them. Be it through Trademark, Copyright, or the ever-present threat of being turned into a verb… these brands are as valuable as the literal products and services they represent. But what happens… what it all goes wrong. When the lights finally go out, the doors are shut, and there’s no more business left to promote. Where, then,...

The technology field, like any other business sector, is made up of… well… businesses…

Those businesses have their own brands, and they fight tooth-and-nail to protect them. Be it through Trademark, Copyright, or the ever-present threat of being turned into a verb… these brands are as valuable as the literal products and services they represent.

But what happens… what it all goes wrong. When the lights finally go out, the doors are shut, and there’s no more business left to promote. Where, then, do brands go to die?

Today we’re going to talk about a mere handful examples of former behemoths, hockey-stick startups, and even dot-com-bubble flashes in the pan that all have one very important thing in common… they don’t exist any more.

Some fell to our good friend competition, others to poor or misguided leadership, and a couple, well… just weren’t good ideas in the first place…

Business, like life, has a lifecycle. A beginning and an end. Not only is it expected, it’s natural.

So as we peruse the museum of logos that once adorned shelves both virtual and physical a few short years ago, we can’t help but wonder… who’s next?

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