Our world has changed immensely over the past few decades. The future is now!.. And that can be a thrilling yet frightening thought. With the spread of the internet, the rise of social media, more and more automation, and the oncoming tide of AI, it’s hard to make predictions about what even the near future might look like.

One Reddit user, u/HRJafael, fired up an interesting online discussion about the seemingly obsolete companies that folks were surprised to find (somehow) alive and kicking even in 2023. And it turns out that AOL and Xerox are two of them which took us completely by surprise. Scroll down to see what other businesses aren’t as forgotten as many might think.

Bored Panda wanted to learn about the features of thriving companies and how once-successful businesses can become relevant again. That’s why we got in touch with Matt Johnson, Ph.D., a consumer psychology specialist, host of the human nature blog, and the author of ‘Branding that Means Business.’ According to Johnson, some of the oldest companies in the world go all the way back to the 500s and they were focused on long-term thinking, a stable industry, and private ownership. You’ll find our full interview with the expert as you read on.

#1

I had some older woman knocking on my door at like 2pm on a Wednesday trying to come in and give me a demo of a Kirby vacuum cleaner.

Also, door-to-door salespeople are apparently still a thing in 2023

Image credits: jimx117

Consumer psychology specialist Johnson was kind enough to shed some light on companies’ longevity and what features contribute to it. “While adaptability and innovation are highly lauded in the business world, interestingly, many of the most successful companies have sold roughly the same type of product for nearly all of their history,” he explained to Bored Panda.

“The oldest company still around today is Kongo Gumi, established in 578 AD, which ran independently, as a family-owned business until financial struggles forced it to be bought by a conglomerate in 2006. It began as a construction company for Buddhist temples, and still specializes in that today,” the expert told us via email.

“While many companies may not plan millenniums in advance, they can invest in the medium term by investing in a perennial brand. It’s no accident that the most prominent brands that exist today have brand identities that are universally appealing and timeless. Coke has aligned itself with happiness, which never goes out of style; Disney with ‘wholesome family joy’; Nike with ‘world-beating ambition.’ Planning for the future means betting on a brand personality that will still be appealing decades or even centuries down the road.”

#2

There’s a secret society among us that is keeping Long John Silvers afloat

Image credits: EMPRAH40k

#3

XEROX.

It’s like they have been actively and consistently trying to snatch defeat from the jaws of success for the last 3+ decades.

Their in-house researchers were the first to pioneer, and subsequently discard, graphical user interfaces for computers (later copied to huge success by Apple and Microsoft), the ethernet protocol (backbone of the modern internet), the computer mouse, modern WYSIWYG editors which are now the industry standard way of building interfaces for modern apps, and SO MANY OTHER THINGS.

If XEROX had just followed through to market on one or two of their prototypes, instead of giving them away, they might have had a bigger market cap than Microsoft and Apple combined today.

Instead, they are mainly still just making copier machines like they are perpetually stuck in 1958, yet somehow they are still in business.

That’s just crazy to me. It’s like if IBM had decided that electronic computers were just a fad and were instead still focusing on electromechanical typewriters in 2023.

Image credits: cardoorhookhand

Moreover, companies that motivate a talented workforce also tend to persist longer. “In many instances, this also comes down to the core brand identity, as this serves as the general orientation—or higher order purpose, by which employees are motivated in their jobs. Working at Nike doesn’t just mean selling shoes, it means ‘enabling dreams’; working at Disney doesn’t just mean making movies, it means ‘telling generational stories,’ etc. These aspects of the brand are thus as important externally (attracting consumers), as they are internally (motivating employees),” Johnson, the host of the human nature blog, shared his thoughts on brands and business longevity.

Meanwhile, Bored Panda wanted to find out how companies that were once very successful can become relevant in this day and age again if they’ve fallen on hard times. According to Johnson, this is a difficult process that will look different depending on each company’s situation. For some, it’s about sorting out their finances; for others, the solution lies in changing their products and services.

“Some companies have inextricable financial difficulties and may need to go through bankruptcy or acquisition through private equity. For others, they may be keeping afloat financially, but they have lost relevance; the market has moved away from what they can offer, and what they represent. In this scenario, they’re required to embrace significant change, such as adapting their products, services, and business models to re-align with current market demands,” the consumer psychology specialist said.

#4

MySpace.com is still fully functioning

Image credits: Highscore611

#5

Party city. Their stores are huge and every time I go there’s less then 10 customers

Image credits: iamnotkelly

#6

Smith-Corona Typewriter Company is still alive and well.
Write on!

Image credits: skaote

“To reconnect with customers, and re-align themselves to the market, these companies may benefit from a customer-centric approach. And ideally, one that drops preconceived notions from the company about what it thinks consumers want, and instead, recognizes that it now needs to develop this from the consumer themselves. This may require a substantial re-brand, or even starting the brand from scratch,” the author of ‘Branding that Means Business’ explained to Bored Panda.

“In either instance, the goal is to create an alignment between the brand’s identity and the wants, needs, and values of the target market. A great example of this can be found with Lego, which successfully rebuilt its brand identity through a consumer-centric approach in 2005 and hasn’t looked back. To this end, actively listening to customer feedback, conducting market research, and understanding evolving needs and expectations will provide important input to this process, and will help rebuild trust in the process.” If you’d like to learn more about the Lego case, Johnson has written about it on his blog right over here.

#7

Eastman Kodak. In 1996 the king of photography had 2/3 market share on film and photographic supplies and $16 billion in sales (equivalent to $30.78 billion today).

Kodak was blindsided by the digital revolution that swept over the world of photograohy and they became an after thought. Kodak’s 2021 sales were only $1.15 billion and I’m surprised they were that high.

Image credits: ShaneFerguson

#8

Yahoo!

Image credits: Burwylf

#9

IBM is just a dinosaur that refuses to die.

Image credits: Fickle_Particular_83

To oversimplify things a tad, a company continues to be relevant while its products and services sell well. Naturally, that comes down to the quality of its services, the reputation of the company as a whole, and the business’s ability to market its products in an appealing way that beats the competition.

But none of those things happen automatically. You need quality managers, forward-thinking and supportive leaders, as well as talented individuals who bring the vision to life. There are so many moving parts that running a(ny) business can seem utterly overwhelming. 

Some of the main reasons why small businesses fail without leaving much of a mark, according to Investopedia, are related to a lack of funds and inexperienced management. For example, bosses who are unwilling to delegate and can’t visualize a proper business plan can throw a wrench into the entire company’s mechanism. Not only that but a lack of marketing and poorly executed campaigns can leave these businesses floundering.

Meanwhile, Legal Zoom points out that some businesses struggle when the team doesn’t do enough market research before launching their product or service. There’s a lot of diligent groundwork that needs to be done before you go live with your vision.

#10

Not a company actually a product. You can still buy brand new MP3 players.

Image credits: EatMoreCardboard

#11

They’re gone now but I was shocked that not overly long ago Columbia House finally closed up. No more 16 CDs for a penny lol. EDIT: there’s an online version I guess, ceased the old familiar approach in 2015.

Image credits: DragonflyScared813

#12

Winrar. Like 7zip exists and is free and you want me to pay? No. F**k you.

Image credits: Redkirth

Another key issue is a poorly put-together team. If your staff are overworked, overwhelmed, and overtiming for the sake of the startup, sooner or later they’ll burn out and you’ll be left to pick up the pieces. You need competent people and enough employees so that nobody’s multitasking on tasks that are outside of their job descriptions.

Something else that can make the company struggle is a lack of agreement between the top brass. If upper management can’t see eye to eye on key issues or fail to communicate properly, the entire business and the staff are likely to suffer. It also helps if the company diversifies its clientele so that it doesn’t rely on just one or two customers for profit. 

#13

Rentacenter. Seriously who rents a TV or a couch, I’ve never known anyone to go there lol.

Image credits: datyoungknockoutkid

#14

TV networks. I haven’t watched network tv with cable on purpose in a decade

Image credits: IWantToBuyAVowel

#15

Oh man your post was made for me. I love Bethlehem Pennsylvania. There is a store on a commercial street here amid other stores. Vape shop, pho Vietnamese food. Amid them is a store that sells typewriters and calculators. I kid u not. I need to take a pic because everytime I see it I just can’t believe it’s not only open but still here.

Image credits: mattg4704

It’s nearly impossible to predict the future with certainty, but we can still make guesses about the trends that are likely to dominate the business and tech space in the next decade or two. Of course, the further into the future we look, the more our prognoses will be more like science fiction rather than educated guesswork. 

During an earlier interview about the future of technology, Bored Panda got in touch with Ramona Pringle, the Director of the Creative Innovation Studio and Associate Professor at the RTA School of Media at Ryerson University.

“We don’t know what the future holds, and anyone who says that they do is selling snake oil. But, there are certain things we can count on: we love stories, and we love to be part of something bigger than ourselves. Be it oral storytelling, books, blogs, movies, or video games, we’ve never lost our love of narrative,” she explained to us previously. 

“Equally true, even when we can’t go into a concert hall or colosseum, we look for ways to be together, connected, and part of a communal experience. The tech might change, but these will continue to be the drivers of our entertainment experiences,” Pringle told Bored Panda before.

#16

Atari is still around.

Granted, it *shouldnt* be still around and we’d be better off if it died. The Atari that exists now is basically a zombie that remains animated due to the legal system. As [one article put it](https://www.kotaku.com.au/2022/12/ataris-shambling-zombie-corpse-is-once-again-in-trouble/), Atari basically died in 1984; the Atari that exists now is a skin-suit that various other entities have tried and failed to wear over the years since then.

I beleive that there is nothing really *preventing* Atari from actually and genuinely making a comeback and getting involved in development and games publishing again. The entity still holds a great deal of IPs that many devs would salivate at the chance to renew, but the beancounter corpo-vampires in control don’t understand videogames as a medium lack the creativity and vision to do this, so the brand just continues to lurch from bankruptcy to bankruptcy.

Im pretty sure its main business is patent trolling, developing a console that basically noone wants (Atari VCS) and getting involved in crypto b******t and *gaming hotels* of all things.

Image credits: Crembels

#17

Microcenter. Outlived circuit city, radio shack, and Fry’s. They’re the last man standing.

Their prices match those you can find online, and their employees are old-school helpful.

They deserve to have survived this long, and I’ll be genuinely sad if they disappear.

Image credits: OkGene2

#18

World Book Encyclopedia.

Image credits: urkdor73

“Immersion and interactivity have long been goals for creators and media makers when it comes to how technology can influence entertainment,” the expert in innovation and the media said.

“For the last decade, we’ve leaned into virtual reality because of how it enables both of these. We can step inside a world and have influence over it, and the story or experience that unfolds. I think one of the things we can expect moving forward is, in a sense, the opposite of virtual reality. Instead, more of an enhanced reality or fictional reality, wherein the entertainment isn’t in a headset, but instead, all around us.”

According to Pringle, the tech sphere has evolved a lot over the years. “A decade ago, we didn’t talk to robots. Today, many of us do. Siri and Alexa are some of the more common bots, but we already interface with non-human characters regularly. As technology advances, including augmented reality and mixed reality, I think we can expect that entertainment will be something we can engage with off of the screen, but out in the world, with characters and stories we can engage with throughout the day, or throughout our houses,” she told us in 2020.

“Look at e-sports. Whoever would have thought that people would play money to watch other people play games? Media that engages us and gives us something to gather around, be it together, or virtually, is something that will always appeal to us,” the expert said.

#19

Catholic Church

#20

Zippo lighters. I get why older Zippos are collectible, but who’s still buying Zippos? Most adults in the US don’t smoke anymore, and for those who do, a disposable lighter is way more convenient.

#21

Blows my mind that aol.com is still a thing.

Image credits: Iliveacrossthegreen

“I think we can expect to see the ebb and flow of experiences that bring people together offline and then on screen, or online, as well. In the last few years, we’ve seen the rise of interactive and immersive venues like the museum of ice cream or the Dr. Seuss experience,” she said,

“These are places we can go, with friends and family, and have a shared experience. It feeds back into our online experiences because we can share photos or memories and these environments are designed to foster that. Certainly, as we find ourselves in a time of social distancing, we’re seeing new creative ways of “being together” even when we’re apart. So I think we can expect to see entertainment that helps us connect, be it online or off, and immerses us in an experience, story, or community.”

#22

Fels Naptha soap. I mean, that s**t was invented to be used with a manual washboard back in the 1800s. Hell, I think people used to use it on laundry cleaned by beating clothing on rocks down by the village fresh water stream.

#23

Barnes & Noble

#24

Suez, the waste management company

A direct descendant of the Suez Canal Company, which finished building the Suez Canal in 1869

#25

Lloyds of London

#26

The bulbs and battery store. Who is buying bulbs and batteries so much that I need a store just for it.

#27

GameStop.

The customer service experience is terrible and the workers actively discouraged me from coming in and buying a game. Which isn’t that hard to do considering their selection and prices are god awful.

#28

Hooters

#29

Bed bath and beyond

That store is very expensive and very limited

#30

Radio Shack still exists in Guatemala lol. I thought they were gone gone

#31

TomTom navigation software

#32

I’m truly shocked that buffet restaurants like Golden Corral survived the pandemic.

#33

Any broadcast radio.

Almost all of my local radio stations anymore are either fully automated, or operated from a central hub where the same DJ’s host shows on multiple stations. I noticed this when a DJ “signed off” for the day, but they forgot to switch her feed or something, and she started DJ-ing for a station in a different state. And they don’t even play local commercials anymore, usually just the same Upside, Discover card, and Ziprecruiter ads each repeated 3 times. Even the station that was known for their severe weather coverage (in Kansas, mind you) underwent a management change and doesn’t cover local news or weather at all anymore.

I don’t know anybody that still listens to broadcast radio, it’s always online music streaming.

#34

Best Buy. Please educate me if I’m wrong

#35

To be honest, I’m happy for them, but sometimes I’ve wondered how independent pharmacies survive. I was under the impression that most people go to big box store pharmacies.

#36

The Hudson Bay Company – that’s right, the one that colonized large parts of British North America for the fur trading.

It didn’t get annexed by the Crown like the British East India Company. It doesn’t rule or administer vast swaths of Canadian territory anymore. It’s just a generic, boring holding company

#37

Nintendo, kicking since 1889.

Who would have thought hanafuda cards would still be popular?

#38

Western Union is like 200 years old…

#39

Any MLM company.. I’m not sure how there are still people that dumb.

#40

Subscription boxes full of c**p that people don’t need.

#41

Texas Instruments. Are they still scamming students on calculators?

#42

Precious moments

Image credits: kreated2BHated

#43

I read that Netflix just announced they are going to stop mailing DVD’s for rental in the next few months. I thought they stopped doing that a long time ago.

Image credits: King_Kong_The_eleven

#44

The yellow pages.

Image credits: AlternativeSelfee

#45

Applebees. I can microwave my own food.

Image credits: User8675309021069

#46

Jenny Craig just bottomed up this week. I’m surprised it lasted this long.

Image credits: BlackPopeye_03

#47

I’m just happy altoids are still around and still in metal packages 🙂

Image credits: tay_tot

#48

I mean we all know Mattress Firms are a nationwide front right?

Image credits: willpowerpt

#49

Pinkerton Detective Agency.

The fact a single employee survived outside of a prison or noose after the year 1870 is one of this nation’s greatest failures. The fact they not only still operate but seemingly operate with some level of ridiculous authority and protection is proof this country has never been run ‘by the people,’ or ‘for the people.’

Image credits: FleefTalmeef

#50

tupperware offers close to free replacements of your products, forever. you only need to buy something once and then you basically have it for life. how do they make any money? we haven’t bought anything new from tupperware in like 20 years, we just send stuff back and they replace them

Image credits: horriblyefficient

#51

Hudson’s Bay Company

Image credits: 63belvedere

#52

QVC or HSN. I know it’s the same company now but I don’t anyone who actually watches or buys things from them. With Amazon and all the other options for shopping how do these still exists?

#53

Office depot. Twice the price of amazon and just as s****y of product. Somehow corporate accounts just keep buying paper there.

Image credits: mrbear120

#54

Blackberry.

#55

King of Queens has an active [twitter](https://twitter.com/thekoq/status/1649547189629362177?s=46&t=ejKTQnI6iOnX4-hycADg8g)

#56

The British Royal Family.

#57

Pandora

Why be forced to sit through s**t when you can listen to whatever you want whenever you want with any number of streaming services?

#58

RealAudio. So big in 1995

#59

Beauty pageants and sea world.

#60

Any travel agent

#61

Blockbuster. One store left. However, I still have my Blockbuster card, just in case they open up a store in my town.

#62

Publishers Clearinghouse.

#63

Interestingly, telegrams are still used here.

#64

No one will see this as it’ll get buried. But Chuck E Cheese.

How did they survive the pandemic? They were even on DoorDash during that time too. Who in their right mind would say “you know, I’m really wanting some cardboard pizza”.

#65

Newspapers. Maybe its just me, but does anyone read them anymore?

#66

classmates.com

#67

Herbalife. Don’t the people know? Lol

#68

I just now found out Mini Truckin’ magazine hasn’t been published in years. Was going to say that.

#69

WordPerfect. No offense WordPerfect guys and gals, but how the hell are you still alive and kicking?

#70

Any magazine

#71

Cutco. Seems like they could be much more successful if they dropped their current sales rep pyramid model.

#72

Spencer’s gifts. They survived COVID, how? Just how? I am pretty sure it’s a money laundering business

#73

The union busting Pinkertons from the 1800s is still a thing

#74

Family Video is a thing in the Midwest.

For those that don’t know, Family Video rented VHS tapes of movies. Presumably they rent blueray and DVDs now. I haven’t been in one, ever, and I don’t know how they get—or even if they get—new releases.

Apparently the vast majority of their revenue comes from leasing the store space in their building (space not taken up by the rental business) to other companies. They always seem to share a building with a Pizza Hut or something.

Wild.

#75

Red Rooster in Australia. Not a single person I’ve ever known goes to Red Rooster and yet they’re everywhere, defies logic.

#76

I saw a Redbox the other day

#77

Maybe “obsolete isn’t the right word but I’m always amazed that AOL is still around. Great fun to actually see someone still using their email, too!