Launched in 2015 and developed by musician Neil Young, Pono was a portable digital media player and music download service for high-resolution audio. It was discontinued in 2017 due to the shift to streaming with services like Spotify and Apple Music, technical issues, and because record labels charged significantly more for high-resolution files (which Pono emphasized).
In 2025, CareerBuilder + Monster filed for bankruptcy after they merged in 2024. CareerBuilder was carrying a significant debt load and Monster was experiencing unsustainable cash burn. The combined entity faced an urgent need for liquidity shortly after the merger. In addition, a slowdown in corporate hiring reduced demand for job boards, while the company lagged behind other platform such as Indeed and ZipRecruiter.
Many believed Popeye Candy Sticks led children to like cigarettes and become smokers as adults leading to the candies being banned around the world.
In 1960, Marquette University discontinued football, along with track and cross country, after the football program lost $50,000 in the previous year. This decision was part of a broader strategy to focus on a 10-year, $30 million fundraising campaign for university expansion.
Released in 1971 by Hoo’s, Funny Fruits were a fruit flavored candy powder toy that fizzes.
Released in 2000, ZUN energy drink had a rocket-shaped bottle. Beverage distributors were afraid of the liability from people using the bottle as a projectile. Plus it was difficult to attach the fins in the production process leading to many bottles being shipped with broken fins.
Everfresh Beverages was founded in 1994 and filed for bankruptcy in 1995. The flask-shaped bottle design resembled a liquor bottle and encouraged underage drinking. Churches and local groups forced retailers to discontinue the line.
Launched in 2000 and discontinued in 2001, the Sony eMarker allowed you to mark songs that you heard on the radio so you could buy them later. This $20 keychain had a button and small LCD display. When you heard a song on the radio you wanted to remember, you pushed the button. You could save up to 10 “eMarks.” When you got home, you plugged your eMarker into your computer and fired up a Flash app that cross referenced your time stamp with the radio stations that you said you liked in your area and told you what was playing at the time. It then offered you a link to purchase a CD from Amazon or CDNow. The eMarker was based on the assumption that radio would be the main way people discovered new music. And then users would pay to buy CDs from Amazon. iTunes and the iPod destroyed that world.
Launched in 2016, Joy was a digital picture frame to upload, share, and curate photos. However, other devices such as Alexa were cheaper, could be used for more than a single function, and were also multi-modal allowing for video, text, and voice.
Sound Bites was an FM radio lollipop launched in 1998. Kids could bite the lollipop to hear radio signals through bone conduction. However, the novelty wore off quickly, it didn’t compete well against other toys that offered more engaging and versatile play experiences, there were concerns about bacterial contamination, the bone conduction technology had limitations in sound quality and reliability, and some kids were uncomfortable having their teeth rattled.
