Sometimes we look at a product and think "who would buy that, and why?"
For me the "Flowbee" home haircutting tool comes to mind. If you're unfamiliar, it's a shaver you attached to your vacuum cleaner so you hair was pulled past cutting blades.
It was sold on late night infomercials in the 1990s.
Who wouldn't want to style their hair like this?
As fabulous as that looks, results did vary with most veering toward "yikes!" yet by 2000 the company reported 2 million were sold.
And *surprise* you can still buy one—for about $150.
It seems no matter how bad a product is, someone will buy it.
Redditor HRJafael wanted to know who still has their doors open and has some staff, so they asked:
"What 'obsolete' companies are you surprised are still holding on in the modern world?"
The other day I saw a Radio Shack. I thought it was 1999.
What's next? A Circuit City?
Who is She?
Weight Loss Lol GIF by Sofa City SweetheartGiphy"Jenny Craig just bottomed up this week. I'm surprised it lasted this long."
BlackPopeye_03
Knock, Knock
"I had some older woman knocking on my door at like 2 pm 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."
jimx117
"I have a nice Kirby from one of those salespeople. Convinced her to try some homemade shine. Her driver/supervisor stopped and tried some as well. They both got so buzzed they left the demo model at my house. It’s been 4 years and no one has tried to get it back. Quite a few attachments as well."
HoosierPaul
The Catalog
"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."
King_Kong_The_eleven
"Apparently this is a big deal for hardcore movie fans, as there are many movies deep in the movie catalog that are not available to view through streaming."
roraima_is_very_tall
"There's a reasonably large community that prefers physical media, particularly UHD BDs to streaming. I mean it does make sense, those enthusiasts have spent considerable amounts of money on their equipment, so they will naturally get the best possible picture quality."
samstown23
Hey John
"There's a secret society among us that is keeping Long John Silvers afloat."
EMPRAH40k
"My grandma liked to go there for a piece of fish and some hush puppies. Then she’d take me to McDonald’s for coffee (for her -I was a small child) and a vanilla cone. When I miss her I go to one of the last Long John Silvers in my area and get fish and hush puppies."
yesiamyam233203
"Secret society meaning those who only eat fish during Lent."
"I mentioned it in a different thread but Lent is like a 40-day Black Friday for Long John Silvers."
"Source: former LJS employee who experienced lines out the door during Lent."
StasnoFrete
AO What?
aol GIFGiphy"Blows my mind that aol.com is still a thing."
Iliveacrossthegreen
"I honestly thought this was gone and I didn't notice until I worked in IT support and saw people with AOL emails. Total shock for me."
Arcades_Samnoth
I still can't believe I know people with AOL.
Do they know the century?
Bad Execution
raul julia GIFGiphy"Cutco. Seems like they could be much more successful if they dropped their current sales rep pyramid model."
i0datamonster
"Yeah, I never understood the MLM thing. Sometimes the product is actually good, but the execution is garbage."
CpuJunky
I need a number
"The yellow pages."
AlternativeSelfee
"I do remember before being able to look stuff up online, going out of town & browsing the yellow pages @ the hotel looking for places to eat & many other things. I couldn't tell you when I last saw a set of yellow pages."
Runes_my_ride
"I work at a hotel. About once every two years I get someone asking if we have a copy of the Yellow Pages."
steelgate601
A reason for every holiday...
"Party City. Their stores are huge and every time I go there’s less than 10 customers."
iamnotkelly
"Party City is one of those stores that makes its nut from a few days a year. The week before Halloween and there's a line out the door."
"4th of July, Easter, graduation time, and Thanksgiving and Christmas are when they do their business. It's a one-stop shop for everything you need for an event that allows you to see it beforehand and not make a bad Amazon purchase."
StalkMeNowCrazyLady
Bad Health
"Herbalife. Don’t the people know? Lol."
CThreePHo
"They've been opening storefronts that pose as small health food shake shops in place of (or in addition to?) the old MLM model. They just opened one down the street from my job and stopped by with free samples."
"They tried really hard to disguise that it's Herbalife."
"It's a really weird business model, you buy a 'one-day membership' in their health club that comes with a shake and an energy tea and I think that's supposed to let them skirt some legal issue with the shops?"
daabilge
Check Please
Applebees GIFGiphy"Applebees. I can microwave my own food."
User8675309021069
"The other week I was at Applebee's when the waitress came by and I told her that my Pepsi wasn't tasting right, and she offered to put water in it."
Applebee's? Who in the world wold still eat there? I've turned down free food from there. Geesh.
What would you add to the list? Let us know in the comments below.
Redditor ItzFlexyBoi wanted to discuss all of the things that drive us crazy, so they asked:
"What is a mildly inconvenient thing that annoys the hell out of you?"
I can't stand when business hours differ in person than what is listed online.
How does that happen?!
Get UP!
Dropping Michael Scott GIF by Prime Video UKGiphy"When I drop something small onto the floor and have to pick it up. I've completely turned into my father. I usually roll my eyes, sigh as I bend down to pick it up, and then growl angrily when it takes a couple of tries to actually pick it up."
JMCrown
I'm NOT Done!!
"When a motion sensor sink turns off before I’m done with it."
YourSecretSidepiece
"When I was little I hated the concept of taking a crap in the supermarket because I did one time and the automatic toilet flushed twice while sitting on it. Don’t get me wrong, automatic toilets are a great concept, reduce germ spread through touching a handle and whatnot, and they suck in execution."
"Update: used an auto toilet at a highway rest stop and it flushed while I was peeing in it. Damn."
Tra1nGuy
Wire Snap
"Getting wired earphones caught on a handle and having them ripped out of your head. I instantly rage."
CalvinSays
"This used to happen to my husband in our old house, mainly with pockets of pants. I never really understood how maddening this could be since I'm shorter and it didn't happen to me."
"We moved and now in our new place, this happens to me because the handles are at my pockets' height instead of his. I suddenly understand his past frustration at this small thing!"
spinozasnodgrass
Where is the HELP?
"Please remove the item from the basket, please add the item to the basket, and please wait for assistance."
Rollthembones1989
"What they do now also is there will be different bays with about 6 self-checkouts per bay. Instead of having one employee watching each bay checking IDs, helping out, etc, they will have one employee watching 20+ self-check-out machines frantically running from one person needing help to another."
Rollthembones1989
Trickles
Water Se Laver GIF by Benjamin SiksouGiphy"Washing your face in the bathroom sink and the water trickling down your arms towards your elbows."
AlgernonZX
Seriously. Why does water want to splash all over us, all of the time?
NOOOOO!!!!!
Angry Rooster Teeth GIF by Achievement HunterGiphy"Charging your phone and sleeping then find out that it wasn’t charging overnight and it’s about to die."
Aquahert
"The wooooorst."
Milfshake23
Not Again
"Having to wait 3 extra seconds for YouTube ads every time I want to watch a 30-second video."
JoyIsDumb
"My biggest pet peeve is getting the same ads over and over again. Sometimes I have to close my eyes and mute the audio/look away because after seeing the same ad 100 times it feels like a torture technique out of a CIA manual."
DroidLord
"Even worse when it’s two 15-second unskippable ads."
Tra1nGuy
1 ITEM Issues!
"Leaving something in the other room and remembering I need it after I sit down."
Preszidenmt
"Sitting down and your drink/remote/phone etc... is just slightly out of reach so you have to stand up again."
Robinho311
"I do that with the grocery store. Driving home when I remember 1 item that I went for and forgot."
Famous_Bit_5119
"My husband can NEVER tell me everything he needs from downstairs at once. So I end up making 4 trips."
Rahallahan
Lane Chick
"Getting in the wrong (slowest) checkout line."
PongoWillHelpYou
"I ALWAYS get in the line where someone wants to pay in change, needs to cash a check, or doesn’t know how to use a card reader. Every. Time."
musteatpoptarts
"Nothing like stopping at a gas station on your way to work only to get stuck behind the guy who's buying 75 lottery tickets."
TaintedLye
"Or switching lanes and you end up in one that's even slower."
DeathSpiral321
MOVE!!
Giphy"Slow walkers and people who stop walking in the middle of a crowded area and don't move despite people being behind them. Head to a wall or seat and check your phone there, don't just stop walking in the middle of a crowd. FFS."
NeonSugarSorbet
Library Volume Please
"People who listen to things in public areas without headphones. PLEASE I do not want to hear whatever crappy TikTok you're watching."
starrfast
"My partner does this ALL THE TIME!!! We could be watching something together and she'll pull out her phone and start watching TikTok."
"And she doesn't seem to think it's rude. One time she did that and I paused what we were watching and said 'I didn't wanna interrupt.' Another time I changed it altogether since she wasn't interested."
"But if I glance at my phone once I'm 'on my phone a lot.'"
AnytimeInvitation
I approve of every item on this list.
But like I said, I'm easily annoyed.
