It’s 2017, and many technologies born in the last several years are already sprouting gray hairs. The number of clicks, amount of monthly subscribers, and the count of daily users can be a company’s one-way ticket to riches or extinction. But the game has changed. Now, more than ever, companies are battling for millennials to engage in their technology. The question is, which companies will remain? The answer lies in the hands of technology-thirsty teens.
1) Out: iTunes
In: Spotify
Music is one beat society will always hum to. Not long ago, in 2001, when iTunes was originally founded, Apple profited enormously from iPhone owners that began using their multimedia content player. iTunes now has roughly 26 million songs, but while they seem to be adding tracks, they are simultaneously losing listeners. Spotify, a company founded in 2006, has been stealing iTunes’ business. Not only can music fans pay a monthly fee of $10 to access over 30 million songs, but Spotify Free is also available where all the same music is a click away, but in a limited display. With people hungry to listen to the music they want when they want it, the downloading of one song at a time has passed its prime, leaving iTunes searching for a way to keep up with Spotify’s climbing number of subscriptions.
2) Out: Vine
In: Instagram videos
Laughing at silly videos seems to be something every generation enjoys. Back in 2013, the credit would have gone to Vine. Their option to create six-second long, looping videos seemed to send waves of laughter across the globe. A year after their app was launched, there were already over 100 million monthly users. From there forward, it seemed to go straight downhill. In June of 2013, Instagram released a new feature, the ability for users to record 15 second videos on their app, outdoing Vine by a whole nine seconds of recording time. Famous Viners began promoting Instagram, making their videos on Instagram, and bringing their fan base to Instagram. Vine took a hard hit in the 2016 year and the mobile app was discontinued. But don’t worry, Instagram seems to be keeping up with Nash Grier, Jerome Jarre, and all the other viral “Viners” who continue their video production on “the gram.”
3) Out: Garmin
In: Google Maps
We are always on the move, but getting where we want to go at the fastest possible rate is a continuously changing game. The Garmin, or “GPS,” first invented in 1989, was the go-to satellite-based navigation system for years leading up to and into the 2000s. These devices seemed to be the perfect solution to replacing paper maps, until an even easier solution was released in 2005, Google Maps. Not only did Google Maps get people where they wanted to go, but this service offered destination arrival times, time traffic conditions, and a 360 degree panoramic view of streets. The most popular feature of Google Maps was its price. Google Maps was a service free of charge. Consumers stopped purchasing the expensive Garmin devices, and turned their attention to Google’s free app that can be downloaded on almost any device. Garmin needs to reconsider what it has to offer; who wants to pay more for less?
4) Out: Redbox
In: Netflix
The highlight of an errand to the grocery store used to be exploring the bright-red, automated Redbox kiosks that dispense movies and more. These machines were brought to stores in 2002. Redbox machines have about 600 disks ranging from DVDs, Blu-ray movies, and video games. The cost for a single disk falls between $1-$2 for a day’s rental. In 1997, a few years before Rebox started their business, Netflix emerged. Redbox used to go head to head with Netflix for customers, but Netflix, with a few tricks, pulled ahead. Netflix now has over 6,000 movies and 1,000 TV shows available on any device for its lowest plan of about $8 per month. With the unlimited watching offered by Netflix, the 24 hour rental of Redbox movies seems useless. This forced Redbox to close over 500 movie-rental kiosks across the nation in 2016. With the increasing popularity of Netflix, Redbox may disappear altogether.
5) Out: Facebook
In: Instagram
Facebook, founded in 2004, has been a social media app that allows friends and family to stay connected by way of the web. Before Facebook, there was really no site that ordinary people could visit toshare photos and comment on other profiles. It was an instant hit until Instagram offered the same opportunity in a newer and “fresher” format. Instagram, which became an available app in 2010, attracted the eyes and ears of the younger generation. Today, Facebook has approximately 1.1 billion users, a much larger number than Instagram’s 600 million users. But these numbers don’t reflect the half-hidden, decreasing rate of growth that Facebook is challenged with due to millennials switching over to the app, Instagram. Facebook better make a new face for itself, and quick.
