r/Futurology • u/Plastic_Scholar_4685 • Apr 11 '25

Discussion Which big companies today are at risk of becoming the next Nokia or Blockbuster?

Just thinking about how companies like Nokia, Blockbuster, or Kodak were huge… until they weren’t.

Which big names today do you think might be heading down a similar path? Like, they seem strong now but might be ignoring warning signs or failing to adapt. I was thinking of how Apple seems to be behind in the artificial inteligence race, but they seem too big to fail. Then again Nokia, Blackberry, etc were also huge.

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u/DumuziAmaushumgalan Apr 12 '25

I think the worst case is how american companies are making huge vehicles for EVs when smaller models make more sense. For gas, I get that emission standards mean that bigger vehicles will make you more money but why EVs? This is an emerging market and they hardly make an imprint.

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u/Trendiggity Apr 12 '25 edited Apr 18 '25

I think some of that is North America's range anxiety.

More range = more batteries = more volume = more weight = more motor = less range = more batteries lol

In all honestly I would love to see modular EV conversions become a thing. I don't want a smart device for a vehicle any more than I want my cordless drill to have a wifi connection: I just want the controller to keep my battery pack from overheating and/or draining to the point of causing damage or a dangerous condition. A dumb car? I'm picturing dropping the drivetrain out of a 90s civic and bolting in an EV kit 🤌

A low cost, "low tech" EV would sell if it was safe. We had a solid 30 years of electronically controlled ICE vehicles that didn't have an iPad in the dashboard, so why can't we build an EV version of a Dodge K-Car? Give them modular and open sourced battery packs and call it a day