Critique of "Businesses That Will Be History"

I found this article very interesting to read, especially to see what many of today's economic experts are predicting in terms of big name companies and business that will fold in the next year or two. One company that I was not surprised to see on the list was Blockbuster since I used to frequently rent movies and games from them myself. With the emerging of much cheaper and more convenient options like Redbox, companies like Blockbuster which require memberships and limited locations for rentals and returns are quickly becoming obsolete. This alone is a great example how technology can shift a demand curve and can completely change a market.

Another great example was on the cereal industry and the new mindset of consumers to provide healthier food for their families, especially their children. Healthier cereals like Cheerios and and Corn Flakes are selling more and more, while the "junk food" types of cereal like Corn Pops are less popular than before. I find this interesting because even in my own home my family has shied away from the sugar-filled cereals we used to have when I was growing up. Now our shelves have Cheerios and Raisin Bran instead of Lucky Charms and Coco Pebbles. The health industry has exploded in the past few years with new diets, workout programs, and healthier foods to help combat the growing problem of obesity in our country and it's craze shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon.

One company listed that surprised me a little was myspace. I used to use myspace all the time before Facebook became so popular, but I always assumed that there were still plenty of people using the site, or at least used both Facebook and Myspace at the same time. However I can certainly see that technology also played a huge role in this shift of interest for users, since Facebook has more features, games, and easier ways to find people that you know. It also has found ways to connect to more sites like Skype, another social network that continues to grow in popularity. Even websites for Walgreens and CVS can connect to Facebook when you want to order photo prints by connecting to your albums and allowing you to select photos through Facebook instead of uploading them off of your computer. Facebook continues to find new ways to innovate and improve it's site to help ensure users keep coming back for more.