The other day, Reddit user DemonDoggo99 asked the internet, "What's an industry you won't miss if it dies out?" Needless to say, people did NOT hold back. Here are some of the top-voted responses:
1. "Telemarketers."
2. "Phone scammers."
"I remember those happy days when the 'Do Not Call' list actually worked. I get half a dozen spam calls a day."
3. "MLMs."
"My wife doesn't and wouldn't ever become a hun herself, but she's spent a ton of her money on crap that her friends pitch to her."
4. "Puppy mills."
"Definition: 'A business that breeds puppies for sale, typically on an intensive basis and in conditions regarded as inhumane.'"
"Often the dogs end up having really bad health problems due to poor breeding practices."
5. "Fast fashion."
6. "Ticket scalping and ticket services like Ticketmaster."
"They have artificially inflated the price of tickets to a ridiculous extent and effectively priced out countless fans."
7. "Timeshares."
"I have a relative who has owned four weeks at one for over 20 years. Last time, I heard he's paying over $5000 a year total in 'maintenance fees,' whether he uses it or not. He's only used it a handful of times."
8. "Retail diamond sales."
"Totally useless expenditure."
"When my I got married, we took my wife's grandmother's ring that was in rough shape to a jeweler. They recovered the stones and melted down the gold for a new ring. It looks gorgeous and cost far less than buying a new ring."
—[deleted user]
9. "The health insurance industry as it currently exists in the US."
10. "NFTs (non-fungible tokens)."
"Imma say it before it becomes a real business."
"Can't wait to see if NFTs go the way of stamps, bottle caps, and weird bits of string."
11. "Cable."
"The cable industry shot itself in the foot by refusing to evolve. I used to work for one of the big cable companies, and it felt like we were on top of the world. By around 2007, I could see the writing on the wall. The industry was refusing to listen to customer demands (e.g. 'Why should I pay so much money for 200 channels when I only watch like five of them?' Why can’t I have à la carte options?'). I knew something was going to come along and disrupt the market. Who would’ve thought it would be that little company that mails you DVDs to rent."
12. "Reality television."
"There are some good programs, but they can stop making shows with wannabe celebrities."
13. "The wedding industry."
15. "Any industry that exploits animals for entertainment."
"SeaWorld."
"Greyhound racing. The dogs are horribly treated. I have two rescue greyhounds. They come off the track full of hookworms. They're pumped full of hormones; the females are given testosterone so they don’t go into heat. They’re fed a starvation diet so they run faster (skinnier hound = faster hound). One of my girls ran until she was nearly 4 and still has behavior issues. We’re working on it three years later — she’s way better, but it takes time."
16. "House flippers."
"They completely wipe out the bottom market of people scraping together funds who CAN afford a house and just can't compete with their all-cash deals. And to the 'bUt NoBoDY wOuLd BuY ThOSE HoMeS'…there are special rehab loans specifically intended for fixer-uppers. Also, many people are handy, and some of the houses just need cosmetic refreshing and are perfectly habitable. It takes away the bottom portion of affordable homes and places them back on the market at premium top prices, so rather than a range of pricing spread out across income ranges during a housing shortage, EVERYONE is competing for the same price range."
17. "Bottled water companies."
18. "Tabloid newspapers."
19. "Coal mining."
"Coal is by far the dirtiest fossil fuel. It is dirtiest both in terms of carbon emissions per unit of energy produced, and in terms of other pollutants (particulate matter, Sulfur compounds, Mercury, etc.) that are released during combustion. Humanity's collective future depends on our ability to mitigate climate change. The single biggest change that we can make towards achieving that goal is to stop getting power from coal. I'm sorry to the regions that depend on coal mining economically, but coal is an absolutely disgusting fuel source, and for the good of human civilization as a whole, we need to stop mining coal."
20. "Sports betting."
"I get that it will still exist on the black market, but I'm just sick to death of seeing it in seemingly every billboard, YouTube, and podcast ad. I don't care about sports or gambling!"
21. And finally: "Influencers."
Do you agree with this list? What other industries would you add? Let us know in the comments below.
Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.