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Then vs Now
49 posts filed under Then vs Now.
- How Many Payphones Are Left? The FCC Stopped CountingHow many payphones are left? The FCC's last count found under 100,000 in 2016, then it quit counting in 2018. New York held one in five of them.
- Are LaserDiscs Worth Anything? The 2026 Collector MarketMost LaserDiscs are worth under $5, but scarce pressings run into the hundreds. Tokyo Raiders, the last title ever released, has fetched $5,700.
- Are Heelys Still Sold in 2026? Who Owns Them NowHeelys are still sold new in 2026, owned by BBC International, which paid $11 million for the brand in 2021. Peak year: 6.2 million pairs in 2006.
- Why Discovery Zone Failed and What's Left in 2026Discovery Zone failed after two bankruptcies and closed for good by the end of 2001. One unaffiliated center still uses the name in 2026.
- How Many Rainforest Cafes Are Left? 16 in the USRainforest Cafe is down to 16 US restaurants in 11 states in 2026, from a peak of 59. Landry's owns it, and the Paris location closes in November.
- Who Owns Kinko's Now? FedEx Retired the BrandKinko's is gone in the US: FedEx bought it for $2.4 billion, then took an $891 million charge in 2008 to stop using the name.
- How Many KB Toys Stores Are Left? Zero Since 2009How many KB Toys stores are left? Zero. All 461 closed by February 9, 2009, and the brand now survives online and at a Comic-Con booth.
- Where Is FAO Schwarz Now? Inside Rockefeller CenterFAO Schwarz is still open, but not on Fifth Avenue. The flagship moved to 30 Rockefeller Plaza in 2018, and Nordstrom shops followed in 2026.
- Is Woolworth Still in Business? Only as Foot LockerWoolworth is still in business, but only as Foot Locker: it renamed itself in 2001, four years after shutting all 400 US five-and-dime stores.
- Is the Disney Store Still Open? 21 Left in 2026The Disney Store is still open, but only about 21 locations are left in North America in 2026, down from 747 stores at the 1999 peak.
- Can You Still Get Dial-Up Internet? NetZero DoesCan you still get dial-up internet? Yes. NetZero, Juno and Microsoft's MSN all sell it in 2026, a year after AOL shut its dialer for good.
- Scan Old Photos and Negatives: DIY vs Mail-In CostScan old photos at home or mail them out: a prepaid box of about 1,800 prints runs $145 in 2026, and 400 ppi is the resolution to use.
- Who Owns Borders Now? The $13.9 Million Brand SaleBorders closed its last US stores in September 2011. Barnes & Noble owns the name now, bought for $13.9 million with 48 million customer records.
- Is Hollywood Video Still Around? Every Store ClosedHollywood Video is gone. Movie Gallery liquidated the last 1,900-plus US stores in 2010, and its late fees chased 3.3 million customers for years.
- Is Barnes and Noble Still Open? 720+ Stores in 2026Barnes and Noble is still open and growing: more than 720 US stores in 2026, with 60 more planned. Elliott has owned the chain since 2019.
- Who Owns Claire's Now? The $140 Million BuyoutClaire's is owned by Ames Watson, which bought the chain out of bankruptcy in 2025 for about $140 million. Roughly 900 stores are still open.
- How Many Boston Market Locations Are Left in 2026?Boston Market is down to about six listed locations in 2026, and only three answered the phone. It had 1,143 restaurants in 1998. Here is what closed them.
- Does Chuck E. Cheese Still Have Animatronics?Chuck E. Cheese still has animatronics, but only in five US stores. Every other stage came out by the end of 2024, and the robots went to Kansas.
- Why Did Skype Shut Down? What Replaced It in 2025Skype shut down on May 5, 2025 and Microsoft Teams Free replaced it. Skype Credit still works in Teams, but the old chats were deleted in 2026.
- Is Redbox Still Around? Why Kiosks Are Still ThereRedbox is gone: its parent was liquidated in July 2024 and all 24,000 kiosks went dark. Thousands still stand because removal runs about $500 each.
- Dial-Up Sound Explained: What Each Screech MeantThe dial-up sound was two modems measuring a phone line: answer tone, capability menus, a 21-tone probe. AOL switched it off on September 30, 2025.
- Betamax vs VHS: Why Sony Lost the First Format WarBetamax vs VHS came down to tape length, price and factories, not picture quality. Sony sold 18 million decks and made tapes until 2016.
- How to Digitize VHS Tapes in 2026: DIY vs LegacyboxHow to digitize VHS tapes in 2026: about $30 to $80 in capture gear at home, or $15 to $30 a tape by mail. Your tapes are past 25 years old.
- Sega Channel Explained, the 1994 Cable Game ServiceSega Channel piped Genesis games down cable lines from 1994 to 1998, peaked at 250,000 subscribers, and its lost ROMs were recovered in 2025.
- Is HyperCard Still Around? Apple Killed It in 2004Apple pulled HyperCard from sale in March 2004, but its stacks still boot in a browser at the Internet Archive. Here is where it went and why.
- The First Banner Ad of 1994: What AT&T Really PaidThe first banner ad ran on HotWired on October 27, 1994. AT&T paid about $30,000 for 12 weeks and got a reported 44 percent click rate.
- What Happened to the Atari Lynx, the Color Handheld That Lost to Game BoyIn 1989, the Atari Lynx had a backlit color screen, hardware sprite scaling, and 8-player networking. It got crushed by a $90 gray brick called the Game Boy. Here is exactly why.
- What Happened to Standalone GPS Devices: TomTom and the Smartphone KillerIn 2008, the world bought 42 million standalone GPS devices. By 2014, the category was effectively dead. The story of how a free Android feature, a Cold War satellite system, and an $11 billion map data war ended an entire consumer electronics market.
- What Happened to the Nokia 3310, the Phone That Refused to DieNokia's 3310 sold 126 million units, became an internet meme for being indestructible, and got resurrected from the grave in 2017. Here is the full story of how a small Finnish company built a phone so good it accidentally turned into a cultural symbol.
- What Happened to Microsoft Bob, the Friendly Interface That FailedIn 1995, Microsoft tried to replace the desktop with a cartoon house full of talking pets. It sold around 58,000 copies and got pulled from shelves within a year. Here is what really happened.
- How the iMac G3 Saved Apple and Killed the Beige Box ForeverIn 1997, Apple was losing $878 million a year and Michael Dell said they should shut it down. Then a translucent blue computer changed the entire industry.
- What Happened to Arcades: The Rise, Fall, and Unlikely Return of Quarter-Powered GamingIn 1982, arcades earned more than Hollywood and the music industry combined. Then they vanished. Here's the complete story of what happened to arcades, from the golden age to the modern revival.
- What Happened to Oregon Trail, the Game That Taught America to Die of DysenteryCreated in two weeks on a teletype by three student teachers in 1971, Oregon Trail became the most successful educational game ever made, selling 65 million copies before corporate acquisitions scattered its legacy.
- What Happened to GoldenEye 007, the Game That Proved FPS Could Work on ConsoleBuilt by ten first-time developers at a rural British studio, GoldenEye 007 sold 8 million copies and defined console multiplayer for a generation before licensing disputes made it nearly impossible to play for two decades.
- What Happened to Eudora, the Email Client That Taught the Internet to WriteEudora dominated email in the 1990s with 18 million users and dominated revenue. Gmail and webmail killed desktop email clients. Here's how the world's most popular email software disappeared.
- What Happened to Polaroid, the Camera That Died and Came BackPolaroid peaked at $3 billion in revenue, went bankrupt twice, and was rescued by a group of enthusiasts who bought the last factory on Earth for $3.1 million.
- What Happened to Iomega Zip Drives and the Click of DeathThe Zip drive made 100MB feel infinite, turned Iomega into a $7 billion company, and then a manufacturing defect brought it all crashing down.
- What Happened to Screensavers: Flying Toasters, 3D Pipes, and Doing NothingFrom a $30 million software company selling animated toasters to a forgotten Windows setting nobody touches, screensavers had one of the strangest rises and falls in tech history.
- What Happened to Clippy, the Paperclip Everyone Loved to HateMicrosoft spent millions on user research, hired Stanford psychologists, tested 250 character designs, and somehow still created the most universally despised software feature of the 1990s.
- The Night Windows 95 Launched and Changed EverythingOn August 24, 1995, people lined up at midnight to buy an operating system. Microsoft spent $300 million to make sure they did.
- Is WordPerfect Still Around in 2026? Corel Sells ItWordPerfect is still sold in 2026 by Corel, owned by Vector Capital since May 2026, but the last new version shipped in 2021.
- Why the Apple Newton Failed and What It Costs NowApple sold about 50,000 Newton MessagePads in three months, then killed the line in 1998. Why it failed, and what a MessagePad sells for now.
- Is TiVo Still Around in 2026? Yes, but Not the DVRTiVo still exists in 2026 as smart TV software owned by Xperi, but it stopped selling DVR hardware on October 1, 2025, after 26 years.
- Does GeoCities Still Exist? Where the Pages WentGeoCities does not still exist. Yahoo deleted it on October 26, 2009, taking about 38 million pages. Archive Team saved 641 GB of them.
- What Is $1,000 From 1999 Worth in 2026 Dollars?$1,000 from 1999 is worth about $2,000 in 2026. That is two weeks of a family health premium now, and it no longer buys the average PC.
- 90s Tech Prices in 2026 Dollars: Full 40-Item TableA PlayStation cost $299 in 1995, or $655 in 2026 dollars. Forty sourced launch prices for 90s and early-2000s tech, adjusted with CPI-U.
- 90s Websites Still Online in 2026: 5 That SurvivedYes, 90s websites are still online in 2026: the 1996 Space Jam site lives at spacejam.com/1996 and info.cern.ch has run since 1991.
- Dial-Up Speed vs 2026 Internet: How Slow Was 56k?Dial-up speed topped out at 53.3 kbit/s, about 1,876 times slower than the 100 Mbps broadband floor. AOL quit dial-up on September 30, 2025.
- What Was the First Thing Sold Online? PizzaNet vs a CDThe first thing sold online was not a pizza. PizzaNet took orders in August 1994, eleven days after a Sting CD sold for $12.48.