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Bored Panda

Erika Saikovskytė

36 Industries That Are About To Collapse And Most People Don’t Even Realize

Taylor Pexels

All good things must come to an end. And the saddest goodbyes often happen when we least expect them. Who remembers massive printed telephone directories, Blockbuster video rental stores, Encyclopedias, paper maps, or one-hour photo printing labs? They seemingly disappeared almost overnight, as technology quickly took over.

Nowadays, things evolve so fast that if you blink, you might miss it. Objects, jobs, and even entire industries are here today, gone tomorrow. We just might not realize it yet. Someone asked, "What industry is secretly on the verge of collapsing, but people outside of it haven’t noticed yet?" and some of the responses might have you thinking of switching careers. Universities, realtors, and the alcohol industry are just a few sectors that might be imploding, if the thread is anything to go by.

Bored Panda has put together some of the most interesting answers.

#1

Not an industry by monopoly; the DeBeers monopoly on diamonds. The lab-created diamond is taking over and its upending the "natural mined diamonds" monopoly. For very good reasons.

The world looks very different to what it once did. Back in the day, people used telegraphs, typewriters, payphones, VHS decoders, film cameras, and even had their ice harvested and delivered. There was no such thing as popping an ice tray into the freezer and waiting a few hours for ice blocks.

Ice harvesting and delivery was actually once a major global industry, which has since disappeared. It would all begin in mid-winter, when lake ice reached a thickness of about 8 to 12 inches. Workers would clear off the snow and use hand chisels and breaker bars to extract big blocks of ice. The heavy blocks would be transported by railroads, horse-drawn wagons, or ice barges. It'd be delivered to homes and businesses, where it would be kept in ice boxes to keep food from spoiling.

#2

Theme parks. Disneyland, Disney World, kings island, cedar park, six flags great adventure, etc.... They've priced themselves out of the general population just like Vegas.

#3

Influencing. People are hip to the grift. Lecturing people about politics while you are on a yacht or pimping yourself out to every terrible for the environment fast fashion brand is tone deaf.

In many cities around the world, street lights turn on automatically at night. It's strange to think that there was a time when people would be employed to manually light street lamps. These lamplighters lit and maintained street lights fueled by gas or oil.

"The electric streetlamp eliminated these jobs by the mid-20th century, remaining only in certain ceremonial settings," reports the History Collection site. "For example, in Bratenahl, Ohio, Colonel Aaron Williams served as the lamplighter from 1898 to 1922, lighting gas street lamps at dusk and extinguishing them at dawn."

#4

Universities are in deep trouble. I just got out of the industry. Young people and parents don't see the value in a degree, loading up with debt and no graduate level jobs to go to. Also a lot of Universities are in deep, deep debt.

#5

Education. K-12 and higher education. The USA has gone all in on destroying our education. You can even pull Fox News clips now where they say voters are too educated. We have a VP who said the professors are the enemy of the state.

It’s pure madness.

#6

Movie theaters

I love going to the Movies when theres a big film being released. But I dont have kids its just me and my wife, and seeing a movie for us two with popcorn, candy, two drinks was probably $70.00.

90% of the movies I watch is far better at home.
I'm an avid movie fan, so I invested a decent ammount into a sound system, I have a good T.V. that Im upgrading in 2027. 75-80 inch TV. And considering upgrading my sound system which is really good. So my home set up is really loud, really sharp, really comfortable , and really convenient.

So my home experience is great. And I 'm from a generation, that as a kid I went to the movies nearly every weekend. That lasted until my mid 20's early 30's

Now I might seek three or four movies at the theater a year. And partly because I can walk 5 minutes to get there. If I had to drive 20 or 30 minutes it might be two a year.

This new generation doesn't have a nostalgia for the the communal theater experience like former generations so unless movies improve the experience we can have at home. I think some theaters won't survive. .

Another industry that's all but vanished in most places is that of milk delivery. We pop into the store or order our milk online these days. But there was a time when the milkman would do his rounds every morning, and leave glass bottles at people's doorsteps.

The industry aged like milk between the 1950s and 1970s as supermarkets, home refrigerators, and lightweight plastic or paper cartons took over. But there are some companies that still provide this nostalgic service.

#7

Education. This elementary teacher cannot believe what a sinking ship this industry has become.

#8

Vegas. As a whole.

#9

The AI money burn is unsustainable.

Many other delivery services have also faded away over the years.

"In the early 20th century, coal was a primary heating source, delivered to homes individually. The rise of natural gas, electricity, and oil heating reduced demand drastically, erasing most coal delivery businesses," reveals the History Collection site, adding that today, home coal delivery is virtually non-existent, with only a few specialized suppliers remaining.

#10

The United States.

#11

American semiconductor industry. We no longer have the capability to produce hitech chips. Haven’t for years. We used to at least design and innovate but now it’s all done in Taiwan and china. Huge loss and dangerous for our security as a nation. And we gave it all away for a short term profit. Government let it all happen and even helped it along with our greedy congress.

#12

Realtors. People are waking up to this scam.

Another rather bizarre job that hardly exists anymore is that of a leech collector. These workers were responsible for retrieving the blood-sucking worms from their natural habitat so that they could be delivered to doctors for medical use. According to Indeed.com. the leech collectors would use the legs of animals or their own legs to lure leeches from creeks and rivers.

#13

Healthcare. Waits are getting longer and longer. Insurance is denying more and more things. And the costs are too high for most. Along with staff shortages. Appointments are more like a drive-thru than an actual Dr appointment. I think we're going to reach a point where the demand is going to exceed the supply more than it already has and there's going to be severe consequences.

#14

Air traffic control

Half of the workforce retires in the next 5-8 years and that is a shorter amount of time than the FAA has to hire and move people (training takes several years and you can’t just jump into a busy facility so you have to train at least twice). They think we’re going to stay past our retirement eligibility after treating us like garbage for the last ten years.

#15

Pro sports fandom. Venues charge top dollar to attend games or you can only watch on streaming platforms for a fee. Only hard-core fans with money to burn can afford that in this economy. Not worth streaming anymore unless you can commit to sitting on your a*s to watch a significant portion of the season. Unless you are a bed-ridden invalid, who has time for that??? Stop the greed and stop alienating the fan base.

Imagine a world without alarm clocks. It may sound like a dream come true for some. But before people woke to the sound of ringing, buzzing, or even their favorite tune, special workers were employed to do the job.

"Knocker uppers, or knocker-ups, were responsible for waking people up by making loud noises before electronic alarm clocks existed," reports Indeed. "People in the 1800s would hire these individuals to shoot peas at their windows or tap on the glass using a long pole to wake them up."

#16

All these downtowns with restaurants and shops are facing skyrocketing rent prices. It’s only a matter of time before businesses start closing down.

#17

I'm pretty sure people do know this, but tourism in the United States. Some places never fully returned to pre-pandemic attendance and just keep taking hit after hit. Americans can't afford to go. International visitors don't want to go. It's bad.

#18

TV and news.... Many news stations in the tv industry are scrambling. Tons of layoffs and revamps.

#19

In network dental insurance/affordable dental care 👀

The costs and write offs of dental work are becoming too much to sustain a dental office. Staying in network is costing dental offices so much money.

The insurance company payouts and maximums are enough to cover maybe one crown and then you’re maxed for the year. They refuse to increase maximums.

#20

Auto repair: Vehicles have gone hybrid leaving 80% of current techs, clueless. Current curriculum doesn’t cover the newest technology. Some automakers have shut down techs and shops from diagnosing vehicles by requiring more fees to access diagnostic capabilities on the scanners we paid $10k for.

#21

Nail salons! Way too expensive and you can basically do everything at home for a fraction of the cost!

#22

I think it comes down to which industries aren't collapsing. I've started to cut out the following and I'm sure many others have as well:

Home repair,
Auto Maintenance,
Coffee shops,
Barbershop,
Movie theater,
Restaurants,
Air travel.

My new "hobbies" are house / car projects, cooking, refurbishing goods from Facebook Marketplace instead of buying new. I cut my own hair, watch movies at home, drive to the beach. For the most part, I don't feel like I'm missing out on much. I don't feel the need to prop up an economy that doesn't care about me, I'd rather support a neighbor.

#23

Restaurants. They’ve lost their mind.

#24

The alcohol industry as a whole, from an accountant working in said industry.

#25

Graphic design.

#26

Mental healthcare. These tech companies are crushing therapists and clinical care is tanking as a result.

#27

Its crazy how many of these industries are reeling because of A.I.

Hate to say it, but we had out warning when Andrew Yang tried to warn people back in 2016. I'm not saying he should have been President, but he was giving very clear warning signs. We failed to do anything about it though because like smoking we don't think of the risks until plenty damage has been compounded.

Then ChatGPT came out. It hasn't even been four years yet.

These other industries that are being mentioned are also getting wiped out because people will have no way to fund their services (as their job is being done by A.I).

Imagine 10 years from now.

#28

Hollywood. Bad movies that cost $300 million to make. Pretty soon AI will allow 4 guys in a basement to make a movie that looks as good as anything Hollywood could make. And it will cost less than $60,000.

#29

I guess not really a secret, but both healthcare and law enforcement. Both are complete nightmares for somewhat overlapping issues. No one with decent intellect wants to be a LEO and take on all the risk involved, which leaves departments forced to hire candidates that otherwise wouldn’t have been considered or not fill positions and work short, which impacts safety for not only the officers themselves but the public among many other cascading effects. Healthcare struggles to find competent workers especially in the more advanced practices, not entirely certain what the causes for this are but it’s epidemic and is steadily growing worse.

#30

The main stream media. They can't be trusted anymore.

#31

Radiology. AI won’t fully replace it but will definitely make it so incoming med students want nothing to do with the specialty.

#32

Honestly I think politics is a dying industry. Voters don’t trust the people running for office, and people who may be more “qualified” don’t want to be associated with the current U.S. political system. In Maine just last year, a young congressman with two terms under his belt decided not to run for office again because of threats to his family. Crazy this is what we’re dealing with now.

#33

Newspapers. Who wants to pay for yesterday’s news?

#34

The beef industry.

#35

Interior designers. Hello AI.

#36

First-world human software development.

- Yes, there will always be a need for skilled, intuitive, smart software devs to check on/verify AI code.
- Yes, there will always be a need for skilled, intuitive, smart people who understand software to guide and manage AI code systems

But the people who will be needed to do those jobs is much smaller than the full complement of devs in the first world. Further, the number of devs who are capable of making the needed skill jump is small. Essentially, most people who write code are 'developers" the way people who ran adding machines before spreadsheets were "accountants."

Yet, the level of cope pretending AI development is a "fad" or "failed experiment" in the industry is truly spectacular.

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