Continuing to post interesting stuff from the museum of failures.
The story about the Amope Foot File isn’t found on Google at all, so there’s a chance that the museum just made it up. But what if not. Listen up.
The Amopé Foot File, actively sold between 2016 and 2018, is a prime example of how a successful product can simultaneously become a failure. This device effectively removed calluses in minutes, leaving the skin of the feet soft and smooth. Consumers really liked it, and many after seeing ads and “friends’ reviews” rushed to buy one for themselves.
However, here was the problem: customers needed to buy just one such device practically for a lifetime. The Amopé Foot File was so good at its job that it required buying expensive spare parts about once every three years, and that only if you really wanted to spend the money. This led to the company management dubbing the FootFile product as Foot-Fail, blaming it for unsatisfactory profit reports and falling stock prices.
Another example is the products of the Pyrex company. Initially, the company manufactured dishes made of borosilicate glass, which were very durable under normal conditions. However, since this dishware lasted too long (sometimes being passed down from generation to generation), the company switched to producing less durable soda-lime glassware, which encouraged consumers to make purchases more frequently. True, at the same time, Pyrex had dishes that would explode under overheating or sudden temperature changes. Not much joy for a kitchen. And then Pyrex found a reason why customers should switch to the less reliable soda lime. Link in the comments.
Or consider light bulbs with long lifespans. There are well-known cases of creating light bulbs that could last for decades without failing. For example, the light bulb in the Livermore fire station, USA, has been burning for over 100 years. However, such bulbs didn’t find commercial success because manufacturers preferred to sell bulbs with shorter lifespans.
And here’s my dilemma right now. Ideally, it’s about time to change my three-year-old iPhone 12 Pro Max. But almost everything’s fine with it. Well, the battery has worn out a bit, yes. It no longer holds 15 hours of active use like it used to. And that’s it. It’s a fine phone otherwise. It’s been three years already. So, AT&T is currently selling me an upgrade (with trade-in) to the iPhone 15 Pro Max for an additional payment of just $130 with zero-interest installment over 2 years ($5.5 per month). Well, what to do. I’ll be taking it. If it weren’t for the slowly dying battery, it would last another three years for sure. But then, in electric cars, batteries don’t degrade by 20 percent over three years. Maybe they specifically make it like that in the phone?
In general, the above cases are a classic example of the dilemma of products that are “too good” to be commercially successful.
Hi, I'm Rauf Aliev. 