The start of 2023 has seen a number of iconic things disappear from existence. In the past week Twitter has removed all third party apps from being able to access the Twitter API and has forced apps, so of which are 10+ years old to shutdown and be removed from the app store forever. This has both destroyed the income streams for many developers who have worked hard over the life time of Twitter to help it develop into the platform it is today, and with neigh any explanation from Twitter to date as to why. The platform has merely said they are enforcing an API policy banning third party apps which seems to have been snuck in overnight. Given the developers have had to pay to access the API to start with this is highly unprofessional.
Since Elon Musk bought out Twitter in 2022 the social media empire has seen a mass exodus of many users to other platforms with many foreseeing the death of Twitter if things continue along the same trajectory they are on now.
Tech companies aside 2023 also saw McDonalds (at least in Australia/New Zealand) remove Diet Coke from the menu in favor of pushing Coke No Sugar onto it’s customers. This follows McDonalds also removing Sprite from the menu earlier in 2022 to be replaced by Sprite No Sugar which has had many people complaining about the change.
It seems Coke and McDonalds fail to remember the New Coke saga of 1986 where people were mortified that the taste they had known for years was replaced with something new. I don’t necessarily hate Coke No Sugar but Diet Coke is a flavour I have known since I was a kid.
Products come and go all the time and often with a public outcry they are brought back either as a limited edition run or permanently depending on how much backlash there is over their retirement.
It is time for us as consumers to speak with our wallets and our participation and fight back against the changes that impact our lives. I have setup a new account on Mastodon in hopes it will be better in the long run than what Twitter has become.
I will hope that the things I like don’t disappear like many have in the past.
What products have you loved in the past that have disappeared? Let me know in the comments below.