25 Products That Have Evolved Over Time, According To Netizens

In the ever-evolving landscape of innovation, products constantly undergo transformations, adapting to changing needs, technological advancements, and consumer preferences. A Reddit thread recently sparked a fascinating conversation, unraveling the evolution of various everyday items.

#1

Image source: reddit.com, Sharon Hahn Darlin/flickr

Cash readers on vending machines and self checkout. I can remember a time when they barely worked without constant cleaning. You’d have to put the same note in over and over before it would take.

#2

Image source: KarmaWhoreRepeating, Ahmed Muntasir/pexels

Airplane engines… Growing up you would hear the planes and sometimes had to stop your conversation. Nowadays, it never ever happens.

#3

Image source: Valahiru, Phillip Pessar/flickr

Diet Soda Pop. I’m just talking about the taste here. Not interested in hearing about how it’s gonna kill you. The taste is light years ahead of how it tasted when I was a kid. Except maybe Diet coke still tastes like s**t but Coke Zero Sugar is pretty great. If you could go back 25 years you’d be surprised how much better diet soda is these days.

#4

Image source: fulthrottlejazzhands, Andrey Matveev/pexels

All PC components.  They’re way easier to install and generally last longer.  And the software and bioses/firmware that ensure they’re compatible. And tweaking, at least at a high level, is tons easier and safer. Time was, you needed to understand jumpers, ram allocations, manual bios flashing.  Bonus if you could solder. Nothing was shrouded, so you could easily short something or knock off a capacitor. And even still, you’d run into compatibility issues or blow outs.

#5

Image source: ReturnedAndReported, Sarah Chai/pexels

Pistachios. They’re now much easier to shell than 10-20 years ago. This goes across many food/produce products. Oranges are easier to peel, Brussels sprouts are tastier, apples crisper, etc etc.

Science is making food so much better.

#6

Image source: domenator2000, cottonbro studio/pexels

Coffee in America.. From Folgers and Yuban to now mega hipster stuff.

#7

Image source: Street_Roof_7915, Artem Podrez/pexels

Cancer research. My mom was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer 2 years ago— we were looking at months. A year of chemo and radiation and she got into a clinical trail with immunotherapy. Cancer free last year.

AMAZING.

#8

Image source: Affectionate-Sea-697, Los Muertos Crew/pexels

I have a rare disorder. When I was diagnosed 11 years ago at age 14, I went home and looked up what was going to happen to me. The Google results for lifespan was around 25-37 years old.

Now, most doctors will say the lifespan is fairly close to average.

Scans, medications, and research have all gotten better remarkably fast even for a disorder that has barely any funding towards fixing it. It’s so rare that I have to tell doctors what it is and what it effects every time I get a new specialist, because I’m always the first patient they’ve met with it.

And yet still, the treatment has gotten so much better. So grateful.

#9

Image source: KiwiOld1627, cottonbro studio/pexels

GPS, and maps in general. Old paper maps I could get a rough idea of where my house might be in a town. Now I can read the street signs in a city on the other side of the planet.

#10

Image source: Mission_Chocolate599, daveynin/flickr

Frozen pizza. 20 years ago they were s**t, now they can actually be pretty good.

#11

Image source: naturelover47, Markus Tacker/flickr

Flashlights.

Maglights were 27 lumens. Now an everyday carry flashlight might have 4500 lumens of light.

Join us at r/flashlight

#12

Image source: milklvr23, Alex Green/pexels

Mental health awareness and advocacy. When I first got help ten years ago, it was super hush hush and nobody talked about it. Now mental health is an everyday conversation, people are outspoken about their conditions. Even stickers that say things like “live, laugh, Lexapro” make my heart warm because recovery is finally becoming a part of society.

#13

Image source: toetotipsnowpea, Vie Studio/pexels

menstrual products

#14

Image source: spatchi14, Anastasia Ilina-Makarova/pexels

Brussel sprouts and broccoli. They’ve been bred to be less bitter.

#15

Image source: jesuseatsbees, Henry Söderlund/flickr

Non alcoholic drinks, in particular beer and cider. Wine is still getting there I think, but even just the amount of choice is amazing compared to what there used to be.

#16

Image source: ChunLi808, Madalin Grigore/pexels

Cheap guitars. You can buy one for a few hundred bucks that absolutely blows away the one I started on like 25 years ago.

#17

Image source: verminiusrex, Duy Nod/pexels

Small technology. Cameras, smartphones, headphones to name a few. You can purchase a very cheap piece of technology that works equal to the super expensive technology from a few years before.

Lightbulbs are my favorite. Going from incandescent to compact florescent was great because it was a couple years rather than months between bulb changes. Now with LEDs I can’t remember changing a bulb, I usually buy new bulbs only when I buy a new lamp.

#18

Image source: jekelish3, Arthur Ogleznev/pexels

Sneakers. I cannot imagine trying to go play basketball in a pair of Chuck Taylors at this point. Or running on the original Nike waffles.

#19

Image source: Alaska_Jack, Anna Shvets/pexels

Oh, no question: Garbage bags. WAY better than they used to be.

They used to be super flimsy, back in the 70s and 80s. Garbage-bag commercials would always show “the competitors'” brands tearing and spilling garbage all over. I literally can’t remember the last time that happened.

#20

Image source: lordctm, Grooveland Designs/pexels

Vegan replacements!

#21

Image source: skaote

Automotive brakes. ABS has saved lives.

#22

Image source: reddit.com, cottonbro studio/pexels

The quality of sexual health information that young people can access online. Obviously there are good and bad things about the internet. But a nervous 17 year old kid having a pregnancy scare or a concern about an STI has access to good information online that didn’t exist when I was that age in the 1990s.

#23

Image source: Calamity-Gin, yawning hunter/flickr

Shoelaces.

When I was a kid, they broke if you pulled on them too hard, and then you had to knot them up and tie them short. As an adult, I don’t think I’ve ever had a pair break on me.

#24

Image source: man_idkkkk, Martin Lewison/flickr

As a lactose intolerant person: DAIRY FREE/PLANT-BASED ANYTHING. dairy free milk, dairy free butter, dairy free cheese, dairy-free icecream/yogurt. Everything’s delicious now!! Same goes for vegan meats imo

#25

Image source: CosyPotat, Ron Lach/pexels

Range of makeup for different skin tones.