16 World-Changing Ideas (That Were Utter Flops)

It seems like every day; we're inundated with new world-changing ideas. Some come from well-known business titans or tech wizards, while others originate from unknown inventors working in their garages. But the truth is, most of these ideas are destined to fail. In fact, a 2012 study by Harvard Business School showed that 80% of all startups failed within the first five years. So what makes an idea succeed? And how can you tell if your great idea is actually going to flop?

Mankind has always been inventive -- it's the reason why we no longer have to run away from gigantic jungle cats when we poop anymore. But for as far as we've gotten, we've kind of missed the mark by shunning some great ideas during our existence.

So here is our tribute to innovative technologies we could've had if not for all the dumb, sneering philistines of the human race. In this article, we'll take a look at some of the biggest world-changing flop ideas. So let's get started…