The news: TiVo DVRs, Microsoft’s Windows 10, and Apple’s short-form video app Clips have all reached the end of the line in recent weeks. Each defined a digital moment—or a glimpse of the future—before succumbing to the same inevitable march of progress.

• TiVo (1999-2025) pioneered time-shifting TV through its DVRs before streaming made it irrelevant. 
• Windows 10 (2015-2025) anchored personal computing until Microsoft’s cloud-first strategy shifted to Windows 11 and Copilot-driven AI. 
• Apple’s Clips (2017-2025) anticipated TikTok-style social video creation but never fit into Apple’s larger ecosystem of iPhones, AirPods, and services. TikTok went viral in 2018 and surpassed earlier platforms like Vine (2013-2017).

Technology life cycles are shrinking as platforms consolidate and consumer habits and trends evolve faster than hardware can keep up. Planned obsolescence is now built into tech products  and form factors.

Why it matters for brands: For marketers, the death of once-dominant tools demands foresight and adaptability. Every tech product is either phased out or evolves into something new. 

When Google Play Music shut down, it moved users to YouTube Music. Similarly, when Skype shut down, Microsoft guided its users to Teams. The brands that endure anticipate these transitional moments and design the handoff by considering the following:

• Mapping end-of-life plans as carefully as launches—protecting trust and data.
• Framing sunsets as evolution, not abandonment.
• Offering migration paths and transparent messaging to keep users loyal.

Endings speak louder than launches: Microsoft announced Windows 10’s retirement in 2021 and spent years guiding users forward. TiVo’s DVRs, by contrast, vanished with little warning even as the brand lives on as an operating system on smart TVs. 

One brand built product continuity; the other whittled away its legacy. For Apple Clips, the company told users to save their Clips videos and explore similar apps.

“The goal is to phase out the product responsibly, minimizing disruption for users, supporting internal teams, and keeping your brand’s reputation intact,” said Carlos Gonzalez de Villaumbrosia, founder and CEO at Product School.

What brands should do: The best brands treat change not as loss but as momentum by moving users, data, and goodwill forward before obsolescence arrives. Every innovation carries its own expiration date. Brands that don’t write their ending risk having it written for them.

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