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# Product history

2026-09-12

The product history of the McDonald's fast-food system, and why it ranks 8th

The system sold $139.4 billion of food in 2025. McDonald's Corporation itself booked $26.9 billion. About 95% of the 45,356 restaurants are not run by the company. What the 1948 rebuild invented was not a hamburger — it was a manual anyone could follow to open an identical restaurant. It ranks 8th at 93.75, originality 95 and longevity 97, with experience at only 85. This is the product history in order, and what the score is measuring.

2026-09-11

The product history of AWS, and why it ranks 7th

AWS booked $128.725 billion in 2025 net sales — 18% of Amazon's total — and produced 57% of the whole company's operating income. The first thing it ever sold was a virtual machine at 10 cents an hour, in 2006. It ranks 7th at 94.05, with originality 97 behind only the iPhone and the shipping container in the top ten, and scale 92 the only sub-95 score up there. This is the product history in order, and what the score is measuring.

2026-09-09

The product history of the Amazon store, and why it ranks 6th

Book Stacks Unlimited was selling books over a dial-up BBS in Cleveland in 1992, three years before Amazon. Amazon opened on 16 July 1995 and sold $12,000 of books in week one. In 2025 third-party sellers accounted for 61% of units sold and net sales reached $716.9 billion. It ranks 6th at 94.20, with originality at just 90 — its lowest of the six.

2026-09-07

WeChat's Product History, and Why It Ranks 5th

Mi Talk launched on December 10, 2010. WeChat launched on January 21, 2011 — 42 days later. Push-to-talk was also Mi Talk first, WeChat second. By Q3 2025 the combined Weixin and WeChat monthly active users reached 1.41 billion. This walks the product history in order and explains the 94.75 score, including why originality is only 92.

2026-09-05

The Credit Card's Product History, and Why It Ranks 4th

On September 18, 1958, Bank of America mailed 60,000 BankAmericards into one city's mailboxes. No applications, no interviews. Delinquency ran past 20% in the first year and the man who ran the project quit within two. In fiscal 2025 Visa alone cleared $13.9 trillion across 257.5 billion transactions. This walks the product history and explains the 95.50 score.

2026-09-04

Coca-Cola's Product History, and Why It Ranks 3rd

On May 8, 1886, one Atlanta pharmacy sold the first glass for five cents and averaged about nine drinks a day that first year. Today the company's beverages sell more than 1.9 billion servings a day across 200+ countries. This walks the product history in order, then explains exactly how it scores 95.65 and lands behind the iPhone and Google Search.