Saturday, September 26, 2026Est. 2026. Most of what's in here is older.
Don't fix it if it ain't broke

They Fixed It / Digg

2010

Digg

Digg v4

Before
Digg: users submitted links and voted them up to the front page.
The fix
Launched Digg v4 on August 25, 2010, a rebuilt site that shipped buggy and changed how stories reached the front page.
Then
Users left en masse for Reddit. In July 2012 Digg sold for about $500,000. BusinessWeek had valued it at $200 million in 2006.

Kept it.

Never rolled back.

Your call

Source: money.cnn.com

More fixes nobody asked for

2016

Kraft Heinz

Kraft Mac & Cheese recipe

Before
Kraft Macaroni & Cheese, colored orange with artificial dyes.
The fix
Swapped the artificial dyes and preservatives for paprika, annatto and turmeric, and told nobody.
Then
Kraft waited until about 50 million boxes had sold before announcing the change in March 2016. The ad campaign was built on the fact that nobody noticed.

Kept it.

The new recipe stayed.

Your call

2016

HP

HP printer ink lockout

Before
HP OfficeJet printers that took cheaper third-party ink cartridges without complaint.
The fix
A firmware update, set to switch on September 13, 2016, made printers reject cartridges without HP chips.
Then
Printers started calling perfectly good cartridges damaged. HP admitted no fault, but paid $1.5 million to settle a US class action and up to $1.35 million to settle in Europe.

Kept it.

HP printers were still blocking non-HP chips in 2023.

Your call

2016

Apple

iPhone headphone jack

Before
iPhones with a standard 3.5mm headphone jack.
The fix
Dropped the jack from the iPhone 7. Phil Schiller said it came down to one word: courage.
Then
Apple announced $159 AirPods at the same event. No iPhone since the 7 has had a headphone jack.

Kept it.

Still gone, ten years later.

Your call