'What’s an industry that was created to solve a problem, but now relies on keeping the problem alive to survive?': 12 businesses that started to solve a problem, but ended up making it worse

Some industries seem to be nothing more than a representation of all the problems in this world.

Not every sector or company can be involved with the kind of thing that everybody can agree is a universal good, or is, at the very least, something fun. We only have to look at the sheer number of tech startups that exist to understand just how easy it is for a business to be both kind of useless and kind of evil. Supposedly, all of these companies are here to find a solution to something, but that often couldn't be further from the truth.

Many businesses begin with the best of intentions. They identify a problem, or something that needs to be improved, and they promise to deliver to their customers the best product that they can to make sure they never have to experience that problem again. They can't be too good at it, though, otherwise they might stop making money, and they have to keep on finding new and innovative ways to stay relevant so that their clientele keeps buying and the shareholders stay happy. It is a never-ending cycle that even seemingly well-meaning companies can fall into.

It seems to be the life cycle of many industries where this has to happen eventually, but it hurts when a business idea that seemed to change things for the better turns out to hinder more than it helps after it has been around for long enough. Ultimately, the most important thing to the majority of companies is making things better for themselves.