It's funny how some companies seem to be riding on trends that seem doomed to me. I've been going alphabetically through Scandinavian stock listings, and so far I've encountered three such companies: AudioDev, Anoto and Cash Guard. AudioDev makes testing equipment for optical media. Anoto makes system to read hand-written forms. Cash Guard makes cash handling systems.
In my image of the future all content is accessed through the Internet, therefore there will be no optical media, and so there won't be any need for testing equipment for it. All official forms, questionnaires, multiple-choice exams etc. will be filled electronically, so there won't be so much need for OCR / choice-reading machines. Cash will be phased out gradually, where it might always exist but will be used less and less.
These three companies don't seem to be riding on very good trends :)
