Dippin’ Dots, the self-described “ice cream of the future,” filed for bankruptcy on Thursday. Dippin Dots, “flash [frozen] ice cream mix in liquid nitrogen,” according to memorial Web site Wikipedia, were invented in 1987. And now they’re gone—melted away just as fast as regular amorphous ice cream. “Sad news for fans of those tiny ice cream pellets known as Dippin’ Dots,” Wall Street Journal marketplace editor Dennis K. Berman announced in a tweet earlier this morning. “The Paducah, Ky. company just filed for bankruptcy.”

Dippin’ Dots were popular at baseball stadiums, amusement parks, and shopping malls—places where parents were so beaten down and physically exhausted that they had no choice but to consent to any and every Dot request. “Future generations will never know the shame of not knowing what they are, asking for ice-cream in a cone, and being told that that’s impossible because they will roll,” an anonymous Vanity Fair editor said.

The sheer unwieldiness of the treat was the source of its pleasures: Dippin’ Dots had to be eaten very quickly and seldom retained their spherical structure after spoon-to-Dot contact. This was part of the fun, you’d tell yourself, trying to change your own habits of consumption to better suit the snack. Every perfect bite was a tiny delicious victory.

Dippin’ Dots demanded minimalism and a purity of vision. The individual Dots themselves were nearly the size of sprinkles, and any topping would have overwhelmed them. (Toppings, unlike cones, were available but, in this blogger’s experience, unpopular.) Dots were better and tastier because they lived alone. They died alone, too, and will melt and melt until they eventually rejoin the universe, melting back into stardust that will become a part of each of us, forever.