Top 10 Biggest Tech Failures

#1 – Microsoft Zune

The Zune was Microsoft’s answer to Apple’s iPod. Released in 2006 in Black, Brown or White, the Zune was intended to be a social media player, allowing users to share songs between their players. However, the Zune immediately faced comparisons to the iPod, and was the butt of many jokes for it’s brown color. In addition, on December 31, 2008, all Zune players froze and became bricked due the their software not being able to handle the Leap Year. Microsoft did produce additional generations of the Zune, but finally put it out to pasture in October 2011.

#2 – Apple Newton

Newton was a platform for the MessagePad, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) released by Apple Computer in 1993. The PDA category didn’t even exist until Apple brought Newton and the MessagePad to market. It provided applications such as Notes, Names and a Calculator, and it was the first device capable of handwriting recognition. However, it proved to be too big and bulky to be used as a pocket PDA. Attempts to make it smaller (by iPhone designer Jonny Ive) failed, and Apple discontinued the project in February 1998. It was the failure of this project that prompted the Apple Board of Directors to fire their CEO, and bring back Steve Jobs.

#3 – Nokia N-Gage

The N-Gage was Nokia’s attempt at combining the cellular phone with a hand-held gaming console. Introduced in October 2003, the N-Gage had a total of 58 gaming titles, including Tomb Raider, Call of Duty, and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater. It ran the Opera operating system, and enabled basic web browsing. However, the buttons on the device were meant for a phone, and were not compatible with game play. After exaggerating how many units they sold, Nokia finally ended the N-Gage service in 2010, and stopped producing the hand held devices in 2007.

#4 – TwitterPeek

With the incredible success of Twitter, it’s hard to believe that the company has had any failures. But, they had such a failure with the 2009 release of the TwitterPeek. This device was intended to tweet…and that is all. It’s only capability was tweeting, and with the advent of smartphones that could accomplish the same feat quite easily, the TwitterPeek quickly went to the failed gadget graveyard.

#5 – Betamax

Most people from the late 70′s and 80′s will remember the Betamax. Sony’s attempt to topple VHS technology was introduced in 1975, and initially found great success with professional studios. The Betamax did produce better resolution than VHS tapes did. However, VHS was able to record for up to 6 hours, something the Betamax could not match. In addition, the cost of VHS VCR’s was attainable by most people. The Betamax players and tapes were both much more expensive than their VHS counterparts, and therefore, failed in the consumer market. In 1981, Betamax held 25% of the market. In 1996, just 7% of the market. Soon after it was discontinued, and in 1988, Sony began manufacturing and selling their own VHS players.

#6 – Segway

Some people do not feel the Segway was a failure, and continue to love the product today. When the Segway was introduced to the market by Dean Kamen in 2001, it was introduced as a world changing method of transportation. The science behind the Segway, and the balancing technology it is based on, are without a doubt, brilliant. However, the Segway never caught on as a vehicle for the average consumer. First, it was poorly marketed. When the Segway was introduced, it was not sold in big-box stores, only on Amazon and the Segway website. Second, it was problematic in that it was not allowed on streets, and it was not allowed on pedestrian-only sidewalks. This meant it was unusable in most major cities around the world. It was also hyped as the future of transportation, and it was unable to live up to that hype. It is still in production, but only used in niche markets.

#7 – Dreamcast

The Sega Dreamcast was released in 1999, and was a predecessor to the Xbox, GameCube and the PlayStation 2. When it was released it was seen as the best gaming system available, and had a very successful launch and excellent sales. However, upon Sony’s release of the PlayStation 2, Sega was unable to compete. The PlayStation 2 was able to play DVD movies, something the Dreamcast was unable to do. Without enough money to advance the technology, Sega discontinued the Dreamcast in 2001, and has never attempted to release a gaming system since.

#8 – Microsoft Kin

Microsoft released the Kin in May 2010 as a social networking phone, and targeted users between the ages of 15 and 30. Microsoft spent around $1 billion dollars on the Kin platform. The phone was sold exclusively at Verizon stores, and was immediately a dud. After being on the market for only 48 days, Verizon sent all units back to Microsoft, and refused the continue to sell the device. Consumers were turned off by the toy-ish look of the device, and were disappointed that the phone lacked basic features such as predictive text and no calendar feature. Microsoft didn’t waste any time trying to improve the Kin, and quickly and quietly discontinued it just a year after its release.

#9 – LaserDisc

The LaserDisc was a home video format released by MCA in 1978. Meant to compete with VHS and Betamax, the LaserDisc faced obstacles from the start. Even though the LaserDisc produced a much better quality of video than either VHS or Betamax, it was unable to compete financially. The disc players and the movies were very expensive, and there was no outlet for renting the discs, as had happened with VHS rentals. It also never expanded past North America and Japan, with the LaserDisc remaining very obscure in Europe and Australia. By the mid 1990′s, the LaserDisc players were all but extinct. However, the technology behind the LaserDisc was the foundation for the DVD, Compact Disc, and Blu-Ray Discs.

#10 – NeXT Computers

NeXT Computer was found in 1985 by Steve Jobs, after he was ousted by Apple Computer. NeXT was a computer company that built workstations for the educational and business markets. Their work stations never caught on, and they were unable to compete with Sun Microsystems, which was a much larger company offering the same product. However, the NeXT software continued to be successful, and kept the company afloat, even past Jobs departure back to Apple in 1996. Apple bought NeXT for $427 million for 1996. A NeXT Computer workstation was used by Tim Berners-Lee at CERN, and became the world’s first web server and ran the world’s first web browser in 1990.

Courtesy of http://www.uncoverdiscover.com