Technology and all that goes with it is a wonderful innovation. However, things change so very quickly in this world that often what seemed like a great idea at the time gets left behind. The novelty items which can often be found away at the back of a cupboard gathering dust now were touted as the next “big thing” once upon a time.
Here are some of the techs promises that just didn’t meet the expectations of the market – may they all rest in peace.
Windows Vista:
This came installed on laptops and PCs but was so filled with bugs and incompatible with certain hardware that many users managed to downgrade to Windows XP rather than put up with Vista.
Audrey:
Audrey hit the shops in 2000 and was a supposedly elegant internet accessing tool which was promised to be easier to use than regular computers. No one else agreed.
Aibo:
This was a small, cute robotic canine. Coming in with a hefty price tag, consumers tended to avoid it. Enthusiasts still collect them, however, and later models were a great deal of fun.
IBM PCjr:
This came out in the mid-eighties when consumers were beginning to get excited about the world of home computing. Due to its very high price and lack of gaming, the PCjr was not a success.
MSN Direct:
This was a way of sending data to small portable devices through the medium of FM radio signals. The wristwatch was hoped to have become popular with regards to this; however, people snubbed this in favour of the mobile phone.
Nokia N-Gage:
This was a hand held gaming console and mobile phone in one. It was not so user friendly, however, and when held up to the ear, it looked unsightly. It didn’t go down well.
Sony Rolly:
This was a massively hyped moving egg shaped music player. It came pre-loaded with Earth Wind and Fire and a measly 2GB memory capacity. It was also rather expensive.
Virtual Boy:
This was a 3D Nintendo console which came with goggles. It was only out for a year when it was taken off the market. It gave gamers feelings of dizziness and headaches. It also didn’t have many games that were available for it, and it was only ever released for one year in Japan and America.
Virtual Boy’s are now very collectable however and can change hands for a relatively good price.
Swatch Internet Time:
Launched a few years before the millennium, Swatch decided to decimalise the clock. Each day became 1000 beats, and this watch was meant to be the future. It wasn’t.
Ultra mobile PC:
This was a very small PC which ran all the software you would get on a regular sized laptop or desktop. Unfortunately for companies such as Samsung, cheap net-books then began to flood the market, and no one wanted their Q1 ultra mobile PC.
…and these are just a few of the weird and wonderful gadgets which could have done so well if they had not had been so badly received by the public. Surely in the future, there will be plenty more promises to be made – whether or not they deliver, is a different question.