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Posted: Aug 06 2009 12:40 am

Quote:

Here we are just months away from closing out the first decade of the 21st century, which means a lot of publications will soon be in look-back mode, taking stock of all the good--and bad--things that happened over the last 10 years. While we've still got a few months to go before hitting 2010, I thought I should get a head start on the whole best/worst roundup fad that's about to flood the Internet (Time magazine has already done the 10 Biggest Tech Failures of the Last Decade, but it was pretty lame; this one's much better, I swear).

Before we get to the list, let's get the parameters straight. This isn't a list of all the most spectacular tech failures. I chose to exclude dot-coms, corporate debacles (AOL-Time Warner), search engines (i.e., Cuil), and assorted other Web 2.0 flame outs (I'll let Webware handle that). No, this is a roundup of gear, the stuff that turns on and off, the stuff I've been covering for almost 10 years at CNET (yes, I started in 2000).

It's also important to define just what a flop is. In my book it's simply something that was really hyped but didn't live up to its promise or expectations. And while the word "flop" has a negative connotation, we here at CNET have a lot admiration for the designers, engineers, and everybody else who put their heart and soul into bringing these products and technologies to the world. Some of them didn't deserve their fates. They were ahead of their time or just marketed poorly. Whatever the case, we appreciate the vision, risk taking, and hard work that went into creating these things.

But enough sentimentality (I meant it, really). Let's get to the biggest tech flops of the decade. If you disagree with any of them or have more to suggest, please post a comment. If we missed any clear candidates, we'll modify the list.

http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-18438_7-10288870-82.html?tag=smallCarouselArea.0

heres the link to the slide show carousel starting at 1:
http://reviews.cnet.com/2300-33_7-10001201-1.html

if you dont want to look it up here is the list:
1. Dreamcast (1998-2001)
2. The standalone DVD recorder (1999-?)
3. Sony Aibo (1999-2006)
4. DVD-Audio/SACD (2000-?)
5. Modo (2000-2000)
6. Apple Power Mac G4 Cube (2000-2001)
7. Satellite radio (2001-?)
8. Sony MicroMV (2001-2006)
9. Segway (2002-?)
10. Microsoft Smart Display (2002-2003)
11. Tapwave Zodiac (2003-2005)
12. HD Radio (2003-?)
13. Nokia N-Gage (2003-?)
14. Microsoft SPOT Smart Watches (2004-2008)
15. The UMD (2004-?)
16. CableCard (2004-?)
17. SED flat-panel TV technology (2004-2007?)
18. LocationFree TV (2004-?)
19. Gizmondo (2005-2006)
20. Palm Lifedrive (2005-2007)
21. Motorola ROKR E1 (2005-2006)
22. HD DVD (2006-2008)
23. Sony Mylo (2006-2008?)
24. The UMPC (2006-?)
25. Palm Foleo (2007-2007)

Posted: Aug 06 2009 12:42 am

Seeing Dreamcast on there makes me sad, despite it being technically true.

Posted: Aug 06 2009 02:31 am

1. Dreamcast (1998-2001)

I still think that Sony or Nintendo payed them under the table to get out of the console market.

2. The standalone DVD recorder (1999-?)
honestly I have never seen a person use on of these or even how it works, I just use a DVD burner on my comp

3. Sony Aibo (1999-2006)
Some weird fad toy

4. DVD-Audio/SACD (2000-?)
CD Audio is fine, DVD Audio is overkill, flash memory MP3 FTW

5. Modo (2000-2000)
good idea replaced now by Internet Portable Devices

6. Apple Power Mac G4 Cube (2000-2001)
Mac's sucked before they made the switch to Intel

7. Satellite radio (2001-?)
Launched in the days when internet radio was becoming popular

8. Sony MicroMV (2001-2006)
came out when new better technology was becomming cheaper

9. Segway (2002-?)
Cops use these

10. Microsoft Smart Display (2002-2003)
probably was just replaced by a newer revision and a different name

11. Tapwave Zodiac (2003-2005)
not bad, just didnt become popular, sort of like HDDVD

12. HD Radio (2003-?)
Wow, pay for a reciever to get HD Radio channels, id rather get XM over this

13. Nokia N-Gage (2003-?)
just bulky and ugly looking, I guess would still work on a TMobile network right?

14. Microsoft SPOT Smart Watches (2004-2008)
too high and gimmicky

15. The UMD (2004-?)
Epic fail because you knew it sucked to begin with and who would pay money to watch movies on a PSP?, just get a Portable DVD player

16. CableCard (2004-?)
just a small version of something you already had and wouldnt buy just because it was smaller

17. SED flat-panel TV technology (2004-2007?)
just got replaced by a cheaper standard, thats all

18. LocationFree TV (2004-?)
like a glorified capture card but overpriced since it was released by Sony

19. Gizmondo (2005-2006)
stupid for releasing something you knew wouldnt beat a DS or PSP

20. Palm Lifedrive (2005-2007)
just another case of something being discontinued because there was cheaper and better technology out there

21. Motorola ROKR E1 (2005-2006)
im sure this phone is still ok but its no Blackberry or iPhone

22. HD DVD (2006-2008)
Not a bad format, wish it would have stuck as a PC storage solution

23. Sony Mylo (2006-2008?)
A better designed PSP, I would use it. I probably will get the Mylo 2 after looking at this list, so thanks to the OP!

24. The UMPC (2006-?)
I would use it if I could find one cheap

25. Palm Foleo (2007-2007)[/quote]
a netbook that they didn't call a netbook

Joined: Mar 13 2009 Location: Arlington Posts: 467

How is the segway a tech flop? Despite being crazy expensive to rent, these things are awesome to fly around on. I guess it's pointless if you don't live in a city, but smashing into eachother on a segway is a great way to spent an afternoon.

Posted: Aug 06 2009 10:36 am

Dreamcast wasn't a flop. Sega had their first profitable quarters in YEARS when Dreamcast came out. The decision to stop support and production for it was abrupt and stupid. The Xbox and Xbox 360 could technically be considered flops because both, while ultimately succesful, were unprofitable to sell.

Posted: Aug 06 2009 11:32 am

Lot of Sony products on there.

Posted: Aug 06 2009 12:14 pm

Yea, I don't agree with the Dreamcast either. A lot of people still consider that their favorite gaming console and as Syd said, it did make a tidy profit for Sega at the time allowing them to continue as a corporation despite the failures of the Saturn and 32x.

The Segway definitely belongs on the list though as it was predicted to revolutionize the way humans travel, and while it may seem like fun to screw around on for an afternoon, no one is commuting to work on them and very few people actually own them.

And anyone who didn't see the N-Gage flopping long before it was even released is silly.

Posted: Aug 06 2009 01:17 pm

Fire ants in the urethra for whoever okayed the inclusion of DC.

Also, a game came out for DC last month in Japan, they should do their homework.

Posted: Aug 06 2009 02:21 pm

Dreamcast definitely doesn't belong on there. Most of the stuff I haven't heard of though.

Posted: Aug 06 2009 03:12 pm

Also, Dreamcast, as well as the PS2, are huge sellers on eBay right now. So despite it being out of print and having no new games, there's still a demand for the system.

Posted: Aug 06 2009 04:45 pm

Either I'm out of the loop or I'm a hermit but the PSP Go which was listed on the UMD page looks fucking sweet, plus no more UMD's! Thats good news for the PSP.

Title: Comic Author Joined: Dec 12 2008 Posts: 1179

The Sony Mylo confuses me... Why would Sony release a product so similar to its own PSP? Isn't that just creating competition for... their own product?

UsaSatsui's Youtube Channel · Posted: Aug 06 2009 06:07 pm

The Dreamcast was a commercial failure, and if you pretend otherwise, you're being delusional. How awesome the system is, modern demand, the supposed stupidity of the cancellation, or how profitable the system was in the short term doesn't matter. It was a flop.

It's not a knock on the system at all. Just the truth. And seeing as how it was supposed to be a significant factor in the video game console market, and was not, I'd say it's almost justified as being #1

Though seeing as how it was released LAST decade, I'd leave it off the list anyways.

Posted: Aug 06 2009 06:29 pm

...you're dead to me.

Posted: Aug 06 2009 06:41 pm

Dreamcast was doing fine, until the PS2 showed up and stole 90% of it's customers with it's hype tactics, and it got it's production pulled. It certainly was not a "flop", and it continued to be in service in Japan until 2006, when the effin' 360 was out. The PS3 in this day and age is much more of a flop, due to the massive hype behind from the success of PS2, and Sony at the starting price of 599 US dollars losing at least $200 with each system sold, and now with all of these price drops, they are losing even more. Again, the DC didn't make as much as the other three sixth-gen consoles, but that's because it got the plug pulled in 2001, it still sold over ten million units, so it still made Sega quite a bit of money.

Also, to be fair, some of the reason why the DC is looked for on Ebay, is because it can run homebrew straight off of a CD-R without a modchip.

UsaSatsui's Youtube Channel · Posted: Aug 06 2009 06:49 pm

Quote:

Dreamcast was doing fine, until the PS2 showed up and stole 90% of it's customers with it's hype tactics, and it got it's production pulled.

In other words...it was fine until there was actual competition. It failed.

I've been through this before. You people just don't want to admit that you own and enjoy a failed console.

It's okay to love a failure. Join us Gamecube lovers. You don't have to be alone.

Posted: Aug 06 2009 06:55 pm

UsaSatsui wrote:

It's okay to love a failure. Join us Gamecube lovers. You don't have to be alone.

Posted: Aug 06 2009 06:56 pm

i agree w/usa. the DC was awesome and but underappreciated at the time. but, as always, hindsight is 20/20 and a lot of people are adopting it now. it only lasted 3 years, so its definitely considered a flop. considering all the R&D and what not that went into making it.

Posted: Aug 06 2009 06:58 pm

It wasn't just competition, you see Sega pulled production only after some months the PS2 hit the scene, as if fowl play had been produced. I'm sorry, but it normally takes longer than that for a console to outclass it's competition, and if you're saying that the GCN is a failure too, then we might as well call the original Xbox a failure as well.

Believe what you want(Even though, I am correct), but I hardly think a console that still sold well and made money is a bigger "flop", than the Nokia Engage and Gizmondo.

Posted: Aug 06 2009 08:02 pm

username wrote:

i agree w/usa. the DC was awesome and but underappreciated at the time. but, as always, hindsight is 20/20 and a lot of people are adopting it now. it only lasted 3 years, so its definitely considered a flop. considering all the R&D and what not that went into making it.

However, a fan game for the system came out just last year.

Posted: Aug 06 2009 09:05 pm

The Dreamcast is still an amazing system. Most of the games on it looked better than many late entry games near the end of the Xbox/PS2/Gamecube generation.

Posted: Aug 06 2009 10:53 pm

IceWarm wrote:

The Dreamcast is still an amazing system. Most of the games on it looked better than many late entry games near the end of the Xbox/PS2/Gamecube generation.

Hell yea, the concept that you could play a 128 bit console in 1999 was ridiculous.

Joined: Jul 17 2009 Posts: 2

I guess with the advent of the DVR the stand alone DVD Recorder could be considered a flop, but I still use mine. Flop or no flop, you can't have my dvd recorder, bitches!

UsaSatsui's Youtube Channel · Posted: Aug 07 2009 12:42 am

[00:42] <UsaSatsui> !define dreamcast
[00:42] <Lexiabot9000> dreamcast: Error: Console not found.

I swear I did not add that.

Posted: Aug 09 2009 06:40 am

UsaSatsui wrote:

I've been through this before. You people just don't want to admit that you own and enjoy a failed console.

I actually never liked the Dreamcast and only really played Crazy Taxi on it. We owned one but never bought any games for it so it was only played a few times. I'll still support the fact though that it made money for Sega, and while it didn't sell as well as they anticipated, I wouldn't call it a "flop".

I mean, it's not even in the same league as the massive failure that was the Saturn. Why is that not on this list?