Of course, technical progress does not stand still and, one might say, moves forward with leaps and bounds. Recently, new technologies have brought about a real revolution, forcing scientists from all over the world to study new products and opportunities.
Despite the fact that consumers constantly need technological innovations that promise multimillion dollar earnings to companies, all of them have a big risk of failing. We have prepared a list of devices that should have gained popularity around the world, but "failed." Whether it's in too sophisticated features, or in the developers' flaws - judge for yourself!
1. QR Codes
Yes, we are talking about black and white squares, which can be found on all sorts of goods. QR codes were to become a real technical discovery, facilitating the sale of goods. But, as practice showed, the process turned out to be too inconvenient and requiring connection to the Internet, so consumers stopped using this technology.
2. Playstation EyeToy
Playstation EyeToy is a digital video camera that allows users of the Playstation 2 game console to use the actions and voice commands to control the character in the game. When the camera came out in 2003, the demand for webcams was unrealistically large. Many, under the influence of advertising and the desire to experience new sensations have acquired these cameras, but, as it turned out, in vain. The management process was too primitive, and most of the games simply were not supported by the device.
3. TiVo
TiVo is a receiver and a VCR in one bottle. According to the developers, this device should replace the laborious process of connecting to cable television with the ability to record favorite TV shows. Unfortunately, the creators of the brand were too poorly versed in brand marketing, and could not properly present their products. But the chances of success were, and TiVo could stand on a line with such giants as Apple or Google.
4. Blackberry
For a while, Blackberry was one of the most popular brands of smartphones, which many businessmen trusted. But as soon as Apple announced the release of its smartphone Iphone to the market and attracted some consumers, Blackberry instantly turned into an ancient technology. In a few moments, the brand became less popular and lost the love of consumers.
5. Pebble
Despite the fact that Pebble was one of the first companies to capture the smart space in the market, it could not withstand FitBit and Apple. Pebble failed and quickly left the market.
6. Oakley THUMP Sunglasses
In 2004, Oakley released sunglasses with the function of an MP3 player. Sometimes the combination of two incompatible devices leads to a really great product, which is highly appreciated by users. But in the case of Oakley this did not happen: a weak sound and questionable design ruined the idea at the root.
7. MapQuest
The company MapQuest is known as a developer of maps of Internet browsers and was one of the first to search for locations and search for ways. But with the advent of Google Maps, the company sank to the bottom, unable to cope with competition.
8. Sega Dreamcast
After the unsuccessful exit of Sega Saturn, the company Sega said that it decided to return to the market with a novelty that will win everyone. The prefix Dreamcast made an impressive leap, using continuous advertising. But the lack of design, financial difficulties and the upcoming release of Playstation 2 inevitably killed all Sega's attempts to return to the market.
9. AOL
America-On-Line, or AOL, was the largest Internet provider in the United States. The success of the company made it a corporate giant, but the merger with Time Warner and the inability to keep up with broadband technology led to utter failure and collapse.
10. AltaVista
AltaVista was one of the most unsuccessful creations of technological progress. Originally the project was similar to Google. He indexed the entire network, cached it and even had name recognition. Unfortunately, the owner of the company could not look into the future, and was sold to another company. In the end, AltaVista was closed Yahoo!
11. Google Wave
Initially, it was assumed that Google Wave would be a new means of communication for Internet users, combining email, social networks and instant messaging. At one time, this technology put a lot of noise, but because of the large number of functions and unattractiveness, it did not attract users.
12. Lumosity Brain Games
When Lumosity appeared on the market, he announced great prospects for his influence on brain health, saying that technology will make people better at work, at school and reduce the chances of acquiring Alzheimer's and ADHD. However, after the Lumosity survey was conducted and it was revealed that their application had nothing to do with reality, they were ordered to pay a fine of $ 2 million.
13. Qualcomm's Flo TV
Flo TV, developed by Qualcomm, was intended for users who could not part with the TV for a minute. The technology allowed to maintain a constant television connection on a mobile device without Wi-Fi or cellular data. It was enough to buy a subscription. The idea was good, but the high cost of the device and subscriptions covered this project.
14. Palm Treo
In 1996, the Palm Pilot was one of the best personal organizers on the market. But years after the rapid growth of production of a variety of smartphone assistants, the company Palm was out of the box. Even the release of Palm Treo did not save the company.
15. Napster
Nobody doubts that Napster completely revolutionized the music industry, making MP3 the most popular format for listening to music. And the project was very successful, but failed due to an attempt to cash in with pirated tracks.
16. Samsung Galaxy Note 7
There is no person in the world who has never heard of Samsung. Moreover, today Samsung is one of the most flagship companies, about which many people dream. But large companies make mistakes that are remembered for many years. That's exactly what happened with the ultra-modern gadget Samsung Galaxy Note 7, which surprised users with its explosive. Despite the fact that the company tried to solve this problem by replacing the battery, the model was hopelessly lost. In the end, Samsung recalled the phones and lost about $ 6 billion.
17. Apple Pippin
Today, iPhone dominates the mobile games market, having a huge library of various applications. However, even Apple released not very successful devices. This includes Apple Pippin - a console for video games. Despite the fact that the prefix was powerful, lack of advertising, brand recognition and weak games did their job. Soon, Playstation released its game console, which instantly became popular. In 1997, Steve Jobs finally put an end to the Apple Pippin project.
18. The Daily newspaper
With the popularity of the iPad, News Corp. began to produce a digital newspaper The Daily. Thus, the company wanted to capture the newspaper market first on portable devices. However, the desired result was not achieved, and soon the project was closed.
19. Microsoft SPOT
Prior to the appearance of Apple Watch in 2004, Microsoft released the "smart" clock Microsoft SPOT. Clumsy design, expensive price and monthly subscription ruined the project.
20. Nintendo VirtualBoy
Today Nintendo is a legendary company in the field of interactive entertainment. But she was not always like this. In the 90's, Nintendo's VirtualBoy was a complete disaster. The console did not have good games and strongly influenced human health, namely on the eyes. Soon, the company decided to abandon the release of such devices.
21. Google Glass
When Google released Glass Glasses, many saw unique features in this device. However, after years of bad marketing, high cost and lack of a basic product completely destroyed this project.
22. MySpace
Appearing in 2003, MySpace has become the most popular social network on the Internet. And the prospects for this project were really large, until in 2005 the idea was sold to News Corp., which could not properly introduce and develop this network. When Facebook appeared in 2008, MySpace quickly lost 40 million of its subscribers, founders, a whole staff of employees, and sank into oblivion, becoming a relic of the Internet.
23. Motorola ROKR E1
Motorola ROKR E1 was a bizarre combination of iPod from Apple and Motorola phone. The device allowed people to connect to iTunes and use the iPod software. However, the project failed due to too slow synchronization and a limit of loading of 100 tracks.
24. OUYA
Another unfortunate example is to climb Olympus game consoles. Despite the cheap price, the console has failed. The lack of original games, a quality controller and a consumer market have done their job. It turned out that no one wants to buy a console for the sake of games, which can be played on a mobile phone.
25. Oculus Rift and the new VR
The first attempts to create a virtual reality device promised unprecedented prospects for development. And many users were really happy with the game novelty. But today, many companies claim that these projects are unsuccessful, as every day fewer people want to buy expensive devices for a limited list of games. Moreover, the inconvenient design of these gadgets repels buyers.