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Biggest tech flops of the decade
- Thread starter ToxicAdam
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avaya said:
It's not actually true. About two weeks before WB went BRD exclusive Toshiba and WB were working on moving Fox over to HDDVD exclusively. The deal hit the internets and was reportedly very very close to happening.
Fox backed off of it, and WB went BRD exclusive because they wanted the format war over. WB strongly preferred the HDDVD technology due to production costs but at the end of the day they just wanted the "war" to end.
I don't think Toshiba was trying to "beat" BRD. I think they were trying to force a defacto stalemate that would force manufacturers into making dual format players. They were making some inroads there with Samsung, Onkyo and LG with rumors that Panny was going to jump into the dual format market as well.
It was still a collosal failure and cost Toshiba a shitload of money, but it isn't as though it was doomed from day 1. They couldn't "win" but Toshiba makes a lot of money off of DVD royalties... they couldn't just give up on the next gen format and let Sony win by default.
Had Sony offered Toshiba a little more of the royalty pie to Toshiba or had Disney backed down and allowed Microsoft's HDi technology as part of the format (along with Java) the war probably never would have happened. MS got cockblocked and Toshiba was offered such a small slice of the pie that Toshiba was left with little choice but to go ahead with the HDDVD launch and MS saw the potential for huge profits with little investment and joined in.
Always-honest
Banned
never had any of those things...
Jade Knight 08
Member
AOL TV.
I don't think that device ever took off i believe? I was tempted to get one back then but i held it off cuz i was still on 56k line. <<<<killjoy.
I don't think that device ever took off i believe? I was tempted to get one back then but i held it off cuz i was still on 56k line. <<<<killjoy.
Wolverine Data MVP (120GB) MP3/Media player (2006)
Physically speaking, it must be the biggest MP3 player in the world. Its lack of DRM support also seems to us like a glaring oversight at this stage of the game.Measuring 5.04 by 3.01 by 1.18 inches and decked out in a coat of glossy red, the bulky Wolverine Data MVP is reminiscent of a brick with an LCD. It's larger than an iPod in all dimensions and more than twice as thick, though its 2.5-inch-diagonal color LCD is the same size as an iPod's. Despite weighing 10 ounces, it looks like it would fare well in a hard fall, but we didn't want to tempt fate. Its fire-engine-red color and black side panels help give the device a playful but not high-end appearance. It's like a prop from the eighties.
Chairman85
Member
I remember really looking forward to this. A nice halfway between the 64-128 MB flash players and the clunky at the time 6.4 GB HDD players.ToxicAdam said:DataPlay discs (2001-2001)
The size of a quarter, the DataPlay disc was capable of holding 500MB of information. It won the "Best of Show" award at CES in 2001 but never made it to market. iRiver was scheduled to make a player, but it, too, was never released.
StoOgE said:
It really was a flop. It had a small window to replace floppy to be the new removable media standard and IOMEGA fucked it up. What they had to do was to exit the hardware side and license the technology to the Japanese and Taiwanese who could have made it 1) reliable and 2) cheap.
Because IMOEGA failed to do so we actually had a couple years without a suitable portable media. CD-R was a horrible choice for rewritable media. Now people has USB thumb drive and google. But around the time zip was still relevent, there was nothing.
What amaze me the most is that IOMEGA is still exist as a OEM brand.
LiveFromKyoto
Member
Only 8500 euros! (Yes, this is actually for sale on Ferrari's website)
Nex Superne
Member
Medalion said:
SapientWolf
Trucker Sexologist
It was a marketing failure but after the OS matured it was solid enough to dress up and re-release under a different brand name.DopeyFish said:
dustytruly
Member
lol you NEED to stop posting there just so someone quotes your avatarMedalion said:
liquid_gears
Banned
How was Vista a flop or a disaster? Its release was a big letdown and its first year was fraught with problems, but just a few years later it has basically transformed and repackaged itself into Widows 7 which has received a lot of positive feedback and will be a around for a long time. Vista just laid down the foundations for Windows 7, therefore in the broader sense, it hasn't been one of the biggest flops of the decade.
The PS3 is a flop just because it hasn't been as successful as the PS2? That was never going to happen anyway. I'm sure that Sony will make it profitable again (if they haven't already done so). The PS3 played a huge part in the format war. Would blu ray have won without it? It's difficult to say but I certainly don't think that it's one of the biggest flops of the decade.
HD DVD is undoubtedly one of the biggest flops however...
The PS3 is a flop just because it hasn't been as successful as the PS2? That was never going to happen anyway. I'm sure that Sony will make it profitable again (if they haven't already done so). The PS3 played a huge part in the format war. Would blu ray have won without it? It's difficult to say but I certainly don't think that it's one of the biggest flops of the decade.
HD DVD is undoubtedly one of the biggest flops however...
Zaraki_Kenpachi
Member
eggandI said:
Microsoft Surface, anyone? I've never seen one of these. Anywhere.
Did you miss all the press releases saying it would have a limited release? It was pretty much just being tested in vegas casinos... Kind of early to call it a flop.
Corwood Rep
Member
I actually liked the N-Gage.
There was, like, a fixed N-Gage that they made after the original was done shitting up the market. It had a cartridge slot and you held it like a regular phone. When it came time to actually get a contract phone instead of a pre-paid, I got one. The offer was too good to refuse. They gave me the goddamn thing for free along with 4 games. I went on eBay and got the other 6 or 7 games worth playing for about $30.
Not only were there a couple good games for it, which I loved as a high school kid in community college who usually had hours and hours of downtime waiting for my parents to pick me up, but having a D-pad for navigating the actual phone functions was pretty cool in the pre-iPhone days.
Also, you fuckers complaining about zip drives have been rightly shot down. Those things were a godsend compared to floppy discs.
There was, like, a fixed N-Gage that they made after the original was done shitting up the market. It had a cartridge slot and you held it like a regular phone. When it came time to actually get a contract phone instead of a pre-paid, I got one. The offer was too good to refuse. They gave me the goddamn thing for free along with 4 games. I went on eBay and got the other 6 or 7 games worth playing for about $30.
Not only were there a couple good games for it, which I loved as a high school kid in community college who usually had hours and hours of downtime waiting for my parents to pick me up, but having a D-pad for navigating the actual phone functions was pretty cool in the pre-iPhone days.
Also, you fuckers complaining about zip drives have been rightly shot down. Those things were a godsend compared to floppy discs.
TheDoppelganger
Banned
TheDoppelganger
Banned
at it's time, it was a flop. what'd they have, one game? Halo? they only survived because of the deep microsoft pockets.
Count Dookkake
Member
ToxicAdam said:
fixed
JasonMCG said:
I actually thought the opposite - at a time where HD confusion was rife, and acronyms like HDMI, HD TV, DVD-R, DVD-RW were confusing the average consumer, Blu-ray was a catchy and easy to remember branding. I had friends at the time who didn't really know what a wireless protocol was, but understood what Bluetooth could do and found it desirable.
Any acronym past three letters is asking for trouble in my opinion. Actually, has there ever been a successful product selling as an acronym of more than three letters?
joeyjoejoeshabadoo
Member
Took the words right out of mouth.JasonMCG said:
I think D-Theater tapes are a colossal excercise in futility worthy of inclusion. VHS's last gasp surprisingly offered better quality than DVDs, accomodating 1080i video and DTS audio. But the format didn't appear in the market until 2002, well after DVD had sewn the market up, and was incompatible with standard VHS players (and even most early D-VHS players), requiring new hardware. Amazingly, 122 movies were released in this format over the 2 years it was supported, but I'll be goddamned if you can find anyone who had ever even seen the format at retail.
Also, really surprised not to see DIVX make an appearance.
Also, really surprised not to see DIVX make an appearance.
PowersOfTen
Banned
CYBIKO!!!! IT'S EVERYTHING!!! AND NOTHING!
worst shit ever
dskillzhtown
keep your strippers out of my American football
DMczaf said:Holy crap, I forgot about that one :lol
:lol
I totally remember that. I had Sprint when it was launched and was so mad because I wanted it and I had just started a new contract. That crap died so fast, then jumped to another carrier and failed there too. Now I guess the spiritual successor is the Sportscenter app on the iPhone that is awesome.
AppleTV is a failure, sorry AtvDF. I use mine often as well, but it is in a tough spot. The biggest draw should be that the device plays all your iTunes content on your TV/surround sound system. Of course the side benefits are looking at Flickr, Youtube, and internet radio. But the main marketing push is playing iTunes content on your TV. There isn't enough of a market for that, especially for that price.
I can't remember whether it was based on Surface or not, but the Secret Service HQ has some badass multitouch tables for analyzing all kinds of maps and data for virtually all of the United States (at least). It was pretty impressive.eggandI said:
Microsoft Surface, anyone? I've never seen one of these. Anywhere.
aparisi2274
Member
Ignatz Mouse
Banned
Thread devolves into videogame trolling, shock.
In seriousness, is the PSP Go flopping? It looks cool, but with a PSP already I see no need to get one.
In seriousness, is the PSP Go flopping? It looks cool, but with a PSP already I see no need to get one.
TheDoppelganger
Banned
MC Safety said:
oh, yeah, let me fix that. only one game that didn't SUCK. there.
Gamer @ Heart
Member
aparisi2274 said:
FUCK YOU BUDDY. LETS FIGHT!
grap3fruitman
Banned
You know what I really liked about my HD-DVDs over my Blu-rays? All my HD-DVDs started up with the movie, not trailer after trailer after trailer after trailer. "We've got 20 more gigs of space now? Lets use it to punish consumers and throw in as many commercials in front of the product they paid for!"
Edit: And my Planet Earth HD-DVD doesn't have the poorly animated/limited color menu of its Blu-ray counterpart.
Edit: And my Planet Earth HD-DVD doesn't have the poorly animated/limited color menu of its Blu-ray counterpart.
2005:
Steve jobs: Hey guys, here's the iPhone you've always wanted.
listen to how enthusiastic the audience is upon seeing it.
http://www.theiphoneblog.com/2009/09/21/monday-fun-video-steve-jobs-intros-2005-motorola-rokr/
Steve jobs: Hey guys, here's the iPhone you've always wanted.
listen to how enthusiastic the audience is upon seeing it.
http://www.theiphoneblog.com/2009/09/21/monday-fun-video-steve-jobs-intros-2005-motorola-rokr/
neptunes said:2005:
Steve jobs: Hey guys, here's the iPhone you've always wanted.
listen to how enthusiastic the audience is upon seeing it.
http://www.theiphoneblog.com/2009/09/21/monday-fun-video-steve-jobs-intros-2005-motorola-rokr/
LMAO!
Amory
Member
neptunes said:2005:
Steve jobs: Hey guys, here's the iPhone you've always wanted.
listen to how enthusiastic the audience is upon seeing it.
http://www.theiphoneblog.com/2009/09/21/monday-fun-video-steve-jobs-intros-2005-motorola-rokr/
Ha I remember wanting that phone. I thought it was sweet.
Lazy vs Crazy
Member
My friend had a rokr. What a terrible phone that was.
PS3? You guys can't be serious, you could say that Blu Ray became the defacto HD format thanks to the PS3.
The 100 song limit and the iPod Nano definitely killed it. I remember there being a way to enable more songs, but basically only a tech geek would bother messing around with it.
Lazy vs Crazy said:
The 100 song limit and the iPod Nano definitely killed it. I remember there being a way to enable more songs, but basically only a tech geek would bother messing around with it.
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