Major Tech Failures Of The Last Decade

With the rise of new startups and technology, comes the inevitable fall of  companies which haven’t been able to keep up with the growing trends and times. Just like how certain products fail despite tasting success in the initial years, there have been several brands and startups which just failed to hit the skies after the first round. From Windows 8, to AOL and to the Zune, here’s our list of the major tech failures of the last decade!

1. BlackBerry Storm

Shortly after Apple launched the iPhone, the king of phones at the time, BlackBerry, dismissed the idea of touchscreen phones ever taking off. In an attempt to counter the growing popularity of iPhones and touchscreens, BlackBerry launched the Storm. Perhaps one of the biggest mistakes BlackBerry could ever make, the Storm was an indication of the phone’s downfall! A weird mixture of a touch screen and a physical keyboard, the Storm was an immediate disaster the minute it hit the streets. In 2008, Verizon replaced all the phones it had purchased from BlackBerry on account of frequent malfunctioning of the phones, resulting in a $ 500 million loss for the Company! The shares of BlackBerry started plummeting, resulting in one of the most disappointing performances by the Company!

Picture credits: Youmobile.com

2. AOL

The first internet service provider to grab the entire world’s attention, America Online (AOL) failed to stay at the top of its game even though it was the first popular social network in the world. Starting off before Google and Facebook, AOL had an idea that was not only interactive but also ahead of its time. However, with the evolution of the internet and with people switching over to faster alternatives like Google’s Gmail, AOL started losing its regular subscribers. With Gmail picking up speed, AOL and its tagline, “You’ve Got Mail,” just disappeared from the internet world!

Picture credits: tampabay.com 

3. Amazon Fire Phone

Amazon, one of the most popular e commerce websites and perhaps the modern version of the Midas Touch, has had a winning streak ever since it launched. When the Kindle launched in the year 2014, Bezos and team thought they had quite literally  found gold at the end of the rainbow. Taking this particular success story in its stride, Amazon thought they would go one step further and launched the Amazon Fire Phone. Unfortunately, in what seems like a divine intervention, the phone just failed to make the expected impact! Despite coming up with a 3D feature (which felt like more of a gimmick than an actual feature,) the Fire Phone failed to impress users who were already besotted with Apple and Android phones. Even with Amazon slashing the price of the phone by half, only about 35,000 handsets were sold globally and with no real hope of making any sort of profit with this phone, Amazon had no option but to take the phone off the market! Well, one bad call makes for a major disaster, does it?

Picture credits: digitaltrends.com 

4. Windows 8

Deplored and hated by people all over the world for the removal of the iconic Windows ‘Start’ button, this version of Windows failed as soon as it released. While this operating system worked fine on the surface tablets, it majorly confused people when used on laptops and desktops. Without having the option for finding a unified button for navigation, this failed invention by Microsoft just refused to take off as expected. The arrangement of all the icons as tiles on the screen further confused users and while the move was considered iconic, it failed and was thought to be way ahead of its times. Oops.

Picture credits: cnet.com 

5. Google Glass

When Google announced the launch of Google Glass, everyone went crazy. It was considered to be Google’s groundbreaking entry into the future and was thought to be an invention like never before. However, the moment it launched, the Glass just failed to live up to all the expectations. Launched through a limited “Explorer” program, the steep price of $ 1,500 just didn’t cut the mark and refused to make the kind of impact Google thought it would. The awkward design and the privacy infringements were considered extremely unwarranted. Perhaps the biggest drawback this device had was that it let people record videos secretly, without people knowing and with privacy being a major concern, the product just refused to stick. Looking at the way people were reacting to the product, Google had no option but to take it off the shelves.

Picture credits: sdtimes.com 

6. Microsoft Zune

When Apple launched iPods in the year 2001, it quite literally changed the way people listened to music. With no immediate competition to its name, Apple used the iPod as its gateway to success. Looking at the increasing popularity of listening to music on the go, Microsoft launched the Zune as a competitive gadget five years later. However, as luck would have it for Apple, the Zune just refused to take off the right way. Because of the delayed entry into the field, weak marketing efforts and lack of support from major record labels, the Zune was one of the major disasters Microsoft could ever make! Despite the bad reviews, Microsoft kept the product going  for six years! The lesson here? Quit while you’re ahead!

Picture credits: eBay.com 

7. Google Lively

In an attempt to mimic the extremely successful virtual world, Second Life (by Linden Den,) Google’s parent company, Alphabet, launched Google Lively. However, moments after it was launched, the negative reviews started pouring in. Considered to be not as immersive as Second Life and thought to be a substandard version of the virtual chat world, Google was forced to shut down Google Lively just months after its grand launch. Thought to be a cumbersome way of communicating with people, users refused to take to this version of chatting and preferred the good old Facebook Messenger and Hangouts as means of communication. The lesson here? Even if you are mimicking another brand or idea, make sure your product stands out, no matter what!

Picture credits: Google

Every brand and every company has gone through some major disaster. However, despite all the ups and downs and everything which went wrong, the majority of these brands always kicked back stronger than ever. If you think we missed out on any other major tech failures, comment and let us know!