11 Tech Products That Were Supposed to Fail... But Didn't

[Julio Franco]

You'll often find that when a new product or service fails, there's a line of people waiting to say, "I told you so." But despite initially looking like absolute turkeys destined for the trash can, there have been plenty of predicted tech disasters that turned out to be successful. Here are some of the most memorable.

Read the full article here.

https://www.techspot.com/article/1522-tech-products-that-were-supposed-to-flop/

 

[MUMMZ]

Didn't really expect the switch to do well if I'm honest

 

[Evernessince]

Didn't really expect the switch to do well if I'm honest

There will always be people buying Nintendo products, simply because their fanbase is as brainwashed as Apple's.

 

[R00sT3R]

Xbox didn't launch with a 733Mhz PIII, they finally settled on a custom 600Mhz Celeron variant.

 

[trgz]

I disagree with statement re the current relevancy of the iPod.
A foolish move by Apple to drop out of a growing market for high-quality solid-state audio players that is now populated with devices from FiiO, Panasonic, Astell & Kern and Sony who have filled the gap left by Apple. Many have a phone-like Android interface and most are deemed true audiophile quality (not something I'd say of the most recent geneartion of iPhones.
Still I suppose it was to be expected as Apple dropped the quality of the output stage of the iPod's 5th gen when moving to the 'Classic' (aka 6th and 7th gen) but made it a prettier object with a metal body - but that's Apple: style over content.
It's probably worth commenting that even the more expensive of these is less that the iPhone X

 

[enemys]

"while the likes of Pandora, Deezer, and Soundcloud continue to struggle"
It's not like Spotify is doing great, either, they're still loosing millions of euros every year. They probably won't break even for at least next couple of years.

 

[senketsu]

I really detest the size of phones, why anyone would want to and willingly carry one of those planks around mystifies me.

 

[ET3D]

I really detest the size of phones, why anyone would want to and willingly carry one of those planks around mystifies me.

Functionality.

I like small phones myself, but the drawback of big phones is that they're bigger and heavier. If you're willing to put up with that (and most people apparently do), you get a screen that fits a lot more content, is easier for UI (finger is smaller compared to screen size), and can fit more and better electronics.

 

[Nobina]

I can understand why these products succeeded all except Amazon Echo. I guess some people find it too hard to manually set an alaram on their phones and shop online. It's not expensive and marketing did it's thing I guess.

 

[senketsu]

Functionality.

I like small phones myself, but the drawback of big phones is that they're bigger and heavier. If you're willing to put up with that (and most people apparently do), you get a screen that fits a lot more content, is easier for UI (finger is smaller compared to screen size), and can fit more and better electronics.

makes sense, but I guess where I differ from the phablet users (like the redhead in the article photo) is in what functionality is enough in my phone. I would rather have it do a lot less if it was smaller and thus much more convenient to carry.

 

[amstech]

The Surface did fail and has failed, several times.

 

[p51d007]

I remember when I bought a Dell Streak 5 in 2010, the most common thing people would say is THAT is your phone? Why do you need THAT big of a screen, on a phone. They they would lay their phone, over my phablet phone. Now look the difference. Most all phones are at least 5", some 6", and a few larger than that.
I've never owned a smartphone, with a screen smaller than 5".

 

[MonsterZero]

I can understand why these products succeeded all except Amazon Echo. I guess some people find it too hard to manually set an alaram on their phones and shop online. It's not expensive and marketing did it's thing I guess.

I think you're taking it a bit to general. A lot of people with an Echo, Google Home, or whatever apple is selling use it for smart home applications. I use mine so I can adjust the lights and AC settings without moving a finger, it can also be used to play music, etc.

 

[Vulcanproject]

I still don't understand phablets. I don't know who buys them. I don't know what they use them for. I never see anyone with one. It's a mystery to me.

 

[LeroN]

Check you idea. If it doesn't look stupid perhaps it won't work.

 

[Kenrick]

I vote for the ipod, ipad and echo. A lot of negativity during the product launches and look what they did to the competition.

Switch will always be successful or rather Nintendo products will always be successful.

 

[pencea]

Xbox didn't launch with a 733Mhz PIII, they finally settled on a custom 600Mhz Celeron variant.

Not entirely true. The original Xbox did launched with a custom hybrid Pentium 3/Celeron processor with some key features improvement making it closer to the Pentium than Celeron and it did in fact ran at a clock speed of 733Mhz as pointed out by Anandtech when they did a deep analysis of the console back in 2001.

 

[CouchOrnament]

Xbox didn't launch with a 733Mhz PIII, they finally settled on a custom 600Mhz Celeron variant.

It sure did. It was literally in some of the commercials. The one that springs to mind was the customer service rep at a electronics store trying to sway a kid to buying the Xbox by saying it has "Seven Tre Tre Megahertz Processor".


Oh, and the official specs say: 733 MHz, custom Intel Pentium III Coppermine-based processor.

 

[hk2000]

The Surface did fail and has failed, several times.

How do you define "Failed"- Current products are not only "fairly successful" as the article claims, but wildly successful, So much so that it's being copied by just about every OEM out there.

 

[ET3D]

I still don't understand phablets. I don't know who buys them. I don't know what they use them for. I never see anyone with one. It's a mystery to me.

There are very few people I know with a phone with a sub-5" screen. It's hardly even possible to buy such a phone these days, which is a good indication that few people buy them.

 

[ET3D]

How do you define "Failed"- Current products are not only "fairly successful" as the article claims, but wildly successful, So much so that it's being copied by just about every OEM out there.

The original Surface, the one with the Tegra CPU, sold very little and Microsoft took a big loss on it.

 

[senketsu]

There are very few people I know with a phone with a sub-5" screen. It's hardly even possible to buy such a phone these days, which is a good indication that few people buy them.

I would have bought one, but due to lack of choice, ended up with a Samsung Galaxy A5. I would have preferred a Sony Compact or even an iPhone SE if it was a little more current

 

[ET3D]

I would have bought one, but due to lack of choice, ended up with a Samsung Galaxy A5. I would have preferred a Sony Compact or even an iPhone SE if it was a little more current

I bought a refurbished Galaxy S4 Mini about a year ago. Still using it. It's enough for my needs. It's larger than I had wanted, but I got used to it. I imagine I'd get used even to something a little bigger, but I'm not planning to replace it soon. I sit most of the day in front of a PC, and don't need another PC in my pocket.

 

[Kristof]

My son wants Nintendo 3ds for Xmas so I was considering buying him the switch instead until I saw prices of accessories for the switch. The joy-con controller set in UK is £70 + £25 for the charging grip. The pro controller is £60. I’m sorry Nintendo but these prices are simply ridiculous. Also, every single game that is available for other platforms is around £10 more expensive for the switch.
And let’s not forget that the switch can only output 720p so the image won’t be great on a 4K tv.
I’m going to stick to my PS4 and may buy 3ds xl.

 

[amghwk]

Except the Xbox, nothing else in this list piqued my interest, when they were released. And I didn't think Xbox would fail either at it's debut.