The biggest tech flops of the decade - Stuff.co.nz

OPINION: The past decade has seen huge advancements in the world of technology. Apple has led the way with smartphones since it launched arguably the most important product of the decade way back when it debuted the iPhone 4. 

Since then we've seen the rise of the smart home, and streaming services like Netflix and Spotify exploding, and with 5G landing just in the nick of time, some of us can now enjoy 500 megabits per second mobile download speeds. It's been an incredible decade.

It's not all been one big success story though — the past ten years have also seen some epic flops too. Here are my personal favourites.

Windows 8

Hindsight is a beautiful thing. And Windows 8 definitely wasn't. Looking back, it's hard to understand why Microsoft felt it needed to make such a drastic change to its already-successful desktop operating system like it did when it launched Windows 8 in 2012.

In one fell swoop, then-CEO Steve Ballmer launched a Windows operating system that was totally different from anything people had seen before. The reaction, predictably, was one of confusion. 

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Customers were buying new Windows laptops, and didn't know how to use them. Most famously, Microsoft ditched its start button, replacing it with colourful tiles and gestures. The move was so unpopular Microsoft brought back the button a year later with 8.1. 

It finally settled on the Windows 7 and Windows 8 mashup that is Windows 10.

SUPPLIED

The Windows 8 start screen.

BlackBerry

This one feels a bit harsh. BlackBerry sold a lot of phones between 2010 and 2020. However, the Canadian smartphone manufacturer's fall from grace has been spectacular.

In 2011, BlackBerry was the world's biggest phone company. In fact, in 2011 the company shipped a massive 50 million devices. To put that into context, it took Apple four years and three iPhone launches, to break 50 million smartphone sales.

However, BlackBerry's market share has dropped from a healthy 20 per cent in 2009, to 0.1 per cent in 2019.  And that's a flop in anyone's book.

JOHN KIRK-ANDERSON/STUFF

In 2011, BlackBerry was the world's biggest phone company.

Google Glass

This was hilarious. My old boss spent £1,000 (roughly NZ$2,000) on a pair when they first came out in 2014. 

It was a massive waste of money for a product that made him look ridiculous when he wore it to the post-work drinks. While also not doing anything useful other than map out constellations for him in the night sky.

JOHN HAWKINS/STUFF

Georgia Sullivan tries on a pair of 'google glasses'.

Google+

Sticking with Google, its attempt at launching a social network in 2011 was also laughable. Google+ was sort of forced upon Google users and didn't really offer anything in return. 

It was a bad Facebook with, and this is hard to believe, a worse privacy structure. Amazingly, Google+ was only closed earlier this year.

Windows Phone 

Remember Windows Phone? No. Probably not. Nobody owned a Windows Phone. And that was the problem. 

Despite the huge unpopularity of the mobile operating system and the tiny market share, Microsoft still decided to chase mobile with its $7.2 billion acquisition of Nokia's phone business in 2014.

Like Windows 8. Windows Phone was a horrible world of colourful tiles, gestures and no apps. The hardware that supported it, mainly Nokia (hence the acquisition), was middling at best too.

GETTY

A display for facial recognition and artificial intelligence is seen on monitors at Huawei's Bantian campus on April 26, 2019 in Shenzhen, China.

Samsung Galaxy Fold

Hubris is a condition all technology companies suffer from. But Samsung took the gold medal this year when it crowed about the ground-breaking technology inside the Galaxy Fold - only for the device to break within days of being sent out to high-profile reviewers.

The Huawei ban

The biggest flop of the decade has to be Huawei's ongoing saga with the US. Here we have a series of technologies Huawei has spent years, and billions of dollars, developing. All ruined (in the Western world) by President Donald Trump in less than a day.

The problem? Trump and his security experts say the company's ties to the Chinese government are dangerous for the US and its allies.

So the president placed Huawei on an "Entity List" that bans all US companies from working with the Chinese technology giant.

3D printing (for consumers)

Weren't we all supposed to have a 3D printer in our homes by now? There are several reasons why we don't.

It's a lot of work. To create an object, you either have to download an existing template or design your own. Which is impossible if you're not a 3D designer. And it can take a full week to print a pretty minor object. After all that, there's still no guarantee the end-product will be perfect. 

The printers produce a lot of fumes, making it impractical to simply leave running in the background at home when you need a new coathanger or Monopoly piece. And it costs thousands of dollars.

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December 28, 2019 at 08:00AM
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The biggest tech flops of the decade - Stuff.co.nz
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