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Bad Tech That Couldn't (or Shouldn't) Survive

by Terrence O'Brien on July 28, 2009 at 06:02 AM

Tech That Couldn't, Or Shouldn't Survive
History is littered with the rotting remains of technology -- some brilliant, some not so much.

We've spent plenty of time covering classic gadgets that defy logic and have survived well passed their expected shelf life. But what of the products that never really made it? Or the ones that we wish hadn't?

Technologizer has compiled a list of gadgets that were doomed from the moment they set foot on the scene. The list includes impressive technological feats that were often just a tad too late or early. Take, for instance, Charles Babbage's Difference Engine. Designed in the 1840s, this five-ton behemoth is arguably the first modern computer... or it would have been if it were ever built. Despite grants from the British government, Babbage's design turned out to be too expensive to produce. Or QUBE, an early interactive TV platform from Warner Communications (precursor to Time Warner) that offered pay-per-view, interactive polls, and shopping from your remote -- way back in 1977.

Of course, not every gadget that has met its demise has done so undeservingly. Wired's Gadget Lab blog has assembled a list of gadgets that it would love to cast into a black hole, including Sony's ill-fated MiniDisc format, and the RAZR, which can only be described as the undead of the cell phone world.

Check out both lists at Technologizer and Gadget Lab (as well as Wired's other black hole features), and let us know if there are any other gadgets (deserving or otherwise) that have been forgotten by time. [From: Technologizer and Wired]

Tags: lists, retro, retrotech, top

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