Google Glass
Google Glass is the embodiment of a product ahead of its time.
It’s free, every week, in your inbox.
And make no mistake: the phones main purpose was to get you to buy stuff from Amazon.
Yeah, me neither until I came across it again for this article.
Coolest Cooler
The Coolest Cooler is the epitome of crowdfunding gone wrong.
It once held the record for most crowdfunded Kickstarter project ever, at over $13 million.
Google+
No social internet has come as close as Google+ once did to legitimately challenge Facebook.
It was unceremoniously killed in 2018 after amassive security oversightled to an estimated 500,000 accounts being compromised.
It seemed like it would revitalize filmgoing for a new generation.
The relatively poor graphics and odd controller didnt do much for people, and the console sold poorly.
The system was plagued by problems and ultimately made nary a dent in the gaming industry.
But then it startedblowing up.A lot.
Enough that theFAA banned the devicefrom airplanes.
On the plus side, nobody died, and Samsung got extra serious about its batteries.
Thats something, I guess?
Instead, the future was comprised of modular phones that could be customized to your every whim.
Want a better display?
Why, just change the display module.
Care more about battery life than cameras?
Sure, just add an extra battery module.
Unfortunately, the idea proved too complicated to roll out effectively.
Its the reason Instagram does video, and its the reason TikTok exists.
It had been separately called the Tesla, Netflix, and Amazon of China.
It even tried to break into the smartphone market with a media blitz in 2016.
And then it ran out of money and disappeared even more quickly than it showed up.
Not even the once-ubiquitousBlackBerry Messengersurvived its parent companys downfall.
Juicero
Remember that over-engineered $400 juice machine that literally did nothing except squeeze pre-made juice packs?
The one that didnt even work if its not connected to the internet?
Yeah, its not around anymore.
Palm Pre and WebOS
Oh Palm.
So much of modern smartphones were either copied from or inspired by webOS.
But the hardware didnt live up to the software.
How the greats have fallen.
Pebble
Another heartbreaker, Pebbles original smartwatch was the first big Kickstarter success story.
Unlike Coolest Cooler or Ouya, Pebble actually delivered honest-to-goodness impressive hardware over several generations.
Samsung Galaxy Fold (V1)
Samsungs Galaxy fold has been met with some positive reviews.
But before it was a success, it was one of the most disastrous launches of all time.
At least the Note 7 seemed to work for a while before it started to blow up.
Luckily, Samsung got its act together and managed to launch it before the end of the year.
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