When new products are launched, it can be so exciting to buy one for yourself and enjoy a new toy for a while. The iPhone, Amazon Echo, and Hulu are just a few examples of products that totally hit the mark and made life just a little (or a lot) easier and more enjoyable.
But sometimes, companies fail miserably when releasing a new product. Sometimes the timing isn’t right, or the marketing is terrible, or the product itself is simply awful. Whatever the reason, all the hype in the world can’t stop a conflagrant boat from sinking.
Below are some products that had tons of potential, but that couldn’t last more than a minute in the marketplace. Let us know in the comments if you caved and purchased any of them!
7. LaserDisc
Sure, the LaserDisc seemed like a good idea at the time. It offered a crystal clear picture and didn’t have the same problems that VHS tapes had with wear and tear. But no one who designed them seemed to notice that they were huge. If you were planning to replace your entire VHS library, you quite literally needed a space the size of a library to contain everything.
6. Google Glass
This product was widely prohibited shortly after release and was potentially dangerous for the health of those who wore it. That is not good PR for anything. Privacy was a major concern, since anyone wearing Google Glass could take a picture or movie of whatever they were looking at (including a movie in the theater). And the product emitted carcinogenic radiation constantly, which is mildly disconcerting since you wear it on your head all day. Google stopped producing it in 2015.
5. Crystal Pepsi
Clear, caffeine-free Pepsi. The flavor was off, and it was simply weird to drink something that sort of tasted like cola, but wasn’t brown like every other cola. Appealing? Nope. Successful? Nope.
4. Windows Vista
All you PC owners, remember when Vista was released? Yeah, we’d like to forget that as well. The operating system was Slllloooooooow. It also ate up tons of memory. Plus, if you had it installed for any amount of time, you probably recall hearing your hard drive working in overtime, since Vista was constantly accessing it. Everyone loves to have a computer that always sounds like it’s about to launch into space…
3. Qwikster
When Netflix realized that its customer base was divided into two groups (those who prefer to get DVDs by mail and those who prefer streaming), it launched Qwikster to handle the streaming side of things. By doing so, it was attempting to keep costs down for everyone, but what it created was outrage. People knew Netflix and were comfortable with it. No one wanted two separate websites and the confusion that accompanied it. It’s not so simple to rebrand, especially when people are actually using your products. The company nixed the idea pretty quickly, and we now have the Netflix that we all know and love today.
2. Galaxy Note 7
If you had a Galaxy Note 7 that failed, it wasn’t simply a product malfunction or a nuisance. If your Note had an issue, it CAUGHT FIRE. Due to battery malfunctions that caused short circuits, the Galaxy Note 7 went down in flames. Literally.
1. Fyre Festival
This was a big problem from the get-go, but no one realized it until it was too late. While Fyre Festival was great in concept, the execution is where it went horribly wrong (and its organizer has even pleaded guilty to fraud). The festival was marketed as an epic event on a private island in the Bahamas. Guests would stay in high-end suites, eat gourmet meals, and enjoy performances by groups like blink-182. But when customers who paid good money arrived, they were shown to their tents, where they were given cheese sandwiches as a meal. Oh, and no blink-182. (The band’s instruments were stuck in customs.)
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