Five greatest Apple failures

GarethW · Aug 6, 2010

Here's a good arlicle I came aross:

Source: http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/34579/f ... h-failures

If you see success (as there are a myriad of ways to define it) in terms of making huge amounts of money, creating a brand that's recognised across the globe and creating a millions-strong fan base, then few can argue that Apple is indeed successful.

However, with any successful company there are times in its history where failure has been the unwelcome order of the day. So, as it's always nice to celebrate the triumphs, it's also equally important to take look at the failures. Good to know that we're not the only ones who make errors in our lives.

So, in no particular order, here are our favourite Apple gadget flops of all time.

Apple Pippin

Released: 1995
Discontinued: 1997
Sold: 42,000

If timing is everything then on this occasion Apple should have bought itself a huge atomic clock to fix to its office wall. The miss timed release of the Apple Pippin was a major hiccup in Apple's attempt to enter the gaming market.

Designed by Apple, the production was left to Bandai with the specs of the device consisting of a 66 MHz PowerPC 603 processor, a 14.4 kbitps modem and running a simple version of Mac OS. Marketed as a computer, the entry price was around $599 which, for what was essentially a console, was way overpriced.

Released in 1995 in Japan and 1996 in the US, the console had to do battle with the Sony PlayStation and Nintendo 64, which already dominated the market. This, along with its overpriced and under powered specs helped push the Pippin into room 101 with a paltry 42,000 units sold.

Apple TAM (Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh)

Released: March 1997
Discontinued: March 1998
Sold: 11,600

Most of us celebrate an anniversary with a loved one by buying a bunch of flowers/chocolates and a bit of sweet talk (all three if you're really looking to spoil them).

Apple, however, celebrated its twentieth year by creating the Apple TAM (Twentieth Anniversary Macintosh) and if you were a member of the team responsible for it, you'd have been hoping for massive sales and a big fat bonus.

Unfortunately, this wasn't the case. The TAM turned out not only to be a tad overpriced, but a failure in its functionality despite looking the part. With a $7500 price tag on launch in 1997, it was discontinued by 1998 at a price of $1995.

Apple USB (hockey puck) mouse

Released: 1998
Discontinued: 2000

These days Apple prides itself on its devices being able to marry both form and function, but this was clearly not always the case as is shown by the horror that was the hockey puck mouse that came with the iMac G3 in 1998.

Function had clearly been left at the alter while form ran off with the best man. The mouse's round shape made it difficult to handle and, more importantly, orientate and its one button design left users frustrated. So many of these were thrown away, it has been claimed that the Apple USB mouse makes up for 0.5 per cent of the world's landfill*.

*This claim has no substance whatsoever.

MAC portable

Released: 1989
Discontinued: 1990

What's in a name? Well not much at all if the Mac portable is anything to go by - as one thing it wasn't, was portable.

Costing a hefty $6500 and weighing in at 15.8 pounds (7.2 kilograms) the Portable also suffered from poor power design; as it was wired in series, if the device was run down completely the batteries wouldn't recharge - resulting in its failure to turn on and creating the ultimate "bricked" device. As such the device didn't last long in its original form, lasting just over a year, being replaced by a backlit version which was discontinued in 1991.

iPod Hi-Fi

Released: Feb 2006
Discontinued: Sept 2007

With a decidedly average sound quality, given the price, this was not the worst aspect of this Apple device as there were plenty of other shortcomings.

The design itself left a lot to be desired, as the iPod protruded in a rather ungainly fashion from the top the unit, with only the 30-pin dock connector to hold it in place. This also meant that first a second gen iPod owners were excluded from ownership - not such a bad thing as it turned out.

The remote had limited functionality and it also lacked any kind of radio. And the price of owning this little beauty at its 2006 launch? A whopping Â£350!. Still it was discontinued just over a year later in September 2007, never to darken our doors again.

Another device that could have easily made it onto the list was the QuickTake 200 camera. Although pretty rubbish - no zoom, no way to focus - it was pretty innovative, being one of the first consumer digital cameras that plugged into your Apple computer. Along with the Newton it was part of many products axed by Steve Jobs in a bid to streamline Apple's product line.

All that said, clearly Apple has launched more than its fair share of successes, and so in the interest of being balanced we'll make sure we follow this feature up with a roundup of what we believe to be the Cupertino company's greatest hits. Stay tuned.
Click to expand...

Forum

Caroline · Aug 7, 2010

Nice post

It just quantifies that a really successful company can make some blunders along the way lol

For me the worst was the PipPin lol
Caroline

aknotley · Aug 8, 2010

Some of these aren't too great. The mouse is decidedly dodgy, and that enormous speaker thing looks terrible.

Eliss · Nov 11, 2010

Great thread, many unseen apple products

mvalenti · Nov 15, 2010

dont forget about the apple newton and the macintosh tv... oh yeah the overpriced apple cube....

Five greatest Apple failures

GarethW Chief Clicker Staff Member

Caroline Member

aknotley Active Member

Eliss Member

mvalenti Well-Known Member

Share This Page

Five greatest Apple failures

GarethW Chief Clicker Staff Member

Caroline Member

aknotley Active Member

Eliss Member

mvalenti Well-Known Member

Share This Page

Log in

Register

Useful Searches