Review 2012: The Biggest Tech Flops In 2012
Review 2012: The Biggest Tech Flops In 2012
Technology can bring a lot to the table. It can surprise you or it can humor you with the weird gadgetry that has no practical or real-world use. While some ideas in technology can push it to become a strong moneymaker some ideas will find their way in the obituary. A lot of things happen in this social media age and it is easy to miss what are the top misses in technology this year.
Let us rewind and review the year that was on the technology space and find out the biggest technology flops thus far this year.
Less likes for Facebook IPO
One of the most hyped events in stock market history is Facebook’s IPO. Before it hit the bourse; it was touted to break records on the stock market. Some even saw the company to become one of the first to reach a trillion dollars. Not bad for a company that earned $3.7 billion to be valued at $104 billion. People went crazy over the IPO buzz only to see their bubble burst as the stocks lost 30 percent of their original value. Some investors didn’t like (pardon the pun) what was happening and even tried to sue Mark Zuckerberg over the dismal performance of the company stock.
SOPA failed to stop online piracy
The start of the year saw a lot of drama about the controversial Stop Online Privacy Act (SOPA). If the bill passed through the US Congress; it could have allowed the US Government to order ISPs to block sites that are infringing on intellectual property rights. The act drew flak from the online community such as Google and Wikipedia. As a result of the protests by big technology names, the measured was tabled (postponed its deliberations).
Google Wallet
Near Field Communications could have been big and spark a new e-commerce revolution. Google was poised to be at the middle of the action with Google Wallet. However, consumers are not keen on using NFC in using it as the primary technology for cashless purchases. The unsecured nature of NFC has shunned people away from adopting the idea of Google Wallet. With Google working to improve NFC security; it now announces a physical card where you can attach your credit/debit cards to it since not all merchants can use NFC, which is seen as the hurdle in the wide use of Google Wallet.
Sony’s Playstation Vita
Sony was severely affected by the earthquake that struck Japan in 2011. It nearly shelved the introduction of the new Playstation handheld called Playstation Vita. After the hype generated by the Japanese electronics giant—the release of the device saw dismal sales despite positive reviews, owing to the fact that most smartphones are now capable of doubling as gaming devices.
Patent wars
Did you know that there are more than eight million patent lawsuits going on? Apple is suing Samsung; Samsung is suing Apple; Motorola is suing Microsoft and Microsoft says ditto to Motorola. It seems that competition in the technology space has shifted from innovation to the courtroom. Basically, everyone is suing everyone. Patent suits may be an indication of robust innovation; but at what cost to the consumer who deserves a choice.
Death of DVD?
Microsoft has announced that it will drop playback support for the DVD in the new Windows 8. This could be the beginning of the end for the DVD. But is DVD losing its grip; quite frankly there are a lot of DVD going around and even with the introduction of the Blu-Ray disc, it is not foreseen that DVD will fade away and ride on to the sunset. Microsoft decision to drop the DVD is a flop because it alienated thousands of users who still want to use their DVD drives.