Every year thousands of new products are released, and the public will either accept or reject them. Most fizzle out for various reasons such as not enough capitol behind them, poor advertising, or just the fact that it's a lousy product. Here are a few of the products that did NOT survive the first decade of the 21st century. Some of them seemed like very good ideas. It's hard to know why they didn't make it.
1. Segway. Launched in 2002, this two wheel personal transportation vehicle received a great deal of hoopla. Some said it would be to the car what the car was to the horse and buggy. It didn't pan out, due to its price point being too high, over $3000. You still see them on a limited basis in big cities. They're used for the most part by police and messenger services.
2. Microsoft Vista was released in 2007. It was created to improve security. It created a nightmare for many PC users. It had so many glitches in it that many people, including myself, uninstalled it on their new computers and replaced it with Microsoft XP.
3. Palm Pilot. This device was released in 1996 as a personal organizer. It seemed good at the time, but when Blackberry came along, Palm Pilot developed difficulties. It's still on the market, and they have plans to release a new version of it soon.
4. Microsoft Zune was launched in 2006. It was meant to compete with Apple iPod, and we know how that worked out. It just couldn't compete.
5. YouTube. It's the largest video sharing site in the world, but most of it's content is of such low quality that advertisers do not want to put their dollars there. It is unlikely they will turn a profit anytime soon. It is estimated they will lost $470 million this year.
6. Mountain bikes. They just never caught on with the public, and although they're still around today, they are used mostly by public service officials (police, etc).
7. WebTV. This product seemed like a winner when it was first released, but over the next few years technology of other products made webtv seem outdated. Surprisingly, Microsoft bought the company, but then scrapped the brand.
8. Cocaine. This was a high energy drink with 3 1/2 times more caffeine than Redbull. It was pulled from the market byt the FDA in 2007. They said it was being sold as an alternative to street drugs.
So here you have it. A very short list of the thousands of losers from the past decade. It's funny how something seems like such a good idea at the time, and then, poof, the public is on to something else. Remember Krispy Kreme?
Cocaine was not pulled or banned bye the FDA. The media never checks facts and completely misreported the FDA issues. Cocaine is available in stores across the US and the world. You can find it online at www.drinkcocaine.com.
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