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PCWorld's list of the top 25 worst tech products of all time

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Below is the condensed list of the top 25 tech inventions of all time.

The Complete List of Losers
1. America Online (1989-2006)
2. RealNetworks RealPlayer (1999)
3. Syncronys SoftRAM (1995)
4. Microsoft Windows Millennium (2000)
5. Sony BMG Music CDs (2005)
6. Disney The Lion King CD-ROM (1994)
7. Microsoft Bob (1995)
8. Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 (2001)
9. Pressplay and Musicnet (2002)
10. dBASE IV (1988)
11. Priceline Groceries and Gas (2000)
12. PointCast (1996)
13. IBM PCjr. (1984)
14. Gateway 2000 10th Anniversary PC (1995)
15. Iomega Zip Drive (1998)
16. Comet Cursor (1997)
17. Apple Macintosh Portable (1989)
18. IBM Deskstar 75GXP (2000)
19. OQO Model 1 (2004)
20. CueCat (2000)
21. Eyetop Wearable DVD Player (2004)
22. Apple Pippin @World (1996)
23. Free PCs (1999)
24. DigiScents iSmell (2001)
25. Sharp RD3D Notebook (2004)

Follow this link to see the full list with descriptions: Link
 
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lil

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I'm sure the Zip drive was released in 1995. (Unless the date of 1998 is of when Iomega was taken to court...)

Vicky
 

dtravis7


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The funny thing is I never had any problems with any of my Zip drives. I started with a Parallel for the PC (SLOW as could be) but still works today and it's been beat and dropped. I took it on service calls to have a way at the time to back up data. It never let me down. Had one disk go bad but formatting fixed it. Maybe I was lucky. I still use my Zip 250 SCSI and have never had a problem with it.

Vicky, I think you are correct on the date of the Zip Drive. I am sure I had my Parallel around the time I was running Windows 95 and that was in 95/96.
 
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lil

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Myself included in that, I never had an issue with Zip drives. I still use the one in my G4 actually (I may yet stick a Zip 750 in it, as that would be more useful than the 250). I had a Zip 100 SCSI for my IIfx, and I know I read reviews of the Zip drives in MacWorld/MacFormat/Amiga Format in early 1995.

The mid-90s was the mad age of magneto optical storage, though CD-R eventually dropped in price. The first advert I saw for a SCSI CD-Writer, external drive was for a 2x HP mechanism at £1999!!!!

Of course this was in the days of an 850MB IDE drive costing £129 and 4MB 72pin SIMM for £299. Bargain ;)

Vicky
 
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I think the date given above is when that specific Zip Drive was offered by Iomega, not when zip drive technology as a whole hit the market. And as far as reliability goes, I can't comment as I have never in my life purchased, or touched a zip disk or zip drive.
 
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and yet many people have used their service, many people still use their service and almost everyone uses AIM.
 
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I thought the OQO was pretty cool.
 
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dtravis7 said:
The funny thing is I never had any problems with any of my Zip drives. I started with a Parallel for the PC (SLOW as could be) but still works today and it's been beat and dropped. I took it on service calls to have a way at the time to back up data. It never let me down. Had one disk go bad but formatting fixed it. Maybe I was lucky. I still use my Zip 250 SCSI and have never had a problem with it.

Vicky, I think you are correct on the date of the Zip Drive. I am sure I had my Parallel around the time I was running Windows 95 and that was in 95/96.

I've had many ZIP drives themselves go bad on me, or eat their disc. IOMEGA had quality control issues in the late 90s and early 2000's, so much so that it is a wonder they are still in business. AFAIAC, ZIP fits into this list nicely.
 
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MJGUK

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Graphite said:
and yet many people have used their service, many people still use their service and almost everyone uses AIM.
Well yes many people have used their service, in fact It was the first internet service I ever used.
That said, I'm merely commenting on my opinion - Although it seems other people share that opinion too :p
Furthermore many people have also used Windows ME, but I've yet to find anyone who thinks that is a good OS so....

As for AIM, well I can't see that almost everyone uses AIM at all.
At least not in the UK, I think it's fairly relative to who you know/your environment :)
Although I wish everyone did, since that would help with iChat a lot.
 
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Well i think that AOL was a good stepping stone for those new users.
 
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DCraver said:
I thought the OQO was pretty cool.

The OQO was a bit a head of its time, and has some few but key problems. Still the review that PC World editors/writers made about it was too unfair.
 
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MJGUK

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Graphite said:
Well i think that AOL was a good stepping stone for those new users.
Well on that point I totally agree, 100%.
That is pretty much what it was for me, a stepping stone and actually, it provided a pretty good platform to start on.

But as your knowledge expands, your opinions change - Suffice to say I'm not a fan anymore - But hey, you have a good point there, it is surely a good service for new users :mac:
 
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AOL is the Devil. Plain and simple.
 
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Wasn't Bill Gates the devil? he also has 3 products on the list...
 
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No, seriously: Aol is the devil...

At least microsoft doesn't blatantly take their customers money.
 
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techster82 said:
AOL is the Devil. Plain and simple.
mraya said:
Wasn't Bill Gates the devil? he also has 3 products on the list...
...hey now...you guys are giving the Devil a bad name.... comparing him with the likes of those characters....:rollseyes:


:black:
 
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Aptmunich said:
No, seriously: Aol is the devil...

At least microsoft doesn't blatantly take their customers money.


Maybe he is right...

AOL.jpg
 

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