For every computer that is designed, manufactured, and successful in the marketplace there is a computer that fails as well. Some of the biggest ideas in computing and technology never succeed as products because people simply are not interested in the advancement. Remember how the Segway was going to change the may everyone traveled? How many of the devices have you seen this month? Car manufacturers are always mindful of not building the next Edsel but do computer designers keep their failures in mind when creating the next model or style of computer? Sometimes the failure is caused by poor design or manufacturing but just as often the issue is poor marketing or poor timing on release. Whatever the reason for the failure sometimes the failures are so big that we still remember them today.
The Xerox Alto is the considered one of the grandparents to today’s computer and also one of the biggest failures in computing history. Developed by Xerox in 1972 the Alto had a bitmap display, windows, drop-down menu bars, built-in Ethernet, a hard disk, a mouse, two keyboards, a software productivity suite including a word processor, a paint program, and email. To sum up, the Alto had everything your new computer came equipped with today and it was released almost 40 years ago. But at the time the Alto was releases, Xerox was in the middle of a copier and patent war and did not pay any attention to this computer at all. The Alto was left without any marketing or support and the project failed. Eventually the Alto was canceled by Xerox and the employees associated with the project went on to form Microsoft, IBM, and Apple.
Another major computer flop still remembered today, was the Apple III released in June of 1980. This computer was designed for use in the business market but had such a high cost that many businesses could not justify the purchase price. In 1980 a new car cost around $6,000 and the Apple III was priced at $7,800. The Apple III also had a poor design overall which eventually led to its downfall. The engineers responsible for the design of the Apple III set out to make a small powerful desktop computer but they actually built one of the largest computer jokes in history. There were too many parts crammed into the small computer cases and to save even more space the engineering team decided to leave the cooling fan out. The computer became so hot during use that the parts would expand and the computer chips would pop out. How did the Apple III support staff help you resolve this issue and teach you to get the chips back into their slots? Pick up your computer that cost your employer more money than a new car and drop it onto your desk repeatedly.
Long before the ipod and iphone came to the market, Apple created another portable computer, the Newton. The Newton was one of the first handheld computers or PDAs to be sold to the public. But the Newton was well known for high price and a large size. The Newton became well known for its handwriting recognition problems. Only an elite group of technology lovers wanted to carry this bulky portable product with them and this handheld assistant never reached the mass market appeal desired by Apple. This was the first PDA and the market was simply not ready at the time.
Apple is not the only company that has released poorly designed computers in the past. In 1983 IBM released the PCjr. This computer was designed for school use thus the jr name. The PCjr was considered to be a PC clone but the computer was not compatible with PCs of the time. Overall the idea of a computer for the classroom was a great idea but this project was simply not designed well. In the end, the design of the computer’s keyboard led to the PCjr ultimate downfall. The keyboard was designed to communicate with the computer via infrared beams. However, one keyboard was interchangeable with another and in the classroom, students would point their keyboards at each other’s machines for the sole purpose of screwing up each other’s computing sessions.
Computer designs are constantly being changed and upgraded in order to provide consumers with new choices and new products to purchase. However not every product is as successful as Windows or IBMs PC. Every year new models of computers and new electronics are being designed by they fail. In fact, many products are designed and never make it to the consumer because their design is either flawed or research shows that people are not going to purchase it. Take a trip through an electronics trade show and you may just discover the next computer or electronic product that will not make it.
