Quirky Gadgets That Never Took Off

Who doesn’t love a fancy new gadget? And, being that we live in the technology revolution, there is a new gadget almost every other day. From virtual reality and smart watches, to amazing drones that have the flying manoeuvrability of a swallow, it’s a great time to be alive, certainly if you are a gadget fanatic. After all, we live in an age where a person can play real money casino games on their phone, and do so against other players from around the world. That is seriously amazing modern gadget convenience.

But, for every great gadget, there is sure to have been five that didn’t really take off, and didn’t find the popularity they were looking for. Some have been downright silly, and one wonders how anyone thought it was a good idea. Others seem to simply have been released in the wrong time period. Either way, here is a look at a few interesting, quirky tech gadgets that never took off, for one reason or another.

The Segway

The Segway is one of those gadgets that seem to live only as an online joke, and nothing more. What was the Segway? A sleek, impressive looking scooter, allowing riders to step on and scoot about, at fairly impressive speeds, and with amazing control. The gadget was hyped almost as much as Google Glass, which we’ll get to shortly, and some were even suggesting they would take the world by storm. Steve Jobs himself hinted that cities would start building themselves around Segway access.

It seemed like the way of the future, but there was only one major problem that held Segways back. What’s that, you ask? The fact that one cost an absolutely crazy $5,000. It turned out that few were willing to pay such an astronomical amount, and the Segway quickly faded away into obscurity. A shame, though, word is they were tons of fun.

Samsung Galaxy Note 7

Few phones have had as disastrous a lifespan as the Galaxy Note 7. The device was first well received, and many were happy with its performance. The phone was powerful, waterproof, and supported a pen, which could be used to write on the screen, or as an interaction wand that made playing online casino games a more convenient experience.

The problem? Only that the phone melted, caught fire, and otherwise nearly killed people. No, we’re not joking. In one case a plane had to be evacuated, because a Galaxy Note 7 began to melt, and start a fire. People were treated for smoke inhalation. Can you say; public relations disaster? The phone was recalled globally, and discontinued.

Google Glass

Google Glass had tech fanatics everywhere chomping at the bit to get their hands on this monstrously hyped gadget. It seemed like the human race was finally headed into the future, to a world where people wore devices over their eyes like some kind of science fiction novel. The hype got out of control, many say, to a point where the gadget would never live up to expectations. Those people were right.

When Google Glass released it, it soon became clear that the device had no real purpose, beyond what a phone could already do. And, worse, it had to be worn on a person’s face, making them the laughing stock of the neighbourhood. The final nail in the Google Glass coffin was the price, which was extremely high, and the fact that the battery lasted for an unforgivably short period of time. Another shame, since the human race needs some sort of tech to be worn on their faces, even if just for science fiction fulfilment.

BlackBerry PlayBook

There was a time when BlackBerry phones were top notch, and considered to be the best available. In fact, it wasn’t even very long ago. So what happened to this once great company? Some say that it was the epic failure of the BlackBerry PlayBook, which flopped badly enough to make it onto this list. The BlackBerry PlayBook looked impressive enough, as impressive as other tablets out at the time. The marketers boasted about high definition support, as well as a host of other impressive features. Where did it all go wrong? The device did not support any email messaging system of its own, meaning that in order to use it to check your emails, you had to have the tablet connected to a BlackBerry phone. Not a brilliant design decision.

Virtual Boy

Online casino games are soon to go VR, real VR, so let’s look at a disastrous attempt early attempt at pretend VR. The Virtual Boy released in the mid 90s, claimed to be a virtual reality experience. It wasn’t, though, it was a device that added little in the way of virtual reality, and much in the way of green, since every game only played in green. The games were 2D, and the headset wasn’t wearable.

These gadgets really missed the mark, but there are fortunately plenty of others that didn’t!