Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Top 10 Technological Failures of 2012

by sara_orio

Many advancements and developments were seen in the world of technology during 2012. Advancements in technology played a vital role in nearly all the fields; cell phones came to the market with lot more features, social media was used for not only social networking but also for other purposes like election campaigns etc. Along with achievements, some failures were also observed and here is the list of top 10 technological failures that cannot be neglected.

10. Apple Maps’ fiasco
Along with the launch of iPhone 5 previous year, a big hype was created regarding Apple’s maps but unfortunately, it did not work as expected. Not only the cities were wrongly located but also the Washington monument appeared immersed in water. Even the CEO of Apple was forced to tell consumers to use Google maps.

9. Facebook’s bungled IPO
Nowadays everyone has an account on Facebook. Similarly, everyone wants to make money so Facebook launched stock market in the month of May. The day started with $38 but instead of rising, it finished on $38. Although it did not fall on the same day but soon in September, the stock fell to $18 and since then it is struggling to get a boost. Stock is selling for $28 at this time.

8. Google Nexus Q
Nexus Q was launched in June 2012. This device uses android and allows you to stream audio and video. Unluckily it did not hit the market and Google gave it free to those customers who pre-ordered it. Although the gadget was no more released, the Google Online store Store still lists it as a gadget that is not available at that time.

7. Color photo app
Color is a mobile application through which you can share pictures. The app was very much appreciated by the people before its launch. Reports suggest that they turned down the Google’s $200 million offer as they had already earned about $41M from investors without having a single user. Although it was launched in March 2011, due to some major issues it will close by the end of the year.

6. Groupon grumblings
Daily-deals-offering companies like Living Social and Groupon were kept badly ignored throughout 2012. Followed by an announcement regarding loss in revenue; Living Social announced that they will lay off 400 people. Groupon, a company that Google reportedly wanted to buy for $6 billion during 2010, lost its stock value up-to 79%.

5. SOPA? Nope-a
Bills like Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) aim to close those websites which share music, videos and other stuff illegally. The members of Congress sponsored the bill but web giants including Google, Wikipedia, Facebook and Reddit got together against this bill and had a blackout on 18th January.

4. ‘Social discovery’ apps
Apps like Glancee, Grindr, Skout and Banjo lets you find and linkup your partner nearby. Using GPS of phone to add people of same interests as your friends was apparently a good approach but practically people, especially women, did not appreciate it. Most of the apps failed to get a considerable user base.

3. Airtime
Sean Parker with his partner Shawn Fanning introduced a web tool that could be used for video conversation. Launched with a handsome amount of $33 million, only 10,000 users were using airtime, as admitted by Parker himself in October.

2. Zynga
Zynga announced in October that they would lay off  5% employees. Moreover, they were looking forward to shutdown Boston’s studio along with ending the ones in Japan and England. Zynga’s economy started to fall down right from the start of 2012.

1. People saying dumb things on Twitter
Now this isnt really a purely technological failure, but its a failure caused by silly use of technology. All of you must be familiar with Twitter, a social media site to share your thoughts or express feelings with others in the form of tweets. However, keep in mind that whatever you tweet people take notice of it and may tease or laugh at you. Chris Brown, McDonald, Spike Lee, Greek triple jumper Paraskevi Papachristou and Oprah Winfrey are just few examples.

Source : http://realitypod.com

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