The L.A. Times Names Its Favorite Flops of the Year 145
A reader writes "Salvador Rodriguez and Deborah Netburn of The Los Angeles Times have a rundown of the top 10 tech gaffes of 2012. From their article: 'As 2012 comes to a close we take a look back at the biggest "oops" moments of the last year. Whether it was an advertising misstep (Facebook's "Chair" commercial), or a product released before it was ready (Apple Maps), or just an idea that was ill-received (homeless men as Wi-Fi hotspots), we tried to compose a list of the times when the major players lost control of the narrative. It's also a reminder that everyone makes mistakes--even exacting tech companies.'"
Facebook IPO (Score:5, Insightful)
Facebook IPO wasnt a gaffe, it was a hedge fund scam. facebook was advised to give their IPO at a much higher value than they knew it could sustain, and the advisers hedged against facebook. made a lot of rich people richer, and fucked over some other rich people, and also fucked over some not so rich people.
as for apple maps, that deserves to be number 1, why the hell did apple even bother to release such a poor piece of software...
How about the Vita? (Score:5, Insightful)
Okay, its japanese release was in december last year, but I think it still counts. Darn thing can't even outsell the PSP!
Re:Seriously? (Score:0, Insightful)
Surface ought to have made that list too, big time.
Re:Facebook IPO (Score:4, Insightful)
Um, Apple Maps fiasco wasn't about the software. The software works fine; the data behind the software is the problem.
So you agree with GP even as you try to contradict him/her. The software was the problem. Hint: software is more than just an algorithm expressed in a program; it's the data that the algorithm/program accesses, too.
Re:Seriously? (Score:5, Insightful)
He's not complaining about C#. He's saying he thinks windows 8 is a flop, and that because he is a c# developer we should believe he is normally at least somewhat pro-windows.
for what its worth, i don't think windows 8 is a flop although I do think they botched the launch pretty badly in a variety of ways. (And there is no question that the windows 8 desktop has some issues to address; i just don't think they are nearly as bad as the hype.)
Designed for browsing on a phone (Score:4, Insightful)
There is no shortage of these lists. ...
International Buisness Times http://www.ibtimes.com/biggest-tech-flops-2012-top-5-failures-facebook-ipo-microsoft-surface-977488 [ibtimes.com]
Think Digit http://www.thinkdigit.com/General/The-5-biggest-tech-failures-of-2012_11866.html [thinkdigit.com]
Read Write http://readwrite.com/2012/12/14/top-10-epic-tech-gadget-failures [readwrite.com]
Why pick the one that is designed for a tablet..or one that doesn't mention Windows 8; Windows Phone 8...or Surface.
Re:Facebook IPO (Score:5, Insightful)
Yes, the initial Apple maps was a bit of a black eye. But the response to it was amazing. From the headlines I was sure that the civilized world was coming to an end. Cats and dogs sleeping together, etc.
Re:Facebook IPO (Score:5, Insightful)
From the standpoint of the end user - the 99% - Apple maps is the problem. Yes, we can tease it out into more subtle nuances but as far as the person staring at the screen it was an APPLE mistake. It was hubris, plain and simple. They certainly could have waited another year until they were ready but they didn't.
So they got dinged, some heads rolled and the world continued. It's a pure Apple play. Roll out crap in the beginning, get it running sooner or later. Cf, OS X, iTunes (OK, the STILL haven't got it right), Final Cut X, the iPhone and pretty much any Rev. 1 bit of Apple hardware. Where ever they get the idea that 'it just works' is quite beyond me. Hell, and I even like Apple stuff, I just know not to buy it when it first comes out and not to install software before the x.3 version.
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Re:Why are we linking to the LA Times? (Score:4, Insightful)
So the major tech gaffes of the year, according to the LA Times, are mainly advertising fiascos.
Re:Facebook IPO (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Facebook IPO (Score:5, Insightful)
Where ever they get the idea that 'it just works' is quite beyond me.
Lots and lots of PR money. And IMHO a brilliant move. You see, computers are hard. Everyone knows computers are hard. And if something happens, you can't do anything, because everyone knows computers are hard.
But then comes something different. Something that is EASY. They say it everywhere. It just works, and is easy to use! So when something happens, it can't be that difficult to get it working, surely? This is after all easy.
The difference it makes is that in first scenario people give up at once, without even trying. In the second, they try their best because it's after all supposed to be easy.
And it turns out, that when you actually try to solve the problem, then it actually is easy to get it working again (compared to giving up at once and not even trying, at least).
It just works, and is easy because they tell people it is so. Pure genius :)
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Re:Facebook IPO (Score:5, Insightful)
Or they rewrote a good chunk of the core code to work with their new dataset and to implement their desired features. You have no idea what the source is like. But it still does not matter. Saying how great the codebase is (despite the fact that you have no idea) doesn't stop the product from being shoddy.