The 25 Worst Tech Fails of 2011

Reading our 25 Best Gadgets of 2011 list, you would think the past year was a great one for the tech world. And, besides losing one of its great innovators in Steve Jobs, it was. It did, however, see more than its fair share of fails. While companies such as Apple dominated the consumer market and became the biggest tech company in the world, and Google stood atop of the search engine echelon and surpassed the smartphone competition to become the biggest mobile platform in the US, and social media proved once again why its the most prominent and desired apparatus for communication and media. The tech world, those companies included, dealth with still, a number of calamities. The same applies to some of the industry's other heavyweights.

We saw one PC giant near the verge of implosion, a popular handset maker near its death bed, and one of the biggest mergers of all time fall apart. An array of popular consumer tech products underperformed and were killed off, plus our favorite online streaming service learned a valuable lesson about public relations. Oh, and we can't forget the infamous electronics giant that endured one of the worst hack jobs of all time. Simply put—2011 wasn't as sweet as you may think. Revisit the year's biggest bliunders and read our breakdown on The 25 Worst Tech Fails of 2011.

Date: April 12, 2011

Cisco’s pocket-sized shooter made it simple for on-the-go videographers to capture, edit, and upload videos. So how could such an awesome gadget fail during a time period where fan-made videos have become the new wave of entertainment? Cisco failed to innovate. Well, the Flip was unable to capture still shots, offered limited storage with no additional memory options (microSD slot), and lacked a wireless connection to share content via social media sites, which was outrageous considering Cisco is best known as a networking company. On top of that, consumers discovered they could get the same results and all of the above by investing in a premium smartphone. It's a shame too because WWE U.S. Champ Zack Ryder became a overnight sensation using the portable camcorder. Woo, Woo, Woo.

Date: March 31, 2011

Only three days after Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey returned to the company, the QuickBar (a.k.a. the Dickbar), a tool that generated trending topics and ads in your tweet stream on your iDevice, was removed due to an overwhelming number of complaints. The feature, which was developed by a junior product manager who was said to have no “senior oversight” whatsoever, was bashed for being used as an artifice to push Promoted Tweets. Twitter even acknowledged how terrible it was and informed users on its blog of the changes: "Rather than continue to make changes to the QuickBar as it exists, we removed the bar from the update appearing in the App Store today… For now, we’re going back to the drawing board to explore the best possible experience for in-app notification and discovery.”

Date: Feb. 22, 2011

Motorola was the first to see the smartphone for more than just its mobile and wireless capabilities. The hardware specialists saw it as a portable PC alternative and introduced the first-ever LapDock accessory during the launch of its dual-core Android beast: the Motorola Atrix 4G. While the laptop dock seemed like an awesome accessory for business- and web-focused consumers, the device was poorly developed, suffering from serious performance lag. Worst of all, it was only compatible with the first-gen Atrix until Moto built new models for its holiday phones, which again, were all mostly compatible with its respective handsets. And that’s just one of the several misfires Moto released this year, as some of its other smartphone accessories failed to catch on including the HD docks and wireless keyboards with trackpads.

Date: 2011

Some say Google TV was “too much, too soon”. We all remember the Google-powered Logitech Revue being pushed as the future of television when it launched late last year. However, the service was never very popular amongst consumers. For starters, many found the set up to be too difficult and glitchy. There was a scarcity of premium content, plus the $300 price tag was steep. And even after Logitech dropped it to $250, then $100, all interest was completely lost. Even CEO Guerrino De Luca saw the Revue as "a mistake of implementation of a gigantic nature." Logitech wasn’t the only tech company struggling to push Google TV devices, as Sony also slashed prices in order to promote sales. Logitech announced in November that it would discontinue all Google TV devices after reportedly losing $100 million in profits.

Date: Feb. 2, 2011

In an attempt to keep the newspaper business alive beyond the realm of print, business mogul and News Corp. CEO, Rupert Murdoch, introduced The Daily: the first iPad newspaper publication to offer yesterday’s news to new age readers. The application cost $30 million to develop and $55 million to operate under the first year. Bloomberg reported the digital publication had only been read by just 120,000 people per week—nearly a quarter of the audience Murdoch estimated in order to break even. Murdoch had also initiated subscriptions ($1 per week or $40 annually), when viewers could easily get their news for free using the iPad’s web browser. Get with the times, dude.

Date: 2011

In a mobile market dominated by Android and iOS smartphones, Microsoft has made minor leeway with its Windows Phone 7 and 7.5 handsets. But even after revamping its mobile software with the newly released Mango OS, and announcing a new partnership with Nokia to create a new line up of premium phones, the Windows mobile platform struggled to win over consumers and critics. Peep the numbers: As of Q3 2011, Microsoft ranked last in mobile sales right behind Bada—Samsungs mobile platform!—with just 1.5 percent of total sales. That's down from 2.7 percent in Q3 2010. In addition, the software giant finally laid the Zune media player to rest by discontinuing it, but has kept the service alive on its WP7 devices.

Date: July 20, 2011

As Facebook transformed into a new home for hackers and unnecessary upgrades, the public became smitten with the idea of Google creating a social network that would deliver innovative features integrated from other properties such as YouTube and Gmail. Google Plus garnered tremendous buzz after a few celebrities signed up, then lost serious momentum due after the honeymoon period came to an end. Google employees called the social media site a bust, as senior engineer Steve Yegge accidentally did in an online post: "Google+ is a prime example of our complete failure to understand platforms from the very highest levels of executive leadership (hi Larry, Sergey, Eric, Vic, howdy howdy) down to the very lowest leaf workers (hey yo)…We all don't get it." What does that tell you? Google Plus sits at an estimated 43 million users at the moment, where as Facebook has 750 million members.

Date: Aug. 18, 2011

Last year, HP dropped $1.3 billion to purchase Palm, its webOS software, and patents. The PC giant rehashed the popular mobile OS and introduced a new line of smartphones, along with its first webOS-based tablet: the TouchPad. A year later, after poor sales of the TouchPad and Palm-branded phones, HP decided to kill off all WebOS products which it spent a grip marketing and manufacturing. HP then initiated a fire sale that priced the TouchPad at $100. Sales sky-rocketed and HP was forced to clear out the remainder of its inventory. But that wasn't enough to keep the company's stock from plummeting 20 percent, a six-year low.

Date: June 21, 2011

Had you read Apple’s press release for its video editing software and tested the product shortly after, you would have either laughed until you induced a headache or put a fist through your iMac or MacBook screen. "A revolutionary new version of the world's most popular Pro video editing software which completely reinvents video editing," was far from what Final Cut Pro X turned out to be. The program was considered a catastrophe, plagued with bugs such as the inability to import anything other than iMovie projects and no Multicam support. CNNMoney reported over 600 filmmakers had signed a complaint about Apple’s product, pressuring the company to refund all dissatisfied costumers. After the feedback, Apple re-released the previous version of FCP.

Date: June—November 2011

To say Mozilla has had a rough year would be an understatement. Not only did Google Chrome leapfrog Firefox to become the second most used browser, but no number of extensions could save the company from gaining any new ground, especially after rushing out an unpolished Firefox update back in June. Former Mozilla community leader, Tyler Downer, claimed over 6,000 bugs had been discovered by members, as Mozilla garnered criticism for ignoring the issue and taking too long to fix it. Downer also revealed that over 2500 UNCO bugs remained in the web browser and had not been addressed since the release of Firefox 4.

Date: 2011

Apple's dominance of the tablet market is similar to that of Microsoft's control of the PC market in the '90s. As the interest in an iPad competitor gained momentum at the end of 2010, Google decided to work with its mobile and PC manufacturers to launch a new line of Android-based tablets for those seeking an alternative to Apple’s product. Unfortunately, high prices, an underdeveloped Honeycomb OS, and several renditions of the same device discouraged shoppers into purchasing the Android hardware. According to reports from NDP, the four biggest Android tablet makers (Asus, Acer, Samsung, and Motorola) sold an estimated 500,000 in the states for the first 10 months of the year. Apple sold 11.1 million iPads last September alone. Right now, Apple’s tablet market share is projected to top 75 percent by year’s end.

Date: 2011

Mark Zuckerberg and company annoyed this shit out of everyone this year after bringing a slew of new and unwanted upgrades to the social media site. Millions of Facebook subscribers took to their walls and complained about everything from the irritating news ticker feed near the top right to the “Most Recent” updates tab. It even tried competing with daily-deal kings Groupon by introducing its own version called Facebook Deals, which was canned four months later. The recently launched Timelines feature has also received harsh criticism for forcing FB users into making the switch over to the new profile set-up, as the company ditches its tradional profile format. Emotions are running so high to where a majority of FB users are threatening to leave and jump ship to Twitter or Google Plus.

Date: May 11, 2011

Google's Chromebooks were supposed provide consumers with a faster, more secure, and affordable alternative to laptops from which they could search the Web and store files. With Google’s Chrome OS serving as the primary browser, analysts praised the Chromebook as a genius move that would generate huge sales for the search engine giant. That was far from the case. Due to its sluggish performance, limited Chrome capabilities, and heavy reliance on an Internet connection, the compact laptops were undesired. A recent report from The Register indicates Chromebook sales are "unlikely to exceed 30,000 units” by the end of 2011. Ouch.

Date: 2011

3D technology has gradually raised its stock on the entertainment and electronics front, with 3D TVs sales surging the past few months. Aside from that, every other 3D-inspired gadget scared the consumer market into thinking they were purchasing an overpriced and gimmicky product. HTC introduced the first 3D phone in the US, delivering mediocre visuals and limited viewing angles, while sufficing as an mobile energy guzzler. LG 3D-enabled G-Slate tablet was dead on arrival. And even when the product was actually goodm like the Nintendo 3DS, sales weren't up to par. The Big N was forced to drop the price of the next-gen handheld console, which offered a quality glasses-free 3D experience, from $250 to $180 four months after its launch. Maybe the world's not ready for 3D everything just yet...

Date: June 29, 2011

The company once valued at $12 billion couldn’t even find a suitable bidder to pick up its loose change. Between the enormous traffic loss, massive layoffs, and deteriorating market share—MySpace was (and still is) considered nothing more than a financial death trap. Its owner, News Corp., placed a price tag of no less than $100 million on the site, which drew absolutely no buyers. Then the multinational media conglomerate fell into submission and sold the site for nearly 95 percent of its original value, $35 million, to an advertising network called Specific Media. The site's traffic drop alone cost News Corp. $100 million. Maybe partial owner Justin Timberlake can shape things up.

Date: Oct. 14, 2011

Apple disappointed many this October when it did not release the iPhone 5. Hope remained high for the iPhone 4S after reviews came in lauding the new faster handset and its new voice-recognition assistant, Siri. Sales soared through the roof, granting Apple its best first week sales for any product. However, there was one major issue: the battery life. Reports began pouring in of phones dying within a matter of two to three hours, rendering users helpless. Apple attributed the problem to a kink in its new iOS 5 software, and released an update, which did absolutely nothing, then released a second update a week later to remedy the issue.

Date: Nov. 2, 2011

It was hard to tell what tech experts and mobile analysts were more upset about: Google’s bug-filled native iOS app or how it even made it past Apple’s probing App Store process. Either way, the Gmail mobile app was a sheer disaster that failed to properly open and greeted users with an error message. The app was removed in less than 24 hours and Google responded stating saying the app "contained a bug which broke notifications and caused users to see an error message when first opening the app…Sorry we messed up." Tech blogger Robert Scoble brought up an interesting point stating he thought, "Apple approved this to embarrass Google." Could be the case, but that shouldn't justify Google’s half-ass programming.

Date: Aug. 6, 2011, Sept. 22, 2011

You would swear HP was the Detroit Lions by the number of excutives and CEOs it's hired and fired in the past few years. This year seemed to be no exception, as it dropped two of its biggest shotcallers in Mark Hurd and Leo Apotheker. Hurd was given his pink slip after submitting false expense reports to pay a former contractor he was sleeping with. Apotheker on the other hand was hired to replace Hurd, had no experience in hardware, and was booted after just 11 months on the job after the company’s stock value crashed and HP missed its financial projections. So what A-list candidate did HP choose as its savior? Former eBay CEO: Meg Whitman. And the implosion continues?

Think these CEOs are bad? Read up on the Worst Tech CEOs Of All Time.

Date: 2011

The search engine turned web portal did absolutely nothing to reinvent itself for its dwindling fan base in 2011. It watched Google snatch up nearly 65 percent of the market share and saw Microsoft's Bing close in fast on its 15.1 percent market share by a near .1 percent difference according to comScore’s November report. And even after making the best decision it’s made in the past three years in ousting CEO Carol Bartz, the company still saw its market share fall more than 25 percent. Things are so bad to where the company has put itself up for sale in hopes of finding a buyer. We're talking about the same company that rejected the $44 billion buyout from Microsoft back in 2008.

Date: April 19, 2011

As its smartphone market share began to deteriorate, RIM rushed into the tablet game and invested big in the PlayBook, a business-centric tablet that stood true to the company’s BlackBerry roots. After an uneventful launch, the company had to recall nearly 1,000 devices due to software issues. That was just a smidge of its troubles. The PlayBook suffered from a number significant issues: including an expensive price tag, weak battery life courtesy of Flash integration, a diminutive app store, and the need to be paired with a BlackBerry smartphone to use email and calender. RIM announced only 500,000 PlayBooks had shipped during its 2012 Q1 earnings report.

Date: March 21, 2011

Serial entrepreneur Bill Nguyen seemed to be light years ahead of the social media game when he formed Color—a smartphone app that created social groups around photos you take on your phone and your current location. Nguyen miraculously managed to pull in $41 million in venture capital funding, allowing him to hire a team of world-renown engineers lead by LinkedIn's former chief scientist, D.J. Patil. Color was tagged to become the next Facebook or Twitter. But it wasn't. With a confusing launch and no business model, Color left no impression whatsoever on today’s social media market and is considered a sign of when hype goes wrong. The company has now shifted direction and transformed Color into a video-sharing app.

Date: July-Oct. 10, 2011

The DVD/online streaming service made everyone's shit list more than once this year. In July, after implementing a 60 percent price hike, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings sent an email to all of its subscribers saying it would split the DVD business from its streaming Netflix business to create a new DVD-mailing service called Qwikster. Three months later, before its launch, the project was scrapped and Hastings admitted he f’d up via blog post: “I messed up. I owe everyone an explanation...In hindsight, I slid into arrogance based upon past success." The damage had already accumulated, as the company's revenue shrunk from $16 billion to $4.6 billion in three months, while losing 800,000 subscribers. Qwik drop, huh?

Date: Oct. 9, 2011

If the flagging BlackBerry sales and the destructive launch of the PlayBook hadn’t already buried RIM alive, its international service outage should have clearly had the telecommunications company pushing daisies. Africa, Canada, Europe, South America, the Middle East, and the US were affected by a software glitch that left millions of BlackBerry users without text messaging or Internet access for several days. RIM’s compensation for the mishap was a “premium” apps bundle from the BlackBerry App World service valued at $100. In other words, nothing. In the aftermath the company announced it would be eliminating about 10.5 percent of jobs and its stock has dropped nearly 60 percent ever since.

Date: April 20, 2011

Looking back, 2011 will forever be marked as Sony’s worst year ever for one reason: the PlayStation Network hack. What started as a breach by international cyber-pranksters Anonymous, transmorgified into a month-long online service outage that compromised over 77 million user accounts—personal data, credit card info, and all. Oh, but it gets better. Sony made matters worse by executing poor management and public relations skills when it nformed PSN and Qriocity users of the intrusion nearly a week after it occurred. Financial experts claimed the incident would cost the electronics giant nearly $171 million, while Mizuho Investors Securities analyst Nobuo Kurahashi had a damage price tag of $1.25 billion.

Date: March 21, 2011

Ma Bell surprised everyone last March when it announced its plans to acquire T-Mobile for $39 billion. The mega purchase, however, didn't sit well with a number of different parties including competitors like Sprint, and government agencies like the Federal Communications Commission and the Department of Justice which worried the merger would “substantially lessen competition." The FCC soon intervened in worry of AT&T violating antitrust laws, causing the carrier to back out and try rework the deal. A little over eight months after first announcing the deal, AT&T killed its bid. The bigger fail? AT&T having to fork over a break-up fee of $3 billion in cash and $1 billion in wireless spectrum to T-Mobile.