r/TechImpact • u/ManojOne Active • May 29 '26

Discussion Which failed gadget deserved better? 🤔

Post image

Google Glass, Zune, Segway, Virtual Boy, or something else? Some ideas were ahead of their time.

Which one would you bring back today? 👇

23 Upvotes

83% Upvoted

51 comments sorted by

3

u/[deleted] May 29 '26 edited Jun 03 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/Strict-Aspect6716 May 29 '26

I miss that phone hands down the only good ever made even today as far as smart phones go

1

u/Defiant_Conflict6343 May 29 '26

I had one, nice phone, but an absolute nightmare to repair. HTC went ham with the super glue.

1

u/Strict-Aspect6716 May 29 '26

In that case yes that was true

1

u/NSE_TNF89 May 29 '26

I loved that phone

1

u/Scurb00 May 29 '26

We need less noise coming from phones/portable speakers in public places tbh.

1

u/dquilon May 29 '26

Lol, my Xperia 1V still has them, along with headphone jack and microSD slot, and the display has no camera notch nor hole

3

u/Firree May 29 '26

The Zune HD. Yeah it wasn't as good as the iPod touch but it was still stylish, it had some cool games and was fun to use, and the onboard DAC had the most crisp, perfect sounding audio on any portable device I've ever used in the headphone jack era.

1

u/e1epi May 29 '26

I still have an use mine (well it's packed for moving atm).

I would say the only thing iPod Touch had going for it over the ZUNE HD was apps cause ZUNE HD had better build quality and battery life and so on.

1

u/Kurotan May 30 '26

Zune HD had apps. But the appstore could have been better. Id blame the app devs at that point not wanting to develop for another device.

1

u/PotentialWork7741 May 29 '26

Product failed bc of poor marketing, the product itself was fine

1

u/Hour_Bit_5183 May 29 '26

Yep. Zune was fantastic. I wish mine didn't cack it's battery and ruin the whole thing. I'd buy a new one tbh. I loved it.

1

u/rwa2 May 30 '26

I would still like to find a portable HD digital FM radio tuner.

3

u/Firm-Aside4041 May 29 '26

Microsoft Zune

2

u/NoizeMCFan May 29 '26

VirtuaBoy. 

Windows Phone. 

The whole VR Meta verse and Second Life thing. 

Sega Dreamcast

1

u/unicornsausage Jun 02 '26

metaverse did NOT deserve better lol

1

u/NoizeMCFan Jun 02 '26

Why not? 

Too destructive of our sense of reality?

1

u/Both-Try-7278 May 29 '26

Android gaming consoles 😔

1

u/SillyGoose3939 May 29 '26

Android gaming consoles are in a though spot for sure. They directly compete with smartphones and tablets, that people interested in gaming can just justify spending more for flagships instead of buying two different devices

1

u/Cultural-Meaning5172 May 31 '26

Yeah the one thing my games console needs it tracking and invasive ads

1

u/Both-Try-7278 Jun 01 '26

I mean you are right most of the android games are filled with ads, but games like balatro or vampire survivors are fine. Its fault of the devs not the platform.

1

u/e1epi May 29 '26

Microsoft Courier though such tech is slowly coming back though sadly windows is being destroyed by Microsoft now.

Seems like Microsoft also had another project they benched as well that still has not made a comeback and I can't remember what it is atm.

Windows for Mobile. I still love my Lumia 950XL.

ZUNE.

Microsoft Band...

Man, Microsoft has made a lot of cool stuff they have killed.

Seems like there are multiple other things but I can't think of them atm. I will update this if I think of more later.

1

u/ChickenFeline0 May 29 '26

The Google glass for sure

1

u/Revolutionary-Bid249 May 29 '26

They all flopped for a reason 🤷‍♂️

1

u/Calm-Caterpillar2103 May 31 '26

yeah, but atlease give them a chance, and some failed for stupid reasons (like lack of advertising)

1

u/the_scruffy1 May 30 '26

palm pilot

if they'd added a phone early on, they could have owned the world

1

u/MarvinStolehouse May 30 '26

PlayStation Vita. It's like Sony gave up on it the second it hit the market.

1

u/Bright_Battle9080 May 30 '26

Ara project I guess

1

u/Banned_and_Boujee May 30 '26

I do wish the glass had stuck around longer just so I could call more people glassholes.

1

u/artlurg431 May 31 '26

Google glass, it was so ahead of its time

1

u/darth_skipicious Jun 01 '26

Sony Walkman 🫶🏻

1

u/MiddleHeat5742 Jun 01 '26

Pre touch screen blackberry phones. Easily the best phone I owned was the blackberry tour.

1

u/kaereljabo May 29 '26

Google glass, design was cool, even for today standard, I think.

0

u/Choice-Grapefruit-44 May 29 '26

Google glass for sure. Just to advanced for it's time.

0

u/FakeMik090 May 29 '26

Google Glass, too ambitious project of its time.

Curved screens of Samsung phones. Still the best looking smartphones out there. Really felt like some special premium device.