The Ugliest Products in Tech History

When Microsoft launched its "iPod killer" in 2006, the company made sure to include many of the things that made Apple's iconic players a runaway success, including great sound and an integrated music store/manager. Somewhere along the way, though, Microsoft forgot to include the iPod's sexy design, opting instead for a boxy plastic casing and a spectacularly unflattering brown color. The Redmond giant has released Zunes in other, "limited edition" colors, and did manage to achieve its somewhat modest goal of selling a million Zunes in seven months. Still, it's a bad sign when someone comes up with a Web site built entirely around the joke that no one would steal an iPod if it were hidden in a Zune casing--and people actually want to buy that casing.