Quantcast

The Ugliest Products in Tech History

All of this gear may have worked just fine, but it sure looked bad doing it. Here are 10 examples of the worst product designs in the tech industry's storied past.

Emru Townsend, PC World

Microsoft Windows 1.0

The first Macintosh operating system popularized the concept of graphical user interfaces when it was launched in 1984, and a year later Microsoft responded with the first version of Windows--and no GUI has been as blocky or garish since. To be fair, the first Windows wasn't so much an operating system as an add-on to MS-DOS, which meant living with design groaners like ALL-CAPITAL file names and the still-very-DOS-like graphics standard. Though more than a few people would contend that Microsoft has been playing catch-up with Apple's design sense ever since, the ugly duckling did eventually turn into a swan with Windows Vista. And, as we understand it, Windows has done kind of okay in the marketplace.
  • Recommend this story?
  • 0 Yes
    0 No

"The Ugliest Products in Tech History" Comments

Related Products Articles

  • Myth of the Million Dollar Database Think only the big boys can afford the best database solutions? Think again. Learn about low cost systems that have proven time and time again to outperform legacy UNIX vendors on a dollar for dollar basis.
  • The Future Sales Force - A Consultative Approach This white paper discusses the challenges of selling complex products and services, and the new skill sets sales professionals must employ in today's evolving market.

PC World's Marketplace

PC World's Free Whitepapers

Name City
Address 1 State Zip
Address 2 E-mail (optional)