Subscribe to magazine

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

Tiger Electronics Furby

It sounds like the ultimate geek fantasy: Give your child an intelligent robot for Christmas--even if it does look like a cross between Gizmo from the Gremlins movie, a Muppet, and a Warner Bros. cartoon character. Thanks to its CPU, sensors, and moving parts, the original Furby could react to light, sound and touch: waking up in the morning, responding to words and sounds, and responding to having its fur stroked. Out of the box, Furbys spoke "Furbish," but could be taught to repeat certain English words if they were given positive reinforcement at the same time. In 1998 they caused enough of a sensation that the $35 toys quickly sold out in toy stores, driving prices up into the hundreds and riling up parents who clearly hadn't learned from the Tickle Me Elmo fad two years earlier.

« Prev
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Next »

"The Ugliest Products in Tech History" Comments

SMB Networking Center

Learn how the networking products from Cisco can give your business a competitive advantage. Cick here.

A Guide to Business IT

Learn 6 smart ways to grow your IT infrastructure. Start Here

Related Products Articles

OmniFocus for IPhone The Omni Group's getting things done (GTD) desktop application for the Mac, OmniFocus, has both proponents and detractors...
Cartoon Network Working on Browser-based Kids' MMO Game Cartoon Network announced on Thursday that it's established a partnership with Grigon Entertainment to create a Web...
Teaching Audio Engineering While on the Road With Ozzy Greg Price doesn't mince words when it comes to giving career advice to aspiring audio engineers who want to rise to the top...
Not So Fast, 3G You can't miss the slogan--it's plastered everywhere. "Twice as fast. Half the price." Just this morning, in fact, Apple...
VMware to Offer Low-Fooprint ESX Hypervisor Free To help it compete against Microsoft's low-cost Hyper-V, VMware will offer the low-cost version of its hypervisor at no cost.

More Related Products Articles

CDW Virtualization Center What is Virtualization and how can it help you save money? Click here to find out.
Cisco Small Business Center Does your network give your business an advantage. Click here to find out...
HP Ink Center Bring improved color and brilliance to your printed material. Visit the Resource Center for more info...

PC World's Marketplace

PC World's Free Whitepapers

Canadian Residents | Foreign Residents | Gift Subscriptions | Customer Service | Privacy Policy