Launched in 1977 by Wham-O, the Fun Fountain consisted of a clown hat and head which attaches onto the end of a garden hose so that the hat rises in the air when water flows through the clown’s head. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission issued several recalls and replacements due to injury. Children often peered into the water outlet and the stream of water caused serious eye injuries, while the hard plastic hat fell on kids frequently and caused injury.
Founded in 1999, TiVo was a digital video recorder that optimized TV watching. Users could find and record shows that match their interests by title, actor, director, category, or keyword. The TiVo could store far more shows — hundreds of hours in most cases — since the hard drive is much more efficient than an old cassette tape.
However, TiVo soon had to face intense competition from cable and satellite TV providers who introduced their own DVR services with similar functionalities. Plus, Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video, Hotstar, and other streaming platforms created a whole new customer segment. Consumers now had access to on-demand content that they can stream anytime, anywhere. In addition, they failed to innovate their product offerings.
Launched in 2018 and discontinued in 2023, Bose Sleepbuds had inconsistent battery life, failure to fully charge, and random shutdowns.
Launched in 2011 right after Eric Schmidt became the new Google CEO, Google+ went head-to-head with Facebook who launched 7 years earlier.
Google saw that Facebook was consuming progressively more of users’ time. However, people preferred Facebook to Google+ because Google’s approach to social wasn’t fun, while all people’s friends were already on Facebook not Google+. Google assumed its Google+ users would enjoy spending time organizing their information just as Google was helping organize the world’s information.
Launched in 2021 one month before changing its name from Facebook, Meta’s Smart Glasses allowed users to take photos and listen to music with the frames of their glasses. However, less than 10% of glasses were actively used by purchasers. Among the top causes of poor user experience were issues with connectivity, problems with some of the hardware features including battery life, inability for users to import media from the devices, and issues with the audio on the product and problems with voice commands for the smart glasses. Plus, as a company that makes nearly all its money from advertising, there have been concerns about how images captured with the glasses will be used since Meta has had a long history of privacy concerns.
Launched in 2024, the Apple Vision Pro is a mixed-reality headset. Although it has advanced display technology and immersive spatial computing, its high price, bulky design, and health concerns—such as eye strain and cognitive fatigue—have limited its appeal.
Launched in 1976 by Wham-O, the Slip ‘N Slide waterslide caused neck and spine injuries when older kids and adults used it.
Launched by Mattel in 1964, the Creeple People kit let kids make rubbery bug toys by pouring liquid plastic into hot metal molds. However, the heating plates reached dangerously high temperatures causing burns.
Launched by Kenner in 1963, the Easy-Bake Oven had real heating elements that could cause burns and fires. Some kids got their finger stuck inside the oven leading to amputations in extreme cases.
In 2023, Dyson launched a head-mounted, fan-powered personal air purifier with headphones. It squirts a smooth stream of “clean” air across the wearer’s mouth and nose. Dyson started working on this years before the COVID-19 pandemic. They had confidence this would be a hit after already disrupting the hand dryer, vacuum, indoor air purification, and hair product markets with its unique engineering.
However, they were embarrassing for people to wear in public, while were too heavy and emitted a loud fan noise.
