Released in 2007, the World Edition was designed for those who frequently travel overseas. It provides voice coverage in 157 countries and e-mail coverage in 62 countries.
Divx
Short for Digital Video Express, Divx was released in 1998 and failed only 53 weeks later after losing $330 million. Looking and functioning much like a DVD, the thing that set the DIVX apart was its ability to block viewers from watching the film after a designated period of time which was often 48 hours. DIVX required a special DIVX-capable player in order to function. People absolutely hated DIVX with a fierce, burning passion. DIVX discs wouldn’t play in regular DVD players. Consumers had just begun to embrace DVD, and now there was another format they needed to shell out for.
Cardinal Stritch
In 2023 after 86 years, Cardinal Stritch University couldn’t outrun a combination of factors, including plummeting enrollment, constant turnover in leadership, the drying up of its limited resources and the COVID-19 pandemic, which seemingly dealt the fatal blow.
Fyre Festival
In 2017, Billy McFarland’s Fyre Festival was a fraudulent luxury music festival scheduled to take place on the Bahamian Island of Great Exuma. It was created with the intent of promoting the company’s Fyre app for booking music talent. During the Fyre Festival’s inaugural weekend, the event experienced problems related to security, food, accommodation, medical services and artist relations, resulting in the festival being indefinitely postponed and eventually cancelled. Instead of the gourmet meals and luxury villas for which festival attendees had paid hundreds of dollars, they received packaged sandwiches and were lodged in poorly furnished tents. At least eight lawsuits were initiated against the organizers for defrauding ticket buyers, several seeking class action status, and one seeking more than $100 million in damages. Billy McFarland was sentenced to six years in federal prison and agreed to a lifetime ban on serving as a corporate officer or director.
Galileo by Motrr
In 2015, Galileo was an iOS-controlled, robotic motion platform for iPhones and iPod Touches. It allowed someone to mount an iphone to the device and remotely rotate it horizontally and vertically for filming. It was invented by the folks that invented the GorillaPod, a very popular and flexible mini-tripod for cameras. The product didn’t sell well and was shut down after a few years. If they partnered with Apple it might have seen more success.
Private-i
In 2009, soon after the first iPhone was launched, Private-i was released as a shadow box with a tripod. It attached to an iPhone allowing for hands-free movie watching with built-in shading/privacy. Since the idea was conceived on a plane, Skymall became the key distributor. Unfortunately they charged too much for the device, the case was too bulky and over engineered, and if someone had another case already on the iphone it wouldn’t fit in the Private-i.
Jai Alai
Jai Alai is a sport involving bouncing a ball off a walled-in space by accelerating it to high speeds with a hand-held wicker cesta. The sport is dangerous as the ball is hard and travels at high velocities (often over 100 mph). 4 people have died playing Jai Alai.
EF Hutton
In 1980, several Hutton branches wrote checks which were greater than the cash they had on hand at the bank, then making a deposit in another bank equal to the amount it wrote at the first bank. This strategy, known as “chaining”, is a form of check fraud. “Chaining” gave Hutton use of money in both accounts until the checks cleared. In effect, Hutton was giving itself a free loan that didn’t carry any interest. Hutton pleaded guilty to 2000 counts of mail and wire fraud. This led to customers pulling their accounts with Hutton, and many of the star performers left for other firms.
Microsoft Bob
Released in 1995 and discontinued in 1996, Microsoft Bob was a cartoon interface designed to be a more user friendly interface for Windows. Bob was criticized in the media and did not gain wide acceptance with users as the interface was slower and more confusing than regular Windows. Its legacy would be observed in future Microsoft products, such as the use of virtual assistants.
Eastern Airlines
Eastern Airlines, strained by labor disputes and a high debt load, ran out of money in 1991 after 65 years of operation.