Released in 1983, “Lisa” stood for “Local Integrated Software Architecture” and was also the name of Steve Jobs’ oldest daughter. Lisa’s user experience was sluggish, while its $9,995 price tag ($27,978 in 2022 dollars) was only affordable for the wealthy. Only 10,000 Apple Lisa’s were sold in its 2 years.
In 1920, Charles Ponzi promised clients a 50% profit within 45 days or 100% profit within 90 days, by buying discounted postal reply coupons in other countries and redeeming them at face value in the U.S. as a form of arbitrage. In reality, Ponzi was paying earlier investors using the investments of later investors. His scheme ran for over a year before it collapsed, costing his “investors” $20 million (or $207 million in 2022 dollars)
In 2008, Blackberry Storm was RIM’s first attempt at an iPhone rival. Here’s where they went wrong: virtually every single one of the 1 million phones shipped were faulty and needed to be replaced. Blackberry knew the device had major issues, but felt it was better to release a flawed product than nothing at all. RIM employees referred to it as the “Sh*t Storm.” Verizon wanted RIM to pay $500M to cover the carrier’s losses.
Released in 1980 and discontinued in 1984, the Apple III was dogged by many design faults, such as chips coming out of sockets, real time clocks not working, and excessive heat problems due to over populated boards.
In 2023, “Eggo Brunch in a Jar” is an alcoholic drink that combines the flavors of buttered and toasted Eggo waffles, savory bacon slices, and a drizzle of maple syrup.
In 2013, it was the first and only Android device to be pre-loaded with Facebook’s own user interface layer. Panned by critics for its poor camera and lack of removable storage, and was also affected by the similarly underwhelming reception faced by the Facebook Home software. Time named it among the biggest failures in the technology industry for 2013.
In September 2023, Bird was delisted from the NYSE after being valued at $12M. After a 1-for-25 reverse stock split, Bird wasn’t able to achieve a $15M market cap for 30 consecutive days. Bird peaked at a $3B market cap in the public market (in 2021) and $2.5B in the private market (in 2019). Over $5B in venture funding, of which $1.4B went to Bird, was invested into scooter startups. Bird overstated revenue for over two years after recognizing unpaid customer rides as revenue. The decline in ridership is due to increased competition from cheaper traditional bikes, an increase in working from home, and complaints from city residents.
“Real life expression” doll from the 1970’s featuring an open mouth and winking eye.
From 1974-1975, Herb was the A’s designated runner. He had no professional baseball experience and wasn’t asked to develop other baseball skills. He played 105 games and had 31 stolen bases, 33 runs scored, and zero at bats. This 1975 Topps baseball card is the only baseball card ever released that uses the “pinch runner” position label.
One of the biggest misconceptions about the art of stealing bases is that it is all about speed. That isn’t the case. If it were, Herb Washington, a world-class sprinter, would have been unstoppable.
In reality, he was thrown out in 16 of his 45 attempts that year, for a pedestrian success rate of 64%. (Modern baseball analysts have concluded that trying to steal ultimately hurts your team if you are under 80%).
The Braves were one of three NBA expansion franchises in the 1970-71 season. However, a series of missteps resulted in the league taking control of the team before it even played a preseason game. In 1978 the team became the San Diego Clippers and in 1984 the team became the Los Angeles Clippers.
