In 2023, the Navy decommissioned the Littoral combat ship since they broke down across the globe and many of their weapons never worked. They were supposed to last 25 years, but most did not last 8 years. They were supposed to cost $200 million each to build but wound up costing over $500 million each.
After being spun out of Apple in 1990 and inventing mobile computing, General Magic became the first concept IPO in Silicon Valley history in 1995. This is when a startup doesn’t have revenue or a working product, so they rely on concept alone. Two years later the company went bankrupt as consumers considered the devices unnecessary, there were responsiveness issues, the price was too high, and the batteries died quickly.
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.
