5 Gadgets That Were Supposed to Change the World but Flopped Horribly

1. Microsoft Zune

Compared to the aforementioned PC wars of the 1990’s, the ensuing MP3 player wars of the succeeding decade saw the two companies switch roles. Apple first came to market in 2001 with the iPod, the device that would spark the tech giant’s decade-and-a-half long run as mobile device mogul. Microsoft initially responded only by providing software for Creative, iRiver, and Samsung, until in 2006, it decided to fight the iPod itself with rival MP3 player Zune, hoping its device could be the Frazier to the iPod’s Ali. By then, it was too late, as Microsoft found it difficult to overcome Apple’s first-mover advantage and the ensuing market share the iPod gobbled up. Overall, Microsoft launched seven Zune devices of different storage capacities, but all ended up lagging way behind the iPod in market share, making the rivalry more like Mozart-Salieri, with the Apple selling 52 iPods for every Zune shipped as of 2010. By October 2011, Microsoft stopped creating Zunes, which by then had become a shorthand for a commercially failed gadget.

That being said, these were the 5 gadgets that were supposed to change the world but flopped horribly.

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