1. Nädal. Noppeid IT ajaloost

1.  Cicret Bracelet

 In 2014, Cicret announced a device that used a projector to display an image on the inside of the arm. This invention seemed so innovative that it swept the Internet with a huge noise. Many news sites were releasing news that Cicret would “turn your hand into a full-fledged tablet.” After all this hype, it was no surprise that Cicret raised massive amounts of money through its crowdfunding company Go Fund Me.

After the initial excitement passed, people starts to asking questions. How does this bracelet work? When will it go on sale? Is it even possible to make such gadget? Cicret was silent for a long time, until the famous debunker Captain Disillusion released a video on his channel about the fact that at the moment it is impossible to make a Cicret Bracelet.

 After the revealing video came out, Cicret released a video with a prototype that obviously wasn't look like what they had originally promised, which caused massive discontent among people. In 2017, Cicret started releasing weekly "updates" on their website. Since their last blog update in 2018, there have been no new photos, videos, articles, or publications, so the startup campaign "Cicret" is believed to be dead.

2. Apple newton MessagePad

Apple MessagePad 100
Apple MessagePad 100

Even great companies sometimes make mistakes. In 1993 Apple launched Newton Messagepad, one of the earliest PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants). Device had different functions, such like notebook and notepad, calculator with currency converter. Newton could be used as a fax and even receive and read messages from a pager. One of the most famous feature was handwriting recognition system, but it didn’t work well. Actually it was so bad, that it was referenced in Simpsons. But handwrite recognition problem wasn't the main reason why Newton Failed. The two main factors were high expectations and high price.

High functionality comes at high price. MessagePad costs 900 dollars without bells and whistles. At current prices it would cost more than 1500$. This is serious money for a device, that was represented as an electronic notebook. Also, many of Newton’s additional options (that costs money), which were supposed to compete with personal computers, had limited functionality and did not work well compare to PCs.

The situation was also complicated by good advertising. In January 1992 CEO John Scully gave a speech at the CES industry show, in which he predicted the appearance of new category of electronics – “personal digital assistants.” Next two years were full of spectacular speculations. By the time Newton came out, market expectations were on the peak, and fat exceeded the actual capabilities of the device, even if they had been implemented perfectly.


3. Google glass

In 2012 Google launched one of their most famous project – Google Glass. First users could buy these smart glasses for $ 1.5 thousand. However, in January 2015, the sale of Google Glass was stopped.

One of the reasons of failure is privacy question. People weren't prepared to walk around every day with a camera attached to their head. Google Glass could be recording or taking a photo at any time, which means that anyone with Google Glass could be taking a photo or video with you. These glasses could cause a lot of problems with places where filming is prohibited

When you announcing new product, companies must clearly convey to the audience what it is good for. It is necessary to state the key advantages, and the main ones should be emphasized again and again. If you don't make any certain statements about the product, then don't be surprised that the product didn't go. The problem with Google Glass was that most of us didn't understand how to use it for ourselves.

As a result, we got an expensive product that looks “special”. Not everyone will be ready to wear it in public. No one knows the target audience, no one knows what is the main use of it and advantages of the product were unclear. It can potentially violate the privacy if something went wrong (For example during private data leak, or if device has been hacked). So there’s no wonder why project did failed.

Sources:

https://www.wareable.com/wearable-tech/gadget-graveyard-wearables-never-made-it-6402

Cicret Bracelet:
•https://www.reddit.com/r/shittykickstarters/comments/heghql/cicret_bracelet_update_20200623_after_over_12_a/

Apple Newton Messagepad:
• https://www.wired.com/2013/08/remembering-the-apple-newtons-prophetic-failure-and-lasting-ideals/

• https://www.fool.com/investing/general/2013/08/02/why-the-first-tablet-failed.aspx

Google Glass:
• https://www.business2community.com/tech-gadgets/5-reasons-google-glass-miserable-failure-01462398

•https://medium.com/nyc-design/the-assumptions-that-led-to-failures-of-google-glass-8b40a07cfa1e#:~:text=Unfortunately%2C%20the%20Glass%20failed%20because,enough%20to%20appeal%20to%20everyone



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