# Failed inventions of the 20th century **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 1, 1999, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/failed-inventions-of-the-20th-century/6297 "1999-12-01T23:46:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 1999, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/failed-inventions-of-the-20th-century/6297/1 "1999-12-01T23:46:00Z")
Ok, we’ve had the Best and the Worst. How about a tribute to those concepts that sounded good but somehow just didn’t work out? (Note: don’t include things like 8-track tape, that really were good but later became obsolescent). Commercial nuclear power. The Mazda rotary engine. The Hovercraft (ok, a _limited_ success in specialized niches.) Eugenics Lobotomy ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 1999, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/failed-inventions-of-the-20th-century/6297/2 "1999-12-02T00:03:00Z")
DDT The developers of it got a Nobel Prize. Now it’s considered one of the most vile substances on earth. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 1999, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/failed-inventions-of-the-20th-century/6297/3 "1999-12-02T00:12:00Z")
The electric car. What I mean by “failed invention” is that it never really achieved popularity. But maybe it will become a big hit in the 21st century? * * * La franchise ne consiste pas à dire tout ce que l’on pense, mais à penser tout ce que l’on dit. H. de Livry ---
**Author:** ![Llardball](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f6c823/32.png) [@Llardball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Llardball)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 1999, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/failed-inventions-of-the-20th-century/6297/4 "1999-12-02T00:16:00Z")
What is DDT, Bob T? ---
**Author:** ![Yarster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/7c8e57/32.png) [@Yarster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yarster)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 1999, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/failed-inventions-of-the-20th-century/6297/5 "1999-12-02T00:30:00Z")
DDT is a diphenyl aliphatic discovered in 1939. The Nobel Prize in question was awarded in 1948 to Dr. Paul Miller of the Geigy Company (now Novartis) because it was hailed as a great insecticide that stopped the spread of malaria and other horendous bug-borne disease. Check out the history of insecticides on [About.com](http://About.com) for more info. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 1999, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/failed-inventions-of-the-20th-century/6297/6 "1999-12-02T00:32:00Z")
When I was vacationing, I bought a special replica copy of Time magazine that came out during the Invasion of Normandy. It contained a glowing article about DDT and how it was going to end disease. Then Rachel Carson came around. ---
**Author:** ![Oblio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/c4cdca/32.png) [@Oblio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oblio)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 1999, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/failed-inventions-of-the-20th-century/6297/7 "1999-12-02T00:39:00Z")
Elcassette Quadrophonic ‘stereo’ * * * A point in every direction is like no point at all ---
**Author:** ![Oblio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/c4cdca/32.png) [@Oblio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oblio)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 1999, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/failed-inventions-of-the-20th-century/6297/8 "1999-12-02T00:41:00Z")
Quadr **a** phonic ---
**Author:** ![putrid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e5b9ba/32.png) [@putrid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/putrid)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 1999, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/failed-inventions-of-the-20th-century/6297/9 "1999-12-02T00:54:00Z")
cable tv (It certainly hasn’t lived up to the claims made for it.) nuclear power (For whatever reasons, it certainly has not _worked out_.) ---
**Author:** ![Gilligan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Gilligan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gilligan)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 1999, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/failed-inventions-of-the-20th-century/6297/10 "1999-12-02T00:56:00Z")
Some minor ones: Disc camera. Moped. Shoe store fluoroscopes. (Thanks, Cecil) ---
**Author:** ![Aibohphobia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e99b99/32.png) [@Aibohphobia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aibohphobia)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 1999, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/failed-inventions-of-the-20th-century/6297/11 "1999-12-02T02:12:00Z")
Celery-flavored Jello. Really. I’m not kidding. ---
**Author:** ![Gilligan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Gilligan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gilligan)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 1999, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/failed-inventions-of-the-20th-century/6297/12 "1999-12-02T02:27:00Z")
Then I guess you wouldn’t like Dr. Brown’s Cel-Ray soda. Celery soda. ---
**Author:** ![Alphagene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Alphagene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alphagene)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 1999, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/failed-inventions-of-the-20th-century/6297/13 "1999-12-02T02:29:00Z")
> [@](#): > > It contained a glowing article about DDT and how it was going to end disease. IIRC, DDT is making a “comeback”, as malaria deaths are increasing drastically worldwide. And some feel that its effect on other fauna are not as devastating as once thought. Don’t count it out yet. * * * Back off, man. I’m a scientist. ---
**Author:** ![Mazey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@Mazey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mazey)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 1999, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/failed-inventions-of-the-20th-century/6297/14 "1999-12-02T02:31:00Z")
Beta-formatted video recorders (I mean the SONY ones) ---
**Author:** ![Homer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/df788c/32.png) [@Homer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Homer)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 1999, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/failed-inventions-of-the-20th-century/6297/15 "1999-12-02T02:34:00Z")
The Mazda Rotary engine is showing it’s face in Mazda’s newest sports entry… I forget it’s name. –Tim * * * We are the children of the Eighties. We are not the first “lost generation” nor today’s lost generation; in fact, we think we know just where we stand - or are discovering it as we speak. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 1999, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/failed-inventions-of-the-20th-century/6297/16 "1999-12-02T04:09:00Z")
Large scale passenger dirigibles, especially those filled with hydrogen (over Lakehurst, New Jersey). * * * TT “Believe those who seek the truth. Doubt those who find it.” --Andre Gide ---
**Author:** ![putrid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e5b9ba/32.png) [@putrid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/putrid)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 1999, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/failed-inventions-of-the-20th-century/6297/17 "1999-12-02T04:31:00Z")
I don’t think you’re meant to make celery jello alone. I think it’s intended to be used as a _base_ for a more involved dish. (I explained that badly. I’m no cook.) It’s for vegetable or meat dishes, where a fruit flavored gelatin would be out of place, no? ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 1999, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/failed-inventions-of-the-20th-century/6297/18 "1999-12-02T10:42:00Z")
I’ve often heard of nuclear fusion as “the technology of the future - and it always will be.” Maglev trains is anoter good example. Still very hard to justify, considering conventional trains can go around 300 km/h now. Passenger airships are debatable - it was practical for a short while. Hindenburg did make many (tens? hundreds?) of trans-atlantic flights. But I agree that it has been listed as one of the “will become popular again any time now” technologies for the past few decades. I think Cecil mentioned underwater farms and habitats as one of the predictions that never came to be. Space colonization and artificial intelligence are also very far behind from the '60s predictions. I’m not so sure about listing nuclear (fission) power though. Some countries like France and Japan seem to consider it to be worth the trouble. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 1999, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/failed-inventions-of-the-20th-century/6297/19 "1999-12-02T10:46:00Z")
Commercial nuclear power was not a failed invention - it works as advertised. And in many countries it provides the bulk of the power. But the U.S. has regulated the industry out of existance, because of the scare tactics of a small, vocal minority. As for DDT, the Nobel was well deserved. Widespread use of DDT saved millions of lives. The main reason it’s not in use any more because the Western Green movement has a formula that says “Environment \> poor brown people.” ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 1999, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/failed-inventions-of-the-20th-century/6297/20 "1999-12-02T12:39:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Space colonization and artificial intelligence are also very far behind from the '60s predictions. I remember in the mid 80s seeing an old Life magazine from the 40s that was all about the future. Naturally, there were all kind of predictions about air cars, Martian colonies, and the like. But the one that really stuck with me was a caption that appeared under an artist’s conception of future fashion. “Women of the 1960s,” it said, “will wear helmet shaped hats made of celluloid.” LOL! * * * “It is lucky for rulers that men do not think.” — Adolf Hitler [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/failed-inventions-of-the-20th-century/6297.md?page=2)