Well, the model name obviously alluded to that…feature. I don’t know what the consumers were griping about. 
DIVX was the second-dumbest idea I saw in the 1990s.
The worst was somebodies (Kodak’s?) VCR-sized photo-CD viewer that would allow you to view your family’s digital vacation snapshots on your 19-inch TV! IIRC, you had to take your film into (since we’re assuming Kodak did this) your local Kodak guy, he would digitize your pictures, and give you a CD that you would then pop into your machine and view with the crystal clear resolution that only pixellated TV can offer.
I can’t believe anybody would purchase this… not the digital photogs, but the machine to display them on your TV set.
I agree that this contributed, but it wasn’t the only factor, as you imply. If Sony had offered improved features before or shortly after VHS introduced them, it might very well have won.
As others have said up-thread, although it never took off as a consumer product, it is still widely used by radio professionals, amateur recording buffs, and journalists like myself. Certain aspects (DRM!) are annoyingly proprietary, and Sony’s (required) software is rather buggy, but basically the system works very well.
Huh? The demand isn’t there yet, but one of them will become dominant in the next year or two as more and more HD content is available, and when all US broadcasting switches to digital. Unless someone comes out with a combo unit that plays both. But since Sony is behind Blu-Ray, that probably won’t happen. Hence the VCR-like battle that I expect to play out over the next few years. Once again, Sony seems to have the technically superior, but more expensive, system. However, this time it does have a very impressive array of studios on its side.
I just bought a new multi-format DVD recorder for $170. I’m not going to buy an HD player until the prices are around $200, or until I can get an HD recorder for about $400. And it will have to be clear at that time that one format is the winner, or that multi-format machines are available. I won’t be stuck with the next Betamax.
I’d also like to add that I was an OS/2 user for many years, at home and at work, and there was nothing wrong with it as an operating system. It was a stable, true multi-tasking, multi-threaded OS when Windows was still an unstable DOS-based kludge and NT was an overpriced resource hog with no driver support. It wasn’t until Windows 2000 that Microsoft had an OS as good as OS/2 had been almost ten years earlier.
The main problem with OS/2 is that after a few clever early ads (remember the one with the nuns?) IBM gave up on trying to market to home users. It was a shame, because they had the resources to beat Microsoft with a superior product, but decided to focus on B2B instead, leaving all of us OS/2 fans out in the cold.
I don’t speak Italian, but Pontiac claimed that “Fiero” is Italian for “pride.”
If you’re interested about one in process, I might look through some Chicago Tribune archives for the latest on the Marshall Field’s rebranding as Macy’s in the Chicago area.
No cite, but I remember reading about an 11% drop in spending over last year’s time periods (September-X-mas?). The Midwest president got fired, and everyone with an old Marshall Field’s charge card got lots of coupons before X-mas as a lure to return.
So now there’s a new local President, and she’s being pressured to improve performance.
Igive"Macy’s Chicago" one more year before it gets re-re-branded.
-Cem
Ha! They could churn out 5400 that way—4000 if they work weekends (but if they asked for weekend work, there might be a fight…)
The nintendo R.O.B. Worst. Christmas. Ever.
Pioneer, Samsung and LG have said they are going to produce drives that work with both Blu-Ray and HD.
Olestra (the 0 calorie fat substitute) was supposed to turn the chip industry on its head. It flopped.
…which leads me to a little drug called “Vioxx.”
<evil grin> I have a first generation minidisc - metal case, solid as a rock and it records=) Thing of beauty. The later ones just feel so light and cheesy …
oy. :o my first time, too.
my excuse is that 98& of these things flopped before I was born or before I was old enough to remember… and I still don’t know what parachute pants or hammer pants are (but now I have to go look them up…) … and wasn’t there some fashion thing where people wore stuff backwards and wore underwear over their clothes? So three-legged jeans aren’t THAT far-fetched
or I’m stupid. Either one works.
Plopped, actually. Frapped, in some cases. :eek:
I disagree. If Apple hadn’t come out with the IPod, they’d be in Chptr 11 by now. The iPod saved Job’s ass.
I’ll toss in an early vote for the PlayStation 3. Going from must-buy limited-distribution item to overpriced overstocked dust-collector in less than two months has gotta be a record.
You heard about Warren Ellis’ New Universal?
Sorry, but nope. Not only was Apple never in that much trouble to begin with, but it was the original gumdrop-shaped iMac that spurred the Apple renaissance. The iPod merely jumpstarted Apple’s entry into non-computer consumer electronics.
And given that Apple just dropped “Computers” from their name – they’re just Apple now – I wonder if they’re basically going to be The iPod Corporation from now on.
Is Crystal Pepsi really a failure? It was popular enough for a brief time, and it’s not like they got rid of original Pepsi. Heck, its lifespan was greater than 90% of soft drinks in Japan. Pepsi jumped on a trend, rode it for a while, then got off.
Future brand failure: The hydrogen car.
I have a question about these product flops-corporations today spend billions on test marketing, consumer surveys, etc.-so why does Detroit seem to ignore its own marketing? It seems to me that what most consumers want in a car is:
-utilitarian styling (think TOYOTA Camry)
-trouble-free operation for 100,000 miles (Toyota again)
-free of rattles and squeeks (Toyota, possibly VW)
-good resale value (Toyota, Honda-NOT VW!)
-good gas mileage (all japanese, VW, BMW)
Given all of this, why does Detroit TRY to ram its mistakes down our throats? I find Toyotas to be incredibly BORING cars-but the fact remains, American consumers LIKE them-so why don’t they just copy the japanese designs? It doesn’t take a marketing genius to do this. take Toyota engines-they make very smooth, quuiet 4-cylinder engines-but detroit seems to think we want slow revving, sawed -off V-8s??
i just don’t get it!!
That wasn’t a product failure – that was a conspiracy by Big Auto Makers. I know this because I saw the movie! (And I know Oswald was a patsy because I’ve seen all of those movies, too!)
And yet Adidas perfume continues? I take their word for it that it doesn’t smell like a sweaty gym shoe.
Hey, me too (IBM Kingston NY) IBM pretty much supported the vast majority of the residents.