# The Gadget Graveyard: what were the biggest tech "losers" post-2000? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 20, 2010, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gadget-graveyard-what-were-the-biggest-tech-losers-post-2000/564792 "2010-12-20T03:25:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gadget-graveyard-what-were-the-biggest-tech-losers-post-2000/564792/21 "2010-12-21T04:06:55Z")
> [@asterion](#): > > I don’t know if the EyeToy is a failure either. I wasn’t posting the Eye-Toy as a machine that didn’t work as claimed, but instead as a gadget that didn’t catch on with the public. It was heavily promoted when it was released, and then silence. Isn’t that what the OP is after? ---
**Author:** ![Cubsfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Cubsfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cubsfan)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gadget-graveyard-what-were-the-biggest-tech-losers-post-2000/564792/22 "2010-12-21T04:14:59Z")
> [@Merneith](#): > > I’m going to say: CD writers/writable cds. First, DVD writable disks displaced them with larger file size. But more importantly, USB flash drives are now simpler, cheaper and ubiquitous. These days, you don’t need a cd drive or even a dvd drive in your computer - as long as you have internet and a USB port. :dubious: CD writers have been around since the late 90’s and were certainly a major boon for the home pc industry because people could now copy their friends CDs bit for bit. I worked at Circuit City in the early 00’s and the rise of the Internet coupled with cd burners created insane pc demand for 3 years at least. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gadget-graveyard-what-were-the-biggest-tech-losers-post-2000/564792/23 "2010-12-21T04:15:44Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > I wasn’t posting the Eye-Toy as a machine that didn’t work as claimed, but instead as a gadget that didn’t catch on with the public. It was heavily promoted when it was released, and then silence. Was it heavily promoted? According to [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EyeToy), there’s almost 11 million EyeToys out there and a few dozen games were produced. That’s decently successful for an add-on that never seemed to be much of a big deal to me. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gadget-graveyard-what-were-the-biggest-tech-losers-post-2000/564792/24 "2010-12-21T04:39:38Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > Was it heavily promoted? It was where I was living at the time, which was Sydney in 2003. I saw it on a lot of TV ads and in every computer shop of note. Maybe it was a regional thing. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Presidente](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c2a13f/32.png) [@El\_Presidente](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Presidente)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gadget-graveyard-what-were-the-biggest-tech-losers-post-2000/564792/25 "2010-12-21T06:19:46Z")
DVD recorders. Replaced by Youtube. Has Slingbox really been a major hit? TiVO- replaced by ability to record TV shows on digital cable “Watcher” series as always advertised on Coast to Coast AM by CRC?Radio? Hasn’t Sirius and iCasts made recording over the air radio broadcasts obsolete ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gadget-graveyard-what-were-the-biggest-tech-losers-post-2000/564792/26 "2010-12-21T06:25:46Z")
How were DVD recorders replaced by Youtube? ---
**Author:** ![ecseas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ecseas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ecseas)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gadget-graveyard-what-were-the-biggest-tech-losers-post-2000/564792/27 "2010-12-21T06:28:40Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > [Not that distant](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_game_consoles#cite_note-PS3-8). As of October, it was XBox 360: 44.6 million; PS3: 41.6 million. They’re both way behind the Wii, though (76 million). > > ETA: Beaten to punch. The market for the ps3 was smaller, as it was higher priced. Most people I know would have a ps3, if they could afford it. I have one, but only because our internet provider gave them away free. Wii isn’t on par with either the xbox or the ps3, it’s pretty shitty, tbh, but it’s cheaper. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gadget-graveyard-what-were-the-biggest-tech-losers-post-2000/564792/28 "2010-12-21T06:40:38Z")
Wii appeals to a different group of people than other game systems. I initially thought it would be a bomb when it first came out, but it definitely took off. Of course now there’s a lot of talk about how the Wii “revolutionized” video games or whatever, and I guess in a way it has, if by revolutionize you mean leading to soccer moms, teenage girls and little kids playing video games who never would have played them before, and utilizing different kind of motions than just manipulating buttons and joysticks with your thumbs. The lower price also helps, of course. People who are into gaming as a cerebral experience, whether it’s people into realistic simulations or people into games as a form of art like photography or cinema, will play other systems. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gadget-graveyard-what-were-the-biggest-tech-losers-post-2000/564792/29 "2010-12-21T06:52:23Z")
> [@El\_Presidente](#): > > DVD recorders. Replaced by Youtube. I am not seeing the connection between these two. With one you can record shows on TV to watch later or to save, and with Youtube you can watch pieces of shows, if maybe they are even allowed to be shown, in fuzzy crappy quality. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gadget-graveyard-what-were-the-biggest-tech-losers-post-2000/564792/30 "2010-12-21T09:00:40Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > Wii appeals to a different group of people than other game systems. I initially thought it would be a bomb when it first came out, but it definitely took off. Of course now there’s a lot of talk about how the Wii “revolutionized” video games or whatever, and I guess in a way it has, if by revolutionize you mean leading to soccer moms, teenage girls and little kids playing video games who never would have played them before, and utilizing different kind of motions than just manipulating buttons and joysticks with your thumbs. The lower price also helps, of course. :rolleyes: Yes, because before the Wii _little kids_ never played video games. Come on. And if you can’t see how the Wii has revolutionized games in the last four years, then you haven’t been paying attention. Sony’s Move is an exacy copy of the Wii and the 360’s Avatars and Kinect are direct responses to Wii dominance. Microsoft has even admitted as much. > [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > People who are into gaming as a cerebral experience, whether it’s people into realistic simulations or people into games as a form of art like photography or cinema, will play other systems. :rolleyes: New Super Mario Bros. Wii is as much art (and I’d say more so) than anything I’ve seen on the PS3 or 360. ---
**Author:** ![Merneith](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/57b2e6/32.png) [@Merneith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merneith)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gadget-graveyard-what-were-the-biggest-tech-losers-post-2000/564792/31 "2010-12-21T11:13:12Z")
> [@Cubsfan](#): > > CD writers have been around since the late 90’s and were certainly a major boon for the home pc industry because people could now copy their friends CDs bit for bit. I worked at Circuit City in the early 00’s and the rise of the Internet coupled with cd burners created insane pc demand for 3 years at least. Right. But I thought the point of this thread was ‘technology that was important but has since faded in importance over the last decade.’ Turns out I was misread the OP. Sorry. > [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > People who are into gaming as a cerebral experience, whether it’s people into realistic simulations or people into games as a form of art like photography or cinema, will play other systems. People who are into gaming as a cerebral experience or art form don’t have adolescent hangups about playing the ‘kiddie’ system. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gadget-graveyard-what-were-the-biggest-tech-losers-post-2000/564792/32 "2010-12-21T22:05:13Z")
How on earth do you know this? Are you acquainted with _every_ individual who plays games for a cerebral experience? Unless you are, and have interviewed each and every one of them about whether or not they have “adolescent hangups” about playing the “kiddie system”, there’s no way on you can make that statement. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gadget-graveyard-what-were-the-biggest-tech-losers-post-2000/564792/33 "2010-12-21T22:07:39Z")
[Mod Note]Take this video game hijack elsewhere. Thank you.[/Mod Note] ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 21, 2010, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gadget-graveyard-what-were-the-biggest-tech-losers-post-2000/564792/34 "2010-12-21T22:27:46Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > How were DVD recorders replaced by Youtube? Mmm. DVD recorders were replaced by hard drive recorders, I think (and actually don’t a lot of those still have capability to archive, or record direct to DVD) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-gadget-graveyard-what-were-the-biggest-tech-losers-post-2000/564792.md?page=1)