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Friday Poll: Microsoft's biggest product misstep?

The now defunct Kin isn't the first Microsoft product that's made us scratch our heads. Which was the company's biggest mistake?

Matt Hickey
With more than 15 years experience testing hardware (and being obsessed with it), Crave freelance writer Matt Hickey can tell the good gadgets from the great. He also has a keen eye for future technology trends. Matt has blogged for publications including TechCrunch, CrunchGear, and most recently, Gizmodo. Matt is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CBS Interactive. E-mail Matt.
Matt Hickey
Screenshot by Matt Hickey/CNET

This week brought news that Microsoft was pulling the plug on its teen-focused phone, the Kin, less than two months after its launch. Microsoft announced that the phone wouldn't be making its way to Europe after all and that the team that designed it would be moving over to the Windows Phone group for the forthcoming (and long-anticipated) Windows Phone 7.

While we found the Kin to be lacking in certain areas (no calendar? really?) it wasn't a bad product. That said, why Microsoft would have another phone platform to go alongside the Windows Phone 6.5 never made much sense to anybody. But it's not the first time Microsoft has announced a product that made us scratch our heads.

Indeed, Redmond has a long history of devices and products that have made us wonder who's manning the wheelhouse from time to time. Bob, Smart Personal Objects Technology (SPOT), and Windows ME are a few that come to mind, but which do you count as the biggest mistake? I'm leaving Clippy the talking paper clip from Office out, since he's a given. Let's never speak of him again.