Top 5 favorite Microsoft duds
These are my top five favorite Microsoft flops this isn't what you're thinking I actually delight these ventures but I was in the minority well that's not the first time i've been in one of those anyway let's get to it at number five is the Zune was the Zune really a flop Probably.
Microsoft tried really really hard to create its own iPod competitor.
Microsoft went with an OLED screen for the Zune HD.
Apple didn't go OLED until the iPhone 10.
You can get a Zune pass to stream and download all kinds of music on Microsoft's player.
The Zune had wireless sync, well before Apple products did.
The Zune's features were actually pretty great.
But then, phone's eight music players.
Who knows?
Maybe because of the Zune's mentioning Guardians of the Galaxy, the Zune will return.
[MUSIC]
Coming in at number four is the SPOT watch.
SPOT stood for Smart Personal Object Technology.
You get info about your Outlook calendar Stocks, sports info, horoscopes, and even instant messages from MSN messenger on Spot Watches.
You'd have to shell out for a data connection by MSN Direct.
Which costs now ten bucks per month or around $60 per year if you got billed annually.
This was back in 2004.
Arguably smart watches made more sent back then, since using a mortar raise to get back that kind of info might not be as simple.
By the way, sport was not limited to watches.
You could get a connected coffee maker so you could get weather info on your coffee maker for some reason.
Number three is the XBox connect.
The idea was that you were the controller and a way to appeal to casual gamers.
Gamers.
Microsoft had the bold idea of bundling the Kinect with every Xbox One.
The connect would be listening to you so you could command it at will.
You could swipe in the air to move through menus.
There would even be Skype integration.
Okay.
Okay, so now the down sides.
The addition of the Kinect brought the Xbox once price to $500 about 100 bucks more than a Playstation 4. The original plan required the Kinect to be plugged in for the Xbox One to even work.
There were also privacy concerns with a camera staring at you doing yoga things.
And probably other things.
Well, now the Kinect is dead.
[MUSIC]
Number two has to be the ultra mobile PC.
Microsoft has tried and tried to get a PC in your pocket.
For such a long time.
What was an ultra-mobile PC?
I'll let Dan explain this one for me, using a Sony model.
I'm Dan Ackerman, Senior editor at CNET.com, and this is the Sony VAIO UX390.
Now it may look like an over-sized, T-Mobile sidekick, but its actually a UMPC, and that stands for ultra-mobile PC.
Now what's that?
That is a handheld computer It has pretty much all the components and features that you'd find on a full size desktop or laptop.
Case in point this guy has a full install of Windows Vista Business as opposed to the Windows Mobile or Apollo OS that you might find on your [UNKNOWN].
Battery life was kind of a joke, pricing was way too high, and the operating system Didn't make a lot of sense on such a small display.
May be the Microsoft Surface Go is the spiritual successor of the UMPC.
And the best Microsoft flop was Windows phone.
It was a really interesting idea, Microsoft interface between Windows 8 and its mobile platform were pretty much the same.
Tiles everywhere, it was a bold way to take on either.
For the phone you had big targets with data at a glance.
One of the bigger problems for Windows Phone was the lack of [SOUND] something.
Steve, what was that?
Developers, developers, developers, developers, developers, developers.
Next, those developers weren't making apps for Windows Phone.
Microsoft tried to combat that by tying all kinds of social networks into it's hubs, so you wouldn't need those apps.
Maybe Microsoft had a plan to have it's vast library of Windows apps on phones with RT and Windows running on RM chips, but that didn't really work out, did it?
Microsoft, those were some great ideas, But timing is everything.
Let me know what your favourite extinct tech, I'm curious.
I'm also Iyaz Akhtar ideas, see you online.
[MUSIC]
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