Internal Microsoft video shows testers trashing the Kin
Video shows beta testers complaining of the Kin's poor performance prior to the smartphone's release.
Wired got ahold of three frank videos from 2009 in which several people testing pre-release versions of the Microsoft Kin smartphone savaged its performance. In the annals of tech flops, the Kin occupies special mention as Microsoft killed the product line a couple of months following its debut.
Discussing the scrolling performance of the handset, for example, one tester complained of the unit's slow speed. "You just sit there and wait for the camera, phone -- whatever the hell this thing is...It is a little annoying." Another adds that "it's frustrating. I can imagine my daughter would give this back very quickly." And yet a third tester chimes in that "the phone seems to be really slow in responding and that makes it confused as to what it's doing...This phone would have gone back had I paid for it."
Wired reported that the videos were provided by someone who worked on the project, noting that the source said these were pre-production models which changed very little from the shipping product, although "performance improved some prior to shipping."