Except for the stuff that sucked. I am Brian Cooley, with the Top 5
disappointing technologies of 2011. Tech that only a fanboy could love.
Let�s get started.
Alright it�s 2011, what a great year for tech,
#5 Electric Cars. From the Volt�s missed sales targets and some shrill
safety headlines � to the Leaf�s slowing sales � to Morgan Stanley�s
halving of its projections for all EV sales out to 2025, this was the year that
EV�s hit ...and bounced off. Much of the blames belongs to a flood of
cheap, fuel efficient 4 cylinder gas and diesel cars that people actually
understand. EV�s may still have their day in the sun, but it won�t be on a
calendar that has �2011� written on it. (
#4 is iCloud: Give Apple credit for moving the concept of cloud to the
mainstream, but iCloud is an odd bird in the cloud, almost a cynically
tweaked to sell devices. And too often I hear the same two comments from
iOS5 users: Either a disinterested �I haven�t set it up� � or mystified �I
don�t get it�. I suspect it will be a slow burn like iTunes first was, but for
2011 it goes on this list.
#3 Chromebooks: This idea looked so visionary when it came out: A
radical refresh of the portable computer that relied on a browser running
over Linux, with the web and apps replacing stale, bloaty software and
always full hard drives. But so far the early models do too little too poorly
and in the process make a tacit argument for a new device in between our
tablets and notebooks. That�s subdivision of tech none of us were looking
to move into. Back to the drawing board.
#2 3D TV: OK, haven�t we given 3D long enough? The glasses. The
proprietary. The not much to watch. The who cares. Sure, 3D TV sales
grew a lot in 2011 but that�s because more TV�s came with it built in,
whether you want it or not. At the very least, the 3D TV biz has to move to
cheap, passive, universal glasses in 2012. In the meantime you can worry
less about this tech in 2012 -- as I suspect a lot of TV makers will do.
The #1 tech dud of 2011 was the Xoom .. and the Touchpad � and the
Playbook -- basically all the big non-iPad tablets that combined will be
lucky to match a 10th of iPad sales. Motorola�s Xoom launched at an
insulting $899 -- $70 above the top iPad! The Playbook was the first tablet
without integrated email -- that�s clever. And HP�s TouchPad fiasco was
enough to help derail the entire company. As we wrap 2011, the
conventional wisdom in that the high end of the tablet market is Apple�s to
lose and Android has to be happy with small, cheap end of the market.
Considering those big iPad killers were 2011�s #1 most watched new tech,
there�s enough crow for leftovers all week.
For more Top 5�s like this, head on over to top5.cnet.com
