We love tech here in Walyou, but we’re willing to criticize companies when their products fail to live up to expectations.
Final Cut Pro X
Apple’s professional video editing suite has won Academy awards, but when the latest version of its suite was released in June, video editors screamed bloody murder. The interface was radically different, and it couldn’t output to video tape, making it almost impossible to integrate into existing workflows. It achieved the dubious honor of being the first video editing package to be mocked on Conan O’Brien’s show.
Go Daddy Controversies
A couple of incidents in 2011 made the already controversial domain registrar one of the most hated tech companies of 2011. First, CEO Bob Parsons was photographed after shooting an elephant, angering animal rights activists. And later, they came out in support of the controversial SOPA/PIPA legislation that could break the Internet. Go Daddy has officially backtracked on their support the for the laws, but they’re still facing boycotts. Yes, that is an NMA video above.
PSN Hacks
If tech companies should learn anything, it’s not to get an Anonymous’s bad side. Sony learned this one the hard way, after it went after a hardware hacker. Groups like LulzSec retaliated, taking the PlayStation Network went down for a month, thanks to an unpatched version of the Apache Web server.
Netflix
This wasn’t so much anger over a new product as much as it was consumers being upset about the company raising their rates. Netflix decided to charge seperately for renting DVDs by mail and streaming. Once again, they brought the wrath of the Internet down on themselves, losing quite a few subscribers. Even worse, they tried to split off the DVD service, changing it to the ridiculously named Quikster, before backtracking on that idea.
Ubuntu Unity
Earlier this year, we covered the release of Ubuntu’s 11.04, which merged in the Unity interface into the main branch of the Linux distribution that aims to be user-friendly. While interesting, it still wasn’t quite ready for prime time, with the Linux longbeards pounding their keyboards with rage. The second release of the year improved the interface, yet Linux nerds continued to whine. Since Ubuntu comes out in 6-month intervals, perhaps the next release, due out around April, will finally get it right.
Chromebook
Google is awesome. Google Chrome is awesome, and I’m still a diehard Firefox user. The idea of a netbook that just ran Google apps sounds good on paper, but there’s a reason why you should avoid being an early adopter. Some of the essential features like cut and paste weren’t there when Chromebooks launched from several manufacturers. Since the software has a rapid release schedule, there’s more than enough room for improvement. The idea is good, but let’s hope Google gets the execution right in 2012.
HP TouchPad
In the tablet market, there’s the iPad, and there’s pretty much nothing else. HP found this out the hard way with their TouchPad, which failed to make any impact on the market whatsoever. It only sold like hotcakes after it was discontinued and dumped on the market for $99 each.
So what do you think were the biggest tech flops in 2011? Why not leave your thoughts in the comments. Don’t miss our list of the oddest headlines of 2011 and a list of classic toy fails. Here’s to a brighter 2012!
