- 2 years ago
These Microsoft products failed to launch. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for products from Microsoft that were just plain awful and probably should have been left on the drawing board.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00 Captain, now just show me how to work this thing.
00:05 Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for products from Microsoft
00:10 that were just plain awful and probably should have been left on the drawing board.
00:13 Plus Rover is always around to help when you need it.
00:18 Number 10, Clippy.
00:20 Officially known as the Office Assistant, Clippy was an early attempt by Microsoft to
00:24 introduce primitive AI suggestive technology into its office applications.
00:28 Would you like some help?
00:29 I used to help people all day long.
00:32 Remember how helpful I was?
00:35 Shown on screen as an animated paperclip, this assistant would provide suggestions or
00:39 attempt to help you while you worked in Microsoft Office.
00:42 Although the intent was admirable, Clippy quickly became far more annoying than helpful.
00:46 Is there any way to turn that moronic paperclip off?
00:51 Memo to Bill Gates, if that paperclip pops up one more time, I can't take that thing
00:57 anymore.
00:58 I quit.
00:59 Knowledgeable users would often be interrupted in the middle of their work to be asked if
01:03 they needed help, when they clearly were fine on their own.
01:05 Go away, you paperclip!
01:07 No one likes you!
01:08 With the release of Office 2007, Microsoft finally put Clippy back in a desk drawer,
01:12 never to be seen again.
01:14 Number 9, Windows Genuine Advantage.
01:16 Thanks to the miracle of the internet, the ability to download pirated software has never
01:20 been easier.
01:21 As a result, companies like Microsoft have tried putting safeties in place to prevent
01:25 such theft.
01:26 Windows Genuine Advantage was a means of detecting illegal copies of Microsoft Windows running
01:30 on a PC.
01:31 Spun to customers as a way to ensure their PCs were fully licensed, the program backfired
01:35 in a spectacular fashion.
01:37 Anything from firewall software to a simple Windows update could trigger a false positive,
01:42 rendering the PC barely usable by most.
01:44 Microsoft moved on from the original iteration of this tool after Windows 7.
01:48 Number 8, MSN TV.
01:51 Back in the 1990s, the internet was still relatively new to consumers.
01:55 It's easy to set up, easy to use.
01:58 This is simple.
01:59 Given that most people's center of entertainment was in front of a television, many thought
02:02 that's where the internet should belong as well.
02:04 Web TV networks created Web TV, which allowed people to use the internet on their television.
02:09 Microsoft bought the service and in 2001, rebranded it as MSN TV.
02:14 Send email on your TV, view photos and slideshows with friends and family, explore new hobbies,
02:19 and see it all big on your TV.
02:21 As history has now shown us, the future of internet use was never going to be in front
02:25 of a TV set.
02:26 Despite the low price point, mass adoption was never achieved and Microsoft finally shut
02:30 down the service in 2013.
02:32 All within your comfort zone.
02:34 Number 7, Microsoft Band.
02:36 The success of fitness devices like the Fitbit inspired many companies to follow suit with
02:40 similar options.
02:41 The Microsoft Band was a short-lived attempt at an advanced fitness device that was worn
02:45 on your wrist.
02:46 Now for fitness, you can go running with this, you can go walking, you can go to the gym.
02:50 There are workouts that you can download onto this.
02:53 Compatible with iOS, Android, and Windows Phone OSIS, it seemed like a natural extension
02:58 of Microsoft technology.
02:59 The first iteration sold out very quickly, giving Microsoft hope that the product had
03:03 a future.
03:04 Introducing the Smart Band for Microsoft.
03:07 For people who want to live healthier, be more productive, and stay connected with the
03:14 people and moments that matter most.
03:18 With the release of Band 2, things slowly went off a cliff.
03:21 Between the high price point, lack of features, and a plethora of well-positioned competitors,
03:25 the software company gave up on the product only two years after its initial release.
03:30 With Microsoft Band, there are no limits to what you can do.
03:34 So do great things.
03:37 Number 6, Windows Phone.
03:39 It's time for a phone.
03:40 Really?
03:41 Really?
03:42 To save us from our phones.
03:44 PC or Mac, Apple or Android, Coke or Pepsi.
03:48 It seems the market will often steer towards two major brands which consumers then choose
03:52 between.
03:53 I think we clearly have a lot more variety than Apple has.
03:57 There's really one choice in the Apple world.
04:00 Big screen, little screen, we've got a lot of choices.
04:03 Windows Phone was an attempt by Microsoft to try and surpass their two biggest competitors.
04:07 A new experience that keeps your life in motion and lets you flow seamlessly through integrated
04:12 hubs.
04:13 Hubs that pull the stuff you want and bring it all to one place.
04:18 Through several iterations of the Windows Phone platform, Microsoft proved they couldn't
04:21 take a desktop OS and put it on a smartphone.
04:24 With Windows 8 having been a colossal failure, copying that interface to their mobile platform
04:28 didn't help increase their adoption rates.
04:30 Combine that with the sheer base of users Google had, even the acquisition of Nokia
04:34 and the release of the Lumia line couldn't help them reach the top of the market.
04:38 Number 5, Microsoft Bob.
04:41 Long before the days of Microsoft Windows having a start menu, users really just saw
04:45 a collection of icons and folders on the screen.
04:48 Microsoft Bob was an early attempt to change that.
04:50 Instead of icons, Bob presented an interactive living room of sorts.
04:54 Scattered around the room were things like a Rolodex, a clock, pen and paper, and even
04:58 a calendar.
04:59 Clicking on the various items would then launch a corresponding application.
05:02 It also featured animated cartoon characters to help you, which eventually did inspire
05:06 the aforementioned Clippy.
05:08 No matter what you need to do, Bob makes computing easier and more enjoyable than ever before.
05:14 As creative as it was, Bob's hardware requirements and goofy interface doomed the product.
05:18 The lights on Bob's room interface went dark less than a year after release.
05:22 Number 4, Internet Explorer 6.
05:25 It may have been the most popular browser at the time of its release, but that doesn't
05:28 necessarily mean it was a success.
05:30 Released in 2001, Internet Explorer 6 at its peak had about 90% of the market share for
05:35 web browsers, mainly due to being included with every version of Windows.
05:39 That amount of users helped illuminate countless security flaws and inconsistent behavior that
05:43 plagued the software.
05:44 Repeatedly slammed by developers, IE6 was notorious for its incompatibilities with industry
05:49 standards that more advanced browsers were already supporting.
05:52 Numerous dangerous vulnerabilities in IE6's security would sometimes take months to fix,
05:57 leaving users exposed to would-be hackers.
05:59 By 2008, support for IE6 across the web began to drop, signaling the end of an era.
06:05 Number 3, Windows Vista.
06:07 What is the most infamous failed Microsoft operating system?
06:10 Windows 8?
06:11 Windows ME?
06:12 Not quite.
06:13 Of all the operating systems the company has released, Windows Vista would have to be considered
06:17 the biggest failure on the OS side.
06:19 Intended to be the well-anticipated follow-up to the highly successful Windows XP, Vista
06:23 never stood a chance in comparison to its elders.
06:26 Played by a long and difficult development cycle, Vista received mixed at best reviews
06:30 upon release.
06:31 Some of the biggest criticisms lay around hardware requirements.
06:34 The new UAC system, and countless other new features.
06:37 Everyone was happier when Windows 7 finally replaced it in 2009.
06:50 Number 2, Zune.
06:52 Unless you've seen one on the Guardians of the Galaxy movies, it's very likely you've
06:56 never heard of the Microsoft Zune.
07:05 Introduced in 2006, the Zune was meant to be a direct competitor with Apple's iPod.
07:17 Unfortunately, Apple's stronghold on the portable music market pretty much doomed this
07:23 from the beginning.
07:24 It was a case of Microsoft trying to play catch-up with a device that users didn't
07:27 want and an interface that they weren't interested in.
07:29 Microsoft tried their hand again in the music space with Groove Music, but that came and
07:33 went even quicker than the Zune did.
07:40 Before we continue, be sure to subscribe to our channel and ring the bell to get notified
07:44 about our latest videos.
07:46 You have the option to be notified for occasional videos or all of them.
07:49 If you're on your phone, make sure you go into your settings and switch on notifications.
07:55 Number 1, Microsoft Kin.
07:58 Never heard of the Microsoft Kin?
07:59 Don't feel bad, nobody else has either.
08:02 Released in the summer of 2010, this attempt at a social networking device originally lasted
08:06 for 48 days.
08:07 Portrayed as a messaging and social device, its integration with social networks was feature-deprived
08:12 and didn't come with any native instant messaging software.
08:15 Adding insult to injury, there was no calendar to manage your social life or contact list
08:19 app to store your friends' details.
08:21 They revamped and relaunched it again in December of 2010, but even their new N line of Kin
08:25 devices couldn't make it through another year.
08:28 Have you ever used any of these Microsoft products?
08:30 Give us the lowdown in the comments below.
08:44 [music]
08:50 [music]
08:51 [music]
08:51 (music fades)
08:54 [BLANK_AUDIO]
Comments