Failure is not fatal but a stepping stone. However, sometimes failures are so spectacular that it is difficult for people to think about anything else.
This year, we saw numerous such failures in the tech industry; however, nothing compared to the below-mentioned tech disasters.
Tech Fails of 2019 –
1. Elon Musk Cyber Truck Launch
Nobody will ever forget what happened at Cyber Truck unveiling at the Tesla Design Center in Hawthorne, Calif.
Everything was going as planned. There was lights, hooting, techno vibe, not to mention the craze, as soon as Elon Musk unveiled the futuristic vehicle. But the audience witnessed something even more spectacular before going home.
To demonstrate the power of “Armor Glass” in the Cybertruck, Elon Musk asked Tesla’s lead designer to throw a baseball size metal ball at the window.
And against all expectations, the window cracked from edge to edge. Thinking it to be a fluke, the on-stage team threw the ball again, this time on the rear passenger window and it cracked too.
Obviously, there was a reason behind the shattering of glass; nonetheless, Cybertruck unveiling did became the biggest tech fail of 2019.
2. Apple Drops AirPower
We thought Apple was fooling everyone, given April Fool’s was only a few days away. But as it turns out, the company seriously decided to kill AirPower, citing the inability to meet its high standards for hardware.
The wireless charging mat from Apple was not a theoretical concept; in fact, Apple showed the product alongside iPhone X back in 2017. The tech giant said it would launch in 2018, but it never came.
Meanwhile, what came was rumors that Apple is having production, engineering, and manufacturing difficulties with the product. The entire year went by, and there was no official word on the product. And in late-March the shocking announcement arrived.
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“After much effort, we’ve concluded ‌AirPower‌ will not achieve our high standards, and we have canceled the project,” told Apple. To people who were looking forward to AirPower, the news was indeed shocking.
3. Google kills inbox
Inbox by Gmail was a ray of hope for those who didn’t like Gmail’s unintuitive and mundane user interface.
But, ignoring the high demand, Google killed the experimental email client back in March because “[they] learned a lot about how to make [Gmail] email better.” Besides, who cares about the mice, right?
Mainstreaming services and later killing them out of the blue has been a thing for Google. However, Inbox was nothing like Google’s other pet projects. The email service was liked by many due to its AI-backed features and clutter-free user interface.
Regardless of what the Silicon Valley tech giant had in mind, pulling the plug off Inbox by Gmail was one of the biggest tech disasters of 2019.
3. Google Stadia
The cloud gaming service from Google is the perfect case of why companies shouldn’t overhype products. Since the announcement of Google Stadia, gamers and experts have been skeptical about Google’s unrealistic claims about the cloud gaming service.
As everyone expected, Google Stadia was nothing short of an uncooked service that lacked muscle. From a weak game lineup to not delivering the promised usernames at the time of launch and unrealistic pricing model, Google Stadia has been a mess from the beginning.
Of course, some people love Google Stadia for what it is. However, most would agree that it was a big tech fail from Google. Besides, there is also widespread anxiety that Google could kill the project at any moment.
4. Facebook Libra
Post the biggest data scandal that happened right under the nose of Facebook, no one in the world seems to trust the social media tech giant.
Back in June, Facebook announced its long-rumoured cryptocurrency Libra. The project was met with high criticism from authorities all over the world.
France claimed that Libra would put their country’s sovereignty of governments at risk. Authorities aside, even Facebook’s co-founder said the cryptocurrency would have a “frightening” impact.
The general opinion is that Libra would give Facebook too much power over the market, given its insane reach. Nevertheless, Libra is slated to launch in early 2020. While no one knows the future of Libra, Facebook’s new project certainly failed in 2019.
5. Google Pixel 4 Reception
A pattern has been running for the past few years — It starts with Google Pixel leaking months before the release.
Then, in September, Apple carries out an aesthetic emotionally stimulating iPhone event. A month later, Google runs its worst demo ever, releases the Pixel device with nothing out of the ordinary.
Google Pixel 4 event was no different. Forget Pixel, the orators didn’t seem passionate about presenting any product at all. But the worst came after the event when Google revealed that Pixel 4 wouldn’t be coming to India.
Even if you ignore Google’s disastrous event, Pixel 4 has been able to crack the market despite the new features.
6. Galaxy Fold Screen Removal
YouTubers damaging the $2000 foldable smartphone from Samsung was, undoubtedly, one of the biggest tech nightmares of 2019.
Before the wide release, Samsung decided to send Galaxy Fold devices to a handful of tech reviewers, which turned out company’s best decision and saved it from spending millions of dollars.
Here’s what happened: As soon as techies received the device, right off the bat, everyone tried to remove the protective layer on the Galaxy Fold’s display, only to discover that the film was attached to display. And not long before the device started acting up.
As a result of the Galaxy Fold screen fiasco, Samsung delayed the release till September. Today, the device is selling at the throttle. However, the tech fails still come up whenever we talk of Galaxy Fold.
7. Windows 10 October Update
I bet PC users wouldn’t forget the Windows 10 October Update and the suffering it brought along. Microsoft announced the feature update in October; however, the fault-free version didn’t come along before January.
Starting with sound issues, brightness slider not working to deletion of personal files post the update, the three-month period was a disaster for Windows 10 users. It was then that Microsoft rightly fitted the claim that Windows updates harm a perfectly running PC, rather than fix it.
At present, Microsoft is running the Windows November 2019 update, which, despite the efforts, broke the systems of several users. However, nothing compared to the gigantic issues in the October Update of 2018.
So, these were some of the biggest tech fails of 2019. Did I miss any major tech disaster of this year, let me know in the comments down below.
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