Top 10 List | Top Ten Lists

Technology should move us forward.  Every once in a while, the wheels of progress get stuck in the ditch of “terrible ideas”. The following top 10 gadgets are an embarrassment and should not be used.

1. Blackberry

BlackBerry is one of the most under-featured and under-powered gadgets, especially when you compare it to other top-tier smartphones out there. It is also about to go completely irrelevant once RIM unveils its new mobile operating system, BlackBerry 10.

BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (RIM)  has had some rough years, prompting experts to speculate whether the Canadian telecommunications equipment company is inching closer to its demise. It’s quite the change from just five years ago when RIM was leading the smart phone sales game with its seemingly ubiquitous BlackBerry line of handheld devices.

But with competitors such as Apple’s iPhone and the Android-based devices rapidly gaining ground and winning over smartphone customers, RIM and Blackberry has really lost its niche on the global markets. Its stocks have fallen to unprecedented low levels, and has in the past year lost 77 percent of its value.

Adding to RIM’s hardship is the laundry list of misfortunes, including a multiple-day global service outage in October 2011, which prompted infuriated users to take to Twitter to vent their frustrations. Another service disruption occurred in March 2012, affecting users in the Asia Pacific region. The problem was solved within hours but it nonetheless the nightmare still had its effect on the brand.

2. Toshiba Excite 13

Smartphones and waistlines are expanding to include tablets on the market. It seemed that this was what Toshiba was think when it  introduced the Excite 13, a “family friendly” 13-inch Android tablet that is being sold for just over $600. Unfortunately, the 1600 x 900-pixel display had a lower resolution and brightness than the iPad and the Android Tablet. And, you think stretched-out Android phone apps look bad on a 10-inch screen? They looked even worse on this gadget. They need to do better, if they want to compete with ASUS, Samsung and Apple.

3. Google Nexus Q

A failed Apple TV mimic – indeed!

Nexus Q is similar to the modern Apple TV and Roku. It is basically a streaming device. Unlike the Apple TV, you can’t use it to stream video from an attached drive or from  a server.

Instead, all you can play on it are videos and music from Google’s Play Music, Play Movies and TV, and, YouTube. Netflix? Sports? Not present. All your content must be kept in Google’s cloud services.

To play these, the Nexus Q supports 10/100GB Ethernet. It does  not support the new Gigabit Ethernet. You can also use 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, but do not count on it to support the newest popular wireless standard: 802.11ac.

To manage your content you must utilize an application on your Android smartphone or tablet. Google also sees a big selling point as that your friends can also access and control your Nexus Q Google entertainment library from their phones or tablets.

You can do without it.

4. Sony VAIO Duo 11

Sony’s Vaio Duo 11 is a convertible Windows 8 tablet/laptop. I heard about it on the radio, while driving to work.

The 11.6-inch screen is situated on the face of the 18mm, 1.3kg device. Slide the screen backward and up, and you have a laptop with an 11 cm deep keyboard and a fixed 45-degree screen incline.

It’s completely non-adjustable, meaning that the only way to change your viewing angle is to change the height of your chair. If you are trying to watch a video from a meter away, forget about it.

The keyboard is below full-size, with tiny buttons that are too far spread out for quick typing. Travel is minimal – more like buttons than keys – which is quiet but uncomfortable. I was able to type at up to 100 WPM, but not with my usual accuracy nor for any great length of time.

There’s also no room for a typical touchpad; instead there’s a micro touchpad about the size of a small joystick and located in the centre of the keyboard. It’s hard to navigate it, but the good news is that it provides more accuracy.

5. Acer Aspire 5552

I bought this laptop 2 years ago, since then it broke down twice on me. The Hard Drive got busted after just two years of use. The up arrow key broke off in the first month. The speakers got busted after 1 year.

If you are looking for an inexpensive laptop, you don’t have to limit yourself to this netbook’s small screen and keyboard. You can do better, if you want things to last. My Toshiba laptop is still working 9 years later and in perfect condition and so is my Compaq Presario.

Many Pepsi and Coca Cola companies tried but failed to bring out newer products. Many products mimicked top of the line drinks and failed as well. Here are ten soft drink brands which were pulled from the shelf.

1. Tab

This is a diet cola, manufactured and produced by Coca Cola Company in 1963. It was marketed after the successful sales of Diet Rite cola. Since its sweetener was rumored to be an animal carcinogen, the drink was discontinued.

2. Slice:

Everyone loves Sprite…yet when Pepsi tried to mimic the drink with Slice, things did not go as planned. They had various flavors made with grapefruit, peach and lemon-lime etc. With the introduction of Sierra Mist, the brand faded away by 2006.

3. Surge

This was a citrus drink that originated in Norway in 1996. The Norwegian name was Urge and the American name was Surge, under the ownership of Coca Cola. It is no longer being sold in Denmark, Sweden and the United States. Norway still continues to sell the product.

4. Clearly Canadian (Peach):

This is a flavored and sweet sparkling water drink that was popular in the 1980s and 1990s. They used to have a great peach flavor which was suddenly discontinued. On the news it was announced the company is out of flavored ideas altogether. Nothing new is coming out.

5. Hubba Bubba Soda:

This drink came from the Hubba Bubba Corporation. They had both regular and diet version of this drink before it was discontinued. The company itself is a subsidiary of Mars.

There are many stellar actors who, in spite of their impressive work, have failed to win the Oscar award. One cannot deny the impressive talent of actors such as Russell Crowe, Morgan Freeman, Jack Nicholson, Denzel Washington and the like. The following is a list of those actors who have not still won the elusive Oscar even though their work deserves true credit in the form of an Oscar award.

1. Johnny Depp
This actor is a true icon in the field of acting who has earned three Oscar nominations but no wins whatsoever. His performances as a drug addict who yearns for his daughter in Blow, a homicidal barber in Sweeney Todd, a social misfit in Benny and Joon etc are fantastic. The actor has brought unparalleled depth, versatility and originality in the world of acting. He richly deserves the number 1 spot.

2. Edward Norton
Even in his first role as “Aaron Stampler” in Primal Fear the actor grabbed everyone’s attention because of his acting prowess. Since then, the actor has played various roles, such as ex-con in Rounders, the gambling addicted, a drug dealer in The 25th Hour, the unnamed character and narrator of Fight Club and his most powerful role as “Derek Vinyard”, a young white supremacist.

3. Leonardo Dicaprio
This actor has given memorable performances in the movies such as Titanic, What is Eating Gilbert Grape?, This Boy’s Life, The Basketball Diaries, Gangs of New York, Man in the Iron Mask, Catch Me If You Can and lost more. The actor has earned three nominations but no wins.

4. Christian Bale
It is hard to believe that this great actor has not won a single Oscar award. He gave a jaw dropping performance in the movie American Psycho where his role was simply amazing. He proved his versatility donning various roles such as Trevor Reznik in the Machinist, John Preston in Equilibrium and as Dan Evans in 3:10 to Yuma.

5. Djimon Hounsou
The dynamism, talent and authenticity of this actor is truly brilliant. He gave a superb performance as “Cinque” in Amistad. This was followed by a memorable yet small role in Gladiator. The actor earned his first Oscar nomination for his role as “Mateo” in the movie In America and the second nomination for his role as “Solomon Vandy” in Blood Diamond.

Every once in a while we hear of a new gizmo or technological innovation being launched. These products come wrapped in media hype and multi-million advertising campaigns. Some of them are able to stand the test of time while some just dwindle into oblivion. This list covers the top 10 most hyped up technologies (general and commercially created) that eventually faded from public memory.

1. Manned Space Travel

Manned space travel has to undoubtedly be the most expensive and hyped up technology that has failed. After 1964 when man first went into space, there have been but a few moon and space missions but after almost 45 years, we still cannot see where these space agencies are going.

2. Apple Newton

Way back in the early 90s, the Apple Newton PDA was launched using a combination of smart and persistent word-of-mouth advertising campaigns. Even though it offered a variety of features, the product still flopped owing to media ridicule and the high cost (700-1000$).

3. Bubble Memory

Many of you pen drive fans might not have even heard of this now obsolete memory solution that was released in the ’70s. The foremost companies were then working on this non-volatile magnetic memory technology which was eventually killed by hard disks and now flash.

4. IBM PCjr

Similar to Newton, this gadget was also ahead of its time but unfortunately, it was inferior design that led to its doom. Launched as a low cost computer for education and personal purposes, this IBM product had uncomfortable keys and weird aesthetics.

5. Superconductivity

Perhaps the only technology (apart from space exploration) which still has scope for improvement but remains totally useless in the concept of superconductivity. Essentially, this aims to remove electrical resistance and speed up every gadget in the world but leaving aside a few odd uses, superconductivity remains a sad mystery.