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The 57 Lamest Tech Moments of 2010

harrymcc writes "When it comes strange blunders, failed dreams, pointless legal wrangling, and other embarrassments, the technology industry had an uncommonly busy 2010. I compiled a list of the most notable examples--including the lost iPhone prototype, the short life of Microsoft's Kin, the end of Google Wave, the McAfee security meltdown, a depressingly long list of lawsuits over mobile patents, and much more."

31 of 123 comments (clear)

  1. Welcome to the end of the year... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Endless Top ### lists with no real substance writen by writers who can neither write nor hold their own when it comes down to bare metal technology.

    Wake me up in January.

    1. Re:Welcome to the end of the year... by Low+Ranked+Craig · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Mod parent up. This article was, politely, fucking lame. I want the 2 minutes I spent reading the first page looking for good writing back.

      --
      I still cannot find the droids I am looking for...
    2. Re:Welcome to the end of the year... by Rotting · · Score: 2

      The time I spent reading that list was one of the lamest tech moments of 2010 for me :/

    3. Re:Welcome to the end of the year... by hairyfeet · · Score: 2

      Actually I'd say it is worse than lame, as lame can sometimes be enjoyable like a good cheesy movie. What we have here is completely uninspired copypasta with a sauce made from bland quotes that can't even bother to be smarmy or smartass. I've seen lame lists rise above copypasta by putting some serious ragging on the recipients, this one couldn't even bother that.

      For those that haven't TFA don't bother, as it makes the phone book look like an interesting read.

      --
      ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
    4. Re:Welcome to the end of the year... by dcw3 · · Score: 2

      Endless Top ### lists with no real substance writen by writers who can neither write nor...

      ...make use of commas.

      --
      Just another day in Paradise
    5. Re:Welcome to the end of the year... by blair1q · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Honestly, it's no longer limited to the year-end roundup.

      Probably 40% of online "journalism" is now listographies, frequently slide-show based, in order to suck up maximal clicks and spew scripted hoo-ha, delivering almost 100 bytes of actual info per 20 seconds waiting for the fucking page to turn.

      It will be that way until advertisers stop falling for the dollars-for-page-views pricing model.

  2. Google Wave not dead yet by mcvos · · Score: 2

    Google Wave isn't dead. It just changed its name to Apache Wave.

    1. Re:Google Wave not dead yet by Choad+Namath · · Score: 4, Funny

      Google Wave isn't dead

      It's pining for the fjords.

    2. Re:Google Wave not dead yet by geminidomino · · Score: 2

      Can I be seeing this? A down-mod on the Parrot Sketch?!

      Netcraft confirms it. Slashdot is dead. :(

    3. Re:Google Wave not dead yet by Jello+B. · · Score: 2

      If every monty python sketch was modded up slashdot would be nothing but monty python sketches.

      No, that would not be a good thing.

    4. Re:Google Wave not dead yet by georgewad · · Score: 2

      Oh, what sad times are these, when passing ruffians can mod down a post at will. There is a pestilence on this land, nothing is sacred!

      --
      Karma: It's not just a good idea. It's the law.
  3. Beta Test on the public! by puterg33k · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Thank you HTC for Alpha testing the HTC EVO on the general public! So many of us were left with a phone that you have to charge every 3 hours, but the charging ports broke within the first few uses!
    HTC says their warrantys don't cover physical damage, what the hell good is it?
    Sprint says, pay me a hundred bucks for a refurb fool! So you do, and a week later; rinse and repeat!
    It was different when it was software, but hardware being beta tested on the public and they eat the cost!? I'm left with only one thing to say: W T F

    1. Re:Beta Test on the public! by soupforare · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Apple's been doing it for years, everybody else was bound to catch up to that innovation.

      --
      --- Do you believe in the day?
    2. Re:Beta Test on the public! by Shemmie · · Score: 3, Interesting

      HTC have done it for years. Their HTC Universal phone was known for having a real weak point at the charger. Many people (myself included) suffered from the USB port becoming loose, and falling into the unit. Pain in the ass. They took no responsability for what was clearly a design flaw on a heavily used part.

    3. Re:Beta Test on the public! by Richard_at_work · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Nokia did it with the N900 and seems to be getting away with it ...

      Much vaunted here on Slashdot, I decided to try it out as an iPhone replacement and thus talked my wife into getting it when her contract came up for renewal in April. Phone felt nice, OS was usable etc etc so I upgraded soon after and retired my iPhone 3G to the junk drawer.

      Now, 8 months on, I've been back on my iPhone for 4 months because the N900s software foibles were greater, for me, than the iPhone 3G. My wife has no such luck tho - screen scratched (through use of the stylus), ringer sometimes doesn't work, the keyboard keys have essentially almost entirely flaked off to leave the transparent backing plastic showing.

      My wife hates the N900, not because of its poor phone software (or the fact that it cannot do MMS built in) but because the hardware is literally falling apart not even half way into the 18 month contract!

    4. Re:Beta Test on the public! by drinkypoo · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I've been modded down repeatedly for pointing out that the HTC Raphael (AT&T Fuze...) has a known problem with the sliding keyboard, a cable that comes loose. Fixable with tape but they don't do this when they refurb. Then it happens again. Old phone so nobody cares any more but it's just another HTC phone willfully misrepaired and dumped back on customers.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    5. Re:Beta Test on the public! by Gizzmonic · · Score: 2

      I know you're probably wary about taking phone advice via Slashdot now, but if you really want a decent Linux-based phone, the Pre is the way to go. It has a better UI than iPhone, true multitasking, a real keyboard, and an 'App Catalog' as well as Linux command-line root access with the blessing of the manufacturer. The internet-aware contacts are awesome-you can send messages via SMS or Jabber/Gchat and the history is shared. Facebook, phone contacts, etc integrate more gracefully than I've ever seen on another phone.

      Unfortunately, the screen is too small and the App Catalog doesn't have much at all compared to the App Store. But there's always trade-offs..

      --
      (-1, Raw and Uncut is the only way to read)
  4. deselective memory by DynamoJoe · · Score: 5, Interesting

    No mention of Gizmodo's password breach?

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    bah.
  5. Re:Hmm by ElectricTurtle · · Score: 2

    I think they were staring at a bottle of Heinz 57 and decided that was the perfect number.

    --
    I support the Slashcott and will not be reading or commenting from 2/10/14 to 2/17/14. Beta is steaming pile of dog shit
  6. Re:2010 isn't over yet... by PolygamousRanchKid+ · · Score: 5, Funny

    Some poor /. user might get an iPad from his or her grandmother

    Sure beats a self-knitted sweater, formed for a mutant, with asymmetric arm lengths, a hunchback and a hole in the stomach area for the tentacle.

    And yes, I speak from experience.

    --
    Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
  7. It should have been 58... by Delusion_ · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ...that way the article could have included itself as number one. Another meandering, poorly written summary of the year.

    If you're going to choose an arbitrary number to attach to an end of year list, keep it to ten and focus on the writing. Seriously, 57? I'm reminded of the Jargon File comment about 17 being the "least random number". This is just a blatant excuse to generate ads by breaking up an article; I'm surprised it isn't 57 pages long, in slide show form.

  8. Re:In other words... by Mbraz · · Score: 2

    Yeah, Google Wave.

  9. Re:2010 isn't over yet... by Delusion_ · · Score: 3, Funny

    As an asymmetrically limbed hunchback with a torso tentacled person who likes to save on electricity by keeping the heat down, I must respectfully disagree.

  10. Re:Ballmer is always a contender in the Lamestakes by Sonny+Yatsen · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Polaroid is a shell of itself. It's just a holding company nowadays that licenses the Polaroid name out to various cheap manufacturers who make random devices under that name. This is why you see crap like Polaroid DVD players and whatnot. There is no Polaroid manufacturing, R&D, or marketing divisions - it just exists to license out the trademark to anyone willing give them a bag of cash.

    That's why naming Lady Gaga as a Creative Director is bunkum. You can't have a creative director if the company DOESN'T CREATE ANYTHING.

    --
    My postings are informational and does not constitute legal advice. Act on it at your risk.
  11. Number One Should Have Been... by damn_registrars · · Score: 2, Funny

    Facebook, the movie. I'd rather watch paint dry than see a movie about some wealthy kid making money by doing nothing of value. It could have just as well been a movie about the Kardashians, except he isn't nearly as interesting to look at.

    --
    Damn_registrars has no butt-hole. Damn_registrars has no use for a butt-hole.
  12. Re:2010 isn't over yet... by GameboyRMH · · Score: 4, Funny

    I got a Sony HD camcorder as a gift a while back...all good, except it's a Sony, and now I have to buy an ultra-rare Memory Stick to MicroSD adapter...

    Reminds me of a funny thread on somethingawful where a software development company was having RMS come over to sign and present some prizes for employees, and the guy was asking for suggestions for prizes.

    The first 2 suggestions:

    A Windows 7 box

    An iPad

    --
    "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
  13. Re:In other words... by Opportunist · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The problem is the bullies, corporations and the police.

    We planted a garden. A wonderful rose garden. And there were people stopping to look at it and say "hey, that's neat!" and we, the good natured fools we are, thought it would be great to open our garden to the public, so they can come in and enjoy it. And hey, who knows, maybe some of them might want to plant a few roses themselves? We can only benefit from it, right?

    So we let them in, even showed them how to plant roses. And while they were not really too good gardeners, we handed them a few tools to make the work easier for them. And some of them (ok, a handful of them) actually went and built something nice. Most just wandered about and smelled a few roses. We even built them a few paths they could wander on so they don't accidentally stumble upon that field we built that camo net over, ya know, with our "special spices".

    A few came in and trampled all over the roses. We shrugged and grabbed them and threw them out, because we not only know how to plant roses, we also know how to use their thorns to smack those bullies about and give them a wedgie on their way out. We build this garden after all, and we know every plant and every bush here, you can't hide from us! Well, ok, I admit, some of us thought it's fun to make fools out of the idiots that have no idea how to plant roses and snuck into their gardens when they weren't looking (and too stupid to close the door so people can only look but not touch), dyed their roses pink and blue polkadotted, mostly for fun and to ridicule them. It was good natured fun, hey, we did that to each other too and we really had a good laugh!

    One cardinal mistake we made is that we built a few paths to the camo net patches, too, because, hey, they're nice folks and wanna have some of the good stuff too, what's the harm in giving them some? Well, there's not really a problem with that, but when the bullies trampled across our fields, they also trampled through the fields of those that can't defend themselves, and these guys started to call for the police. And they eventually stumbled towards our camo net patches and, well, erh... well, they decided that it's a problem, ya know? If we hadn't built paths to them, only we would have found our way to those "special places", through the hedges and the overgrown paths that need machetes to get to. Few policemen had those machetes...

    Also along came the corporations who found out that people love to wander in our nice garden and started to built there too. At first, we didn't bother to worry. Like the native americans didn't worry when the first whities came along, we let them settle in our garden. Until suddenly we were told that we can't go to a few places of our garden anymore because that's now off limits. In our own garden! Not to mention that they were crying bloody murder if you went and polkadotted their roses!

    And now we're sitting here, in our ever shrinking corner of our once wonderful garden, trampled down by the masses, broken up into lots by corporations with a policemen at every corner making sure you don't plant where you're not supposed to, and of course that you don't try to camo net anything.

    If there's any lesson to learn, than that we should not let the masses in next time we build a garden. The seeds will be more expensive, granted, but at least we can grow what we want and keep the harvest.

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  14. Re:2010 isn't over yet... by freakmn · · Score: 5, Funny

    I'm an asymmetrically limbed hunchback with a torso tentacled person who likes to save on electricity by keeping the heat down, you insensitive clod!

    FTFY

    FTFY

    --
    warning: This post is likely to contain gobs of dripping sarcasm. Consume at your own risk.
  15. The Social Network Was A Good Movie by EXTomar · · Score: 2

    Surprisingly, "The Social Network" was actually a good movie because of the human drama that it is intertwined into the story. Its not about how a wealthy kid makes even more money but how and possibly why he did it. Whether or not the events actually took place as depicted in this movie is up for debate but it is a hell of a drama that is well made and very entertaining. I won't be surprised if some it gets Oscars for at least the screenplay if not more.

    1. Re:The Social Network Was A Good Movie by lee1 · · Score: 2

      Scott Adams (the author of Dilbert) thinks that this is the best movie he has ever seen . That almost makes me curious enough to watch it.

  16. Obligatory under the circumstances by Dogtanian · · Score: 2

    Can I be seeing this? A down-mod on the Parrot Sketch?!

    Netcraft confirms it. Slashdot is dead. :(

    No no, it-it's not dead, it's... it's restin'!

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