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Museum of Failure Opens In Sweden (failuremag.com)

Slashdot reader swellconvivialguy writes: A new museum in Helsingborg displays more than 70 failed products and objects, including the Apple Newton, Google Glass, Sony Betamax, Harley-Davidson perfume, and the Donald Trump board game. According to curator Samuel West, "none of the companies that I contacted wanted to cooperate. I approached quite a few innovation directors and asked them for examples of failure that they've learned from. I thought it would be easy to get them to collaborate but none of them -- zero -- choose to cooperate."
The curator urges people to accept failure -- "as an essential aspect of progress and innovation."

129 of 253 comments (clear)

  1. Sweden? by JustOK · · Score: 4, Funny

    Dammit, I went to Switzerland

    --
    rewriting history since 2109
    1. Re:Sweden? by glitch! · · Score: 1

      Dammit, I went to Switzerland

      Customs inspector: "... Where they make the watches."

      --
      A dingo ate my sig...
    2. Re:Sweden? by quenda · · Score: 3, Funny

      Dammit, I went to Switzerland

      Oh well, go see Ayers Rock instead. It can't be more than a couple of hours train ride east.

    3. Re:Sweden? by Required+Snark · · Score: 1

      Ayers Rock is in the center of Sweden where it is really hot.

      --
      Why is Snark Required?
    4. Re:Sweden? by GumphMaster · · Score: 1

      Uluru, you insensitive clod!

      --
      Patent litigation: A doctrine of Mutually Assured Destruction... in which everyone seems willing to push the button
    5. Re: Sweden? by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      Second door to your right, sir.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    6. Re:Sweden? by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 1

      Uluru, you insensitive clod!

      Is that the one right next to Ubuntu?

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
    7. Re:Sweden? by painandgreed · · Score: 1

      Dammit, I went to Switzerland

      Oh well, go see Ayers Rock instead. It can't be more than a couple of hours train ride east.

      More to the North, in Austria.

    8. Re:Sweden? by quenda · · Score: 1

      North is Germany. Some people are too geographically challenged to get a joke about the geographically challenged.

  2. /. should contribute by Prien715 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Can we donate a life-size portrait of Bennett Hasselton or Timothy?

    --
    -- Political fascism requires a Fuhrer.
    1. Re:/. should contribute by Cmdln+Daco · · Score: 1

      The Slashdot Cruiser could make a nice floor display.

    2. Re:/. should contribute by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 1

      For Voodoo purposes?

      --
      Ezekiel 23:20
  3. His main attraction should be Hillary by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    Losing twice for President, I'm sure she knows a lot about failure!!!

    1. Re:His main attraction should be Hillary by PolygamousRanchKid+ · · Score: 1

      Losing twice for President, I'm sure she knows a lot about failure!!!

      Actually, no. She doesn't know a lot about failure, because she hasn't realized yet that she has failed. She accepts full responsibility for not winning the election, but blames it on literally everyone else. She hasn't comprehended yet that there are a lot of folks who simply don't like her. She really does believe that anyone who doesn't like her deserves to be called "deplorable".

      This reminds me of how the former East German communists labeled anyone who was critical of communism as "asozial"; meaning something like anti-social, but more in the sense of rejecting "the community" or not cooperating with others. She is the one who should be called "deplorable". She could do the Democratic party a favor, and politely bow out, and let the Democratic party rebuild a post-Clintonista future. But, alas, that megalomaniac ego of hers will keep her ranting on forever in a screeching Granny Clampett voice.

      Obviously, she'd like to see her daughter Chelsea continue the Clinton Dynasty, but I don't think the rest of the Democratic party will swallow that: they will be concentrating on beating Trump. The important part of failure is realizing and accepting it. Only then can you learn what you did wrong. Or put even better:

      "A fool can learn from his mistakes. A wise man can learn from the mistakes of others."

      --
      Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
  4. Will they exhibit the Swedish Immigration policy? by tychoS · · Score: 1, Offtopic

    Do they also exhibit political and economic failure?

    In that case large areas of present day Sweden can be seen as a huge open-air museum of failure :-(

    Google: "swedish immigration policy" or something along those lines, if unaware of what I refer to.

  5. Harley-Davidson Cat Collar by Cmdln+Daco · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I have always thought the Harley-Davidson Cat Collar should go in a display like this one. I bought one for our kitten once, though he's definitely not a failure of a cat. In the process of scratching and grooming he ended up rendering the Harley-Davidson logo on it illegible. Since then I have always said that Harley-Davidson can't even make a cat collar that lasts.

    1. Re:Harley-Davidson Cat Collar by dohzer · · Score: 1

      They failed to make the perfume and cat collar loud enough. What were they thinking. Crank it up to 190dB!

    2. Re:Harley-Davidson Cat Collar by damn_registrars · · Score: 1

      Did Harley actually make the collar themselves? It seems unlikely to me that they would have bothered to do that. We see all kinds of crap sold with the branding of popular brands (think of all the Ferrari watches and wallets that are sold today as an example).

      --
      Damn_registrars has no butt-hole. Damn_registrars has no use for a butt-hole.
    3. Re: Harley-Davidson Cat Collar by KGIII · · Score: 2

      They should also have made the collar leak oil. I'm also pretty sure it'd be inhumane put a fat woman on the back of a cat.

      --
      "So long and thanks for all the fish."
    4. Re: Harley-Davidson Cat Collar by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Completely off-topic, but I couldn't help chuckling a bit at the QOTD at the bottom of the page: "Honesty pays, but it doesn't seem to pay enough to suit some people. -- F.M. Hubbard" ... truth. -PCP

    5. Re:Harley-Davidson Cat Collar by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      That perfume was made to last. If only for a lack of use.

      A friend actually bought me that stuff. And I was young enough and dumb enough to actually try it. From the skin reaction I had, my guess is that one of the main ingredients is battery acid.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  6. Re:So the question is by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

    One.

  7. Re:The museum of failure? by Cmdln+Daco · · Score: 1, Offtopic

    Nobody cares about you.

    But the trolls like to keep you flipping around on the floor of their rowboat.

  8. What failure really means... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    An asshat recently asked this question: "Why do you set yourself up for massive failure? All. The. Fucking. Time?"

    My (corrected) response: "If you have to ask that question, than you know nothing about success."

    Let me elaborate... failure is a learning process. You can learn more from failure than you can from success. If the world already views you as a failure, say, for being the fat retarded kid on the short bus, than you have absolutely nothing to lose by trying to succeed. Not once, not twice, not thrice, but as many times as possible in a lifetime. Failure becomes permanent only when you give up. I have absolutely no intention of ever giving up.

    1. Re:What failure really means... by Cmdln+Daco · · Score: 1

      The fat retarded kid on the short bus who tries, and tries, and tries, over and over, is still just the fat retarded kid on the short bus who won't quit trying.

      Failure only becomes permanent when you die having never succeeded. But if your struggles provide amusement to your fellow humans, you might not be a failure. Successfully being the village idiot probably can be seen as a form of success.

    2. Re:What failure really means... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

      Successfully being the village idiot probably can be seen as a form of success.

      This village idiot just finished installing, partationing, and formatting a 3TB hard drive in his Red Hat Linux box, and is now testing rsync to backup his FreeNAS file server.

    3. Re:What failure really means... by radarskiy · · Score: 1

      Engineering is the study of making failure hurt the least. Not only is failure an option, it's the only option.

    4. Re:What failure really means... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I would venture to guess that he especially doesn't care what "AC on the internet" thinks.

      His history of engaging with those "AC on the internet" trolls suggests the exact opposite: he cares very deeply what a bunch of "AC on the internet" people think - he's written blog posts about them, he tries to win arguments with them, and he fuels them with endless flamebait comments.

      So... while I understand the point you're trying to make, your assertion that creimer doesn't give a rat's ass about AC opinions assumes facts that are not in evidence.

    5. Re:What failure really means... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

      An operation that should have taken you... what, 10 minutes?

      Took me 30 minutes with the Cougar QBX mini-ITX case. I may be a big guy but I build my systems small.

      https://twitter.com/cdreimer/status/874112440379744257/

    6. Re:What failure really means... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

      [...] he cares very deeply what a bunch of "AC on the internet" people think - he's written blog posts about them, he tries to win arguments with them, and he fuels them with endless flamebait comments.

      Actually, I don't. Not on a personal level. Pulling the controversy from Slashdot to a platform where I collect the ad revenues is good business for me. If there is anything that the asshats on Slashdot shown me in the last three months, controversy is good for business.

    7. Re:What failure really means... by goose-incarnated · · Score: 1

      Successfully being the village idiot probably can be seen as a form of success.

      This village idiot just finished installing, partationing, and formatting a 3TB hard drive in his Red Hat Linux box

      I'm not sure I understand the point you are trying to make. Installing, partitioning and formatting a hard drive is "village idiot" type of work. It is not something to be proud of doing, it's the grunt work that get's passed off to interns to do.

      --
      I'm a minority race. Save your vitriol for white people.
    8. Re:What failure really means... by drinkypoo · · Score: 2

      And "controversy".... Holy shit you're delusional.

      conÂtroÂverÂsy
      ËkÃntrÉ(TM)ËOEvÉ(TM)rsÄ"/
      noun
      noun: controversy; plural noun: controversies

              disagreement, typically when prolonged, public, and heated.
              "he sometimes caused controversy because of his forceful views"

      Here's $0, kid. Buy yourself a link to dictionary.com. Are you new?

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    9. Re:What failure really means... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

      Legit sites with rich youtube content make revenue.

      I guess you haven't heard about the advertiser boycott that had reduced YouTube ad revenues significantly. Content creators who don't have multiple revenue streams — merchandise, sponsorship and public speaking — are hurting badly.

      https://www.theverge.com/2017/3/24/15053990/google-youtube-advertising-boycott-hate-speech

      You, must make pennies.

      Ad revenues from Slashdot traffic alone pays for my monthly subscription to The Wall Street Journal.

      Everyone uses adblock [...]

      Uh, no.

      [...] no one has heard of you, your absurd "personal brand", your Geocities-level website, or your shitty 1000-word ebooks.

      Let me check my bank account... ROFL.

    10. Re:What failure really means... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

      It is not something to be proud of doing, it's the grunt work that get's passed off to interns to do.

      Like the newbie developer who accidentally deleted the production database o his first day?

    11. Re:What failure really means... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

      Next he'll be bragging that he used the CLI to do it.

      Via a Cygwin terminal window on my Windows laptop. Took all night to rsync 800GB to the new hard drive.

    12. Re:What failure really means... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

      Where's the "public" part you cum-guzzling retard? Where's the "heated"?

      That's where my blog come into play.

      https://www.kickingthebitbucket.com/tag/slashdot/

      I'll give you the "prolonged" part though. It's never gonna end.

      Has it occurred to anyone that if they stop replying to my comments that I might go away?

    13. Re:What failure really means... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

      On a personal level enough that you keep trying to get the last word.

      The one time it got personal about having the last word, it turned out that a Slashdot comment thread can only have 256 comments before the reply button disappears.

      Spare us the bullshit about ad revenues, too - an "all-digital" WSJ subscription costs $200 a year, or, as the WSJ likes to say, "Less than $4 a week!" In no reality are you making significant money from ad revenues.

      I'm paying $30 per month for the WSJ "all digital" subscription. The introductory rate for a 12-month subscription is $278 with a 30% discount.

      https://buy.wsj.com/wsjusjune17/?inttrackingCode=aaqpn5h3&icid=WSJ_ON_SPG_ACQ_NA

    14. Re:What failure really means... by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

      Seems like a waste of money when you only make 50k a year.

      You probably don't invest in the stock market.

    15. Re:What failure really means... by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

      He has broad shoulders, obviously two seats are better for him.
      I have broad shoulders, too. If the space is small like in a tram, only small ladies fit easily besides me.
      I see nothing wrong with that.

      My lady however is of normal build, not particular broad shoulders but not the last century type of big hips with small shoulders. To sit comfortably on two seats in a subway she has to lean on me and cuddle with me. I see nothing wrong with that, either :)

      Ah, you wanted to imply that he is fat? Wow, you must be an idiot. He has pictures of himself on his web page. I know literally thousands of places where he would be swarmed by girls. Not sure if they would notice you, though.

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
    16. Re:What failure really means... by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

      I usually din't use add blockers.
      And actually I'm not aware of friends/family that does.
      If sites are to full with adds, like the ones on the bottom of /. I simply don't visit them anymore.

      --
      Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
    17. Re:What failure really means... by Darinbob · · Score: 1

      I have been amazed at home many stupid ideas actually succeed, and succeed over their smarter competition. And have sort of gotten used to the idea that smart concepts die out. One dumb idea in the bowl full of brilliance can ruin it all.

      That doesn't mean being smart of stupid doesn't matter. Being smart makes the random successes succeed even better, and being dumb lessens the success or shortens the lifetime of it.

    18. Re:What failure really means... by Darinbob · · Score: 1

      Anticipate failure and design around it.

  9. Re:Newton by Cmdln+Daco · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I have a Newton. It's battery compartment is a dismal failure. There are fussy little parts of the door that break off. I have long maintained that the reason Apple uses sealed-in batteries in their mobile devices is because they're not good enough designers to make a robust battery compartment. (Battery compartments, especially when they are designed to work with off-the-shelf consumer batteries, are an extremely difficult design challenge).

  10. Re:So the question is by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 1

    Coach.

  11. Re:Google Glass was not a failure by Cmdln+Daco · · Score: 1

    Google always says that about anything they come up with. Then, if it works out, they proclaim it a success. Otherwise, it was "just an experiment and they learned a lot from it." Google has a lot of money, but so does any entity that plays nice with the boys on Madison Avenue.

  12. Re:The big lesson by __aaclcg7560 · · Score: 2

    People didn't want to pay for an expensive product with limited use-cases. Once the technology improved through Psion, Palm Pilot, iPhone; tech geeks became interested.

    Not exactly. Read "Startup: A Silicon Valley Adventure" by Jerry Kaplan, about the first pen-based handheld computer in the late 1980's that got screwed over by Microsoft ("Why aren't you using Windows?!"), Intel ("Why aren't you using the 386 processor?!"), Apple ("We invented that with the Apple Newton!"), and IBM ("We don't know what we're doing but sign these forms anyway!").

  13. Re:LIST OF EXHIBITS by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1, Troll

    * Windows (any version, especially the "everyone has a touch screen" ones)
    * Anonymous cowards on Slashdot
    * Star Wars
    * All the crap that spies on us (the ones they sell to us and the ones we don't know about)
    * Piracy (real at-sea piracy, not the copyright infringement crap)
    * Americans constantly whining about every other country in the fucking Universe
    * All the latest Macs with on-board RAM with no possibility to add more
    * All the Macs which requires a 90% disassembly to add RAM or replace the storage drive

    --
    #DeleteFacebook
  14. Oh crap by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 2

    Museum of failure opens in Sweden.

    Ok, so... what if the museum itself is a failure? Will they try to put the museum into itself? Won't that cause a "divide by zero" or some shit and destroy the universe?

    Damn you, Sweden! You were supposed to be good guys!

    --
    #DeleteFacebook
    1. Re:Oh crap by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

      It'll be fine as long as they get Xzibit to open it.

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    2. Re:Oh crap by LostOne · · Score: 1

      Museum of failure opens in Sweden.

      Ok, so... what if the museum itself is a failure? Will they try to put the museum into itself? Won't that cause a "divide by zero" or some shit and destroy the universe?

      Damn you, Sweden! You were supposed to be good guys!

      The curator actually talked about exactly that in an interview with Tom Scott on Youtube.

      --

      If it works in theory, try something else in practice.
  15. How about by rossdee · · Score: 4, Funny

    Assange's condom

  16. Re:Newton by scdeimos · · Score: 1

    I still have a Newton that works, but I only show it to people for comic value.

    I've never had problems with the battery compartment. It lasts for quite a long time on a set of AA batteries. Until you put an 802.11 PCMCIA card in it, that is, then you're lucky to get 2 hours out of it.

  17. Trump Wing by Plumpaquatsch · · Score: 4, Funny

    And Trump University, and Trump Vodka, and Trump Steaks, and ...

    --
    Of course news about a fake are Fake News.
    1. Re:Trump Wing by Tablizer · · Score: 1

      Don't forget the Trump presidency.

      Depends, are we talking about the entertainment section or the politics section?

    2. Re:Trump Wing by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      Was Trump University actually a failure? The lawsuit paid out millions of dollars, but how much money did it make?

      A scam can be considered a success if the money made is significantly more than the cost of settling lawsuits and the scammer avoids jail.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    3. Re:Trump Wing by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      Trump Preside..... wait are we calling this one yet?

    4. Re:Trump Wing by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      I don't care what people say, it's still one of the more entertaining reality soaps currently running!

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    5. Re:Trump Wing by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      Well, to be considered a failure, it kinda has to be "over with". That one is still waiting for a final verdict.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    6. Re:Trump Wing by TeknoHog · · Score: 1

      I was trying to imagine what Trump Fragrances smell like. I puked a little inside my mouth, which was a good thing in comparison.

      --
      Escher was the first MC and Giger invented the HR department.
    7. Re:Trump Wing by ausekilis · · Score: 1

      You forgot Trump water, and it's more affordable knock-off (Andy) Dick Water.

      I can't seem to find the Youtube video...

  18. The Trump Wing by Gussington · · Score: 1, Funny

    I hear they've set aside an entire wing just for Donald J Trump...

    1. Re:The Trump Wing by xxxJonBoyxxx · · Score: 1

      The Great Orange One took out the Chosen Ones from both the left (Hillary) and right (Jeb) despite being outspent by God-will-only-ever-know, tripping over himself every week, and being relentlessly mocked by nearly everyone in both old and new media. Call Trump whatever else you will, but it's tough to call a guy who won the toughest race in American politics his first time out a "failure".

    2. Re:The Trump Wing by Gussington · · Score: 1

      Call Trump whatever else you will, but it's tough to call a guy who won the toughest race in American politics his first time out a "failure".

      And yet here were are.

    3. Re:The Trump Wing by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      Yes, and yet, look where he is.

      It almost seems like to succeed in the US, you have to know how to fail right.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  19. But there's already a Museum of Failed Inventions by Traf-O-Data-Hater · · Score: 2

    ...it's in Austria: http://nation.com.pk/entertain... The interesting thing is, if either this austrlian museum or the swedish museum close due to poor attendance they can always acquire each others collections :)

  20. Re:Newton by Plumpaquatsch · · Score: 1

    I have a Newton. It's battery compartment is a dismal failure.

    Gee, yes, Replaceable batteries are a dumb idea after all.

    --
    Of course news about a fake are Fake News.
  21. What failure really means... by Okian+Warrior · · Score: 1

    "My (corrected) response: "If you have to ask that question, than you know nothing about success.""

    "THEN" you two-seat taking dumbass!

    Two important points about success.

    1) Generally speaking, you can't succeed if you measure your success by what other people think of you.

    I don't think creimer gives a rats ass whether his spelling or grammar are perfect in a quickly tossed post, and I would venture to guess that he especially doesn't care what "AC on the internet" thinks.

    2) Success has been studied in-depth, and creimer has grasped probably the most important aspect.

    Your response makes me think of this George Carlin quote:

    There’s a reason you don’t talk to [your HS classmates] for 25 years. Because you don’t particularly like them! Besides, I already know what the captain of the football team is doing these days: mowing my lawn.

  22. Re:LIST OF EXHIBITS by gl4ss · · Score: 1

    dunno man, all of your examples seem to have been smashing successes by the overall profit numbers..

    --
    world was created 5 seconds before this post as it is.
  23. Betamax by JBMcB · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Betamax was only a failure in the consumer market. The professional version, Betacam, was one of the most widely used videotape formats for professionals. So, eh, kinda sorta a failure, I guess.

    --
    My Other Computer Is A Data General Nova III.
    1. Re:Betamax by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      Being a failure depends on the company releasing a product. Betamax may have been a professional success but Sony went to incredible lengths to target it at consumers and to try and make it the consumer format of choice. Looking at the list many of the products were technical marvels with awesome features.

      I kind of question Google Glass. Can a product that had a very limited run with a very limited release that was only really in beta and only really a trial for development be considered a "failure"? I mean it was called a prototype and it is still under active development...

      I can see why some companies would not want the devices associated as "failures"

    2. Re:Betamax by TeknoHog · · Score: 1

      This reminds me of DAT, which was more or less banned from consumers, due to fears of copying CDs. Consumers were then offered MD and DCC with lossy compression instead. There are countless examples like this in electronics and computing today -- superior technology that was crippled due to various business reasons. There seem to be entire R&D branches that actively work against technological progress, spending money and time on removing features after they were first painstakingly developed.

      --
      Escher was the first MC and Giger invented the HR department.
    3. Re:Betamax by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      Betamax lost because they didn't license it for porn, full stop. It's not because of the shorter tape length or anything else people think was the problem. It didn't lose because anyone worked against technological progress, it's because Sony worked against societal progress with their corporate prudism.

      DAT lost because it was a tape and we were getting CDs at the time. Now we have digital recorders which make DAT utterly and completely irrelevant, and I'm glad it never caught on because I probably would have wasted money on it. Ditto for Minidisc.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    4. Re:Betamax by hackertourist · · Score: 1

      Betacam and Betamax may have used similar technology (and the same physical tape format), but they were incompatible. Betacam used a tape speed 6 times (IIRC) higher than Betamax, and they couldn't read each other's tapes. So "professional version" is a bit of a stretch.

    5. Re:Betamax by JBMcB · · Score: 1

      I would say, in terms of R&D money and effort spent, Sony probably got their money out of the Beta format. In that sense, I wouldn't exactly call it a failure. The consumer push was a write-off, but re-purposing the hardware for professional use paid off.

      --
      My Other Computer Is A Data General Nova III.
  24. Re:The big lesson by sheramil · · Score: 1

    ... Sony Betamax

    A good product doomed by cheaper VHS technology.

    I don't agree that Betamax was a failure. I owned two, and together they worked for over twenty-five years. Betamax was briefly superseded by VHS, which was then rendered obsolete by digital video. Does that make VHS a failure also?

  25. Re: LIST OF EXHIBITS by KGIII · · Score: 1

    If there was ever an appropriate thread for the 'you fail it' (links to goatse) guy...

    --
    "So long and thanks for all the fish."
  26. The Usual Suspects. by westlake · · Score: 1

    When Betamax was introduced, most US TV sets had RF input only and a maximum color resolution of 330 lines. When Betamax was introduced, most US TV sets had RF input only and a maximum color resolution of 330 lines. It was impossible to record movies or sports conveniently --- and slow-motion and freeze-framing the action of the big game was a huge driving force in VCR sales. T

  27. Didn't they already have this? by thegameiam · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The Vasa museum is a commemoration of a spectacular failure (and is a good museum). That's naval history rather than modern tech, but the principles are the same.

    --
    Need Geek Rock? Try The Franchise!
  28. What? No Samsung Note 7? by mnemotronic · · Score: 1

    Never mind. They had one but it self-emolated.

    --
    The Russians have won. They have made the world a cesspool of distrust, greed, fear and hate.
  29. Re:Newton by swell · · Score: 2

    My two Newton 2100s are elegant devices for that time. The rechargeable battery in one has failed, of course, the other with regular batteries worked fine last time I checked. I used them at university in the 1990s to take class notes. In screenwriting class, with the lights off during a movie, I was able to take notes both with the green backlight on and without. The handwriting recognition was good enough to just write without actually seeing the resulting text. Alas, my handwriting is so bad now that even I can't recognize it.

    But yes, it was a kludge. Parts of the circuitry were hand soldered, even in this final version. The cabinetry was slick with opening, folding and closing that were elegantly designed -- but could be damaged in normal use. There is a fix online that allows rechargeable batteries to be used. There are hardware and software enhancements over the years. The Newton was created in Jobs' absence and when he returned he immediately dumped it. A sad example of NIH syndrome.

    The Newton Messagepad could have forged the path to our current smartphones, and with handwriting recognition they would be much better today.

    --
    ...omphaloskepsis often...
  30. Re:Will they exhibit the Swedish Immigration polic by Zontar+The+Mindless · · Score: 1

    It appears that residents of Malmö aren't required to keep a stick firmly implanted up their backsides, unlike Stockholmers, yes.

    --
    Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
  31. Beta a failure? by Cipheron · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Betamax recorders were in production for almost 40 years, the tapes were produced for 50 years. That's a high level of longevity for any digital format. Production of the units survived right into the DVD era, and it's probably DVDs which killed it in the end, not VHS. VHS had 40 years to kill it, and failed.

    Additionally, Betcam is still in production as is HDCAM, they have two form factors, one of which is the same as Betamax, if you watch any anime, they are still almost all mastered on HDCAM, i.e. high-definition version of Betamax tapes.

    It's only a very limited viewpoint that considers Betamax a flop / failed product. If we're going that far we should consider Apple Macs a failure because Windows is industry-standard.

    1. Re:Beta a failure? by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

      Betamax recorders were in production for almost 40 years, the tapes were produced for 50 years. That's a high level of longevity for any digital format.

      Okay, but it's not a digital format, except for the audio on super beta, which by the way statistically nobody ever had.

      It's only a very limited viewpoint that considers Betamax a flop / failed product.

      The goal was to compete with VHS, which it never did successfully. It was always an also-ran. It's only a very limited, Sony-dick-riding viewpoint that doesn't think Betamax was a failure. Betacam SP used the same technology but not the same mechanisms or tapes; it's not Betamax, it's Betacam! So people bringing that up are daft. It's like attributing 1" VTR numbers to VHS.

      If we're going that far we should consider Apple Macs a failure because Windows is industry-standard.

      Apple is not a failure because they have all the money. Sony has never had all the money.

      --
      "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
    2. Re:Beta a failure? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      Betamax was introduced in 1975, so that would mean that the tape must have been produced for at least eight years before any recorders. No wonder it failed

  32. Sometimes, rejection is a good sign. by Picodon · · Score: 1

    I thought it would be easy to get them to collaborate but none of them -- zero -- chose to cooperate.

    This lack of cooperation from the designer should in fact be a requirement for allowing their artifact in the museum.
    It is the surest sign that it really does belong there.

  33. Re:What? No Samsung Note 7? by Tablizer · · Score: 2

    It's right next to the big fire extinguisher.

  34. Huh. by Fieryphoenix · · Score: 1

    I really wouldn't have expected an endeavor like that to succeed.

  35. Re: Will they exhibit the Swedish Immigration pol by Frankzy · · Score: 1

    lol

  36. Re:LIST OF EXHIBITS by elrous0 · · Score: 4, Funny

    My love life should get an entire wing.

    --
    SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
  37. Re: Will they exhibit the Swedish Immigration poli by Kiuas · · Score: 5, Informative

    Did you know that sexual assault crimes has increased by over 1000% in Sweden in three years?

    Did you know that this claim is total BS? Look at the numbers:

    “What criminologists do is to look at the 10-year, 20-year development. Then we can see the trends. Year to year, it’s impossible to judge why changes occur,” he added.

    An example of a figure from Brå’s statistics which paints one picture in isolation but a different one with further context is that the number of rapes reported in Sweden increased by 13 percent in 2016 to 6,560.

    But when that number is compared to 2014, where the number of reported rapes was 6,700, then a slight decrease can actually be seen. In other words, the number of reported rapes in Sweden dipped in 2015 (down by 12 percent to 5,920) then in 2016 it returned to around the same level as 2014.

    Seen over a ten-year period, the number of reported rapes has gone up from 4,208 in 2006, partly because of legislative changes in the previous year and in 2013 broadening the definition, according to Brå.

    According to Brå's figures, 10,500 incidents of sexual molestation were reported in the country in 2016 – a striking increase of 20 percent on 2015 (when 8,840 were reported).

    But once again, 2015 was a year when reported sexual molestation had dropped significantly – it was down by eight percent that year compared to 2014, when 9,640 incidents were reported.

    “The number of crimes reported can depend very much on the propensity to report,” Sarnecki noted.

    The definition of rape in >weden is broader than elsewhere in the west, including stuff that elsewhere would be charged under sexual harassment. Secondly the reporting works differently in that they estimate the total amount of offenses: So if a wife reports that her husband has been having sex with her against her will dozens of times, in most places it's filed as a single case of suspected rape for the national crime stats, but in Sweden they count each suspected instance separately meaning that a single case can easily generate tens or hundreds of incidents of rape for the stats. This means comparing Swedish stats to other western nations directly is not really sensible.

    You wouldn't if you lived in Sweden. They put people in prison if they say it.

    Lol, I can guarantee you've never lived in Sweden (me neither but I live next door in Finland and visit regularly and have friends there) . There's extensive discussion about crime stats as there's one party in the parliament that's trying to do exactly what you're trying to do, which is to insinuate that the fluctuation in the numbers is due to immigrants somehow raping people en masse on the streets, which is simply not true.

    --
    "It is the business of the future to be dangerous" -Alfred North Whitehead
  38. Not worth it by nospam007 · · Score: 1

    It should have read:

    "Museum of failure fails to open"

  39. Re:Newton by Stormwatch · · Score: 1

    The Newton Messagepad could have forged the path to our current smartphones, and with handwriting recognition they would be much better today.

    It exists. And it's just less convenient than a swiping keyboard.

  40. Re:Newton by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

    Toymakers seem to have it covered. Captive oversize screw. Oversize so you can use a coin if you don't have a screwdriver, captive so you can't lose it.

    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  41. Re:Newton by thegarbz · · Score: 1

    Came here to see people in denial.
    Left here not at all disappointed.

  42. Re:The big lesson by goose-incarnated · · Score: 1

    ... Sony Betamax

    A good product doomed by cheaper VHS technology.

    Betamax was briefly superseded by VHS, which was then rendered obsolete by digital video.

    There was no "brief" about it. VHS was the highest selling video medium for two decades.

    --
    I'm a minority race. Save your vitriol for white people.
  43. Re:you forgot windows TEN by Opportunist · · Score: 1

    Let's not forget your English class.

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  44. Re:Google Glss by BiggerIsBetter · · Score: 1

    Yeah, sounds doable conceptually but no idea about the packaging of it, although compute power could be off-board. Dynamic refocus could be tricky I think... probably needs eye tracking so the glasses know where the eyes are looking through the lenses, but yeah, you could have a fluid or viscous layer and use a combination of pressure and if you're brave perhaps magnetic attraction/repulsion between the outer layers to shape the lens. Most folks would just use a servo motor or linear drive through and forgo the extra lens shaping step.

    You could probably skip the eye tracking if you used a range-finder and the wearer got used to moving their head with relatively fixed eye position.

    Or, buy something like this: https://www.wired.com/2010/07/fluid-filled-adjustable-eye-glasses/

    Talk is here: https://www.ted.com/talks/josh_silver_demos_adjustable_liquid_filled_eyeglasses

    --
    Forget thrust, drag, lift and weight. Airplanes fly because of money.
  45. Re:The museum of failure? by Opportunist · · Score: 1

    Who'd want to walk through an empty museum?

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  46. Re:The big lesson by Opportunist · · Score: 2

    Betamax failed because the better quality over VHS was insignificant compared to the price difference. Partly this was due to Sony not wanting to license the manufacturing of tapes, resulting in WAY higher tape prices (JVC licensed to anyone who was willing to produce VHS tapes and this resulted in competition).

    Sony's decision to originally limit the size of Beta tapes to one hour, because they feared that people would use those tapes to record movies, and only after a LONG time (and a lot of pressure) relented. Because, guess what, people wanted to record movies and didn't give a shit about what Sony wanted them to do with the tapes. VHS tapes originally came with 2 hours recording time, enough to record pretty much every movie (especially after it has been cut and butchered by TV networks).

    By the time Sony got the hint that they can't force their idea down people's throat, the ship had sailed.

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  47. Re:Newton by Opportunist · · Score: 1

    That's right!

    To fail, you first have to try.

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  48. Re:Newton by Opportunist · · Score: 2

    Found the Apple designer!

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  49. Re:Google Glass was not a failure by Opportunist · · Score: 1

    Everything Google comes up with is an experiment, a beta, a test study...

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  50. Re:But there's already a Museum of Failed Inventio by Opportunist · · Score: 1

    The only thing missing in there is my invention of an empty bottle that you can put in your fridge in case one of your guests doesn't want to drink anything.

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  51. Re:Missing Failures by Opportunist · · Score: 1

    Why? Only now Swedes can understand what it feels like to live in a US metropolis. If that doesn't bring the cultures together, understanding each other's problems...

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  52. Re: you forgot windows TEN by K.+S.+Kyosuke · · Score: 1

    North America is the United States for all intents and purposes.

    Much like Europe is Germany, right? :)

    --
    Ezekiel 23:20
  53. Can it add itself? by 140Mandak262Jamuna · · Score: 2

    Let us say, they have vastly overestimated the revenue potential of failure porn. When this museum fails, would it add itself as the last entry before going defunct?

    --
    sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
  54. Re: Will they exhibit the Swedish Immigration pol by drinkypoo · · Score: 2

    Of course you can twist "statistics" to make it appear more rosey, when you are willing to redefine what "is" is (or in this case "rape")

    Yeah, that's precisely what you're doing. Because GP showed how the statistics are not directly comparable, but you want to compare them anyway.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  55. Re:What? No Samsung Note 7? by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

    Never mind. They had one but it self-emolated.

    Were you going for an insensible pun about emokids here, or should everyone just ignore everything you say forever and ever amen because you use words you don't understand?

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  56. Re:Newton by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

    The Newton was created in Jobs' absence and when he returned he immediately dumped it. A sad example of NIH syndrome.

    "Get these damned scribble pads out of my office!" *throw*

    The Newton Messagepad could have forged the path to our current smartphones, and with handwriting recognition they would be much better today.

    No, it could not have. It was too expensive. It wasn't until the Palm Pilot that PDAs became inexpensive enough to be the basis of a ubiquitous computing platform.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  57. Re:Google Glass was not a failure by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

    Google Glass was never meant to be a commerical product EVER. Google said so on release. It was always just an experiment.

    Well, it looks like one part of the Glass project was a success... It made a lot of people swallow bullshit. You really believe[d] that?

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  58. Risky... by doug141 · · Score: 1

    If the museum has low attendance, the name will take a whole new meaning.

  59. Re: In Sweden we fall it Rosenbad. by aliquis · · Score: 1

    Galaxy S5 Android 6.0.1 with Swedish setup/vocabulary "corrected" call to fall (fall = water-fall, drop or case in Swedish, call isn't a Swedish word.)

  60. Windows Millennium by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    I would have sent my copy but I've already donated it to the London Dungeon for their modern horror exhibition.
    Rob Howells

  61. Help me fund... by martiniturbide · · Score: 1

    ...my "Musseum of Bad Taste"

  62. Re:The museum of failure? by Thud457 · · Score: 1

    I approached quite a few innovation directors and asked them for examples of failure that they've learned from. I thought it would be easy to get them to collaborate but none of them -- zero -- choose to cooperate.

    So the Museum of Failure is a failure.

    --

    the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff

  63. Cue Cat by StatureOfLiberty · · Score: 2

    They definitely need to have a "Cue Cat" on display.

  64. Trump Presidential Library by T.E.D. · · Score: 1

    I hear they're working on a deal to host the Trump Presidential Library.

    It will be 'uge. The best library in human history. Because he has all the best words, and will be donating them! Well, except stupid, because that is the best word, so he's keeping that one for himself.

    I have the best, but there is no better word than stupid. Right? There is none, there is none. There’s no, there’s no, there’s no word like that

    (actual DJT quote)

    But it will still have so many words, you'll be sick of all that reading.

  65. An entire wing by JustAnotherOldGuy · · Score: 1

    Ah yes, the Museum of Failure...

    I understand that they have an entire wing devoted to my ex-wife.

    --
    Just cruising through this digital world at 33 1/3 rpm...
  66. Domino's knows. by BenBoy · · Score: 1

    Remember Domino's sorta-brilliant "Failure is an Option." campaign? Trying new things that might not work moved a moribund business into a pizza to be reckoned with.

  67. Yugo a Failure? by oshkrozz · · Score: 1

    Yugo were in production for over 40 years, they had to stop briefly because NATO bombed their manufacturing plant, however, that did not stop them (despite an obvious sign from God).

    That is a high level of longevity for a vehicle that you could replace most of the parts with tinfoil and duct tape.

    It has even won an award in Car Talk magazine (ok granted it was worst car of the century)

    Only a very limited viewpoint would consider it flop

    1. Re:Yugo a Failure? by Cipheron · · Score: 1

      The Yugo was a government product without any competition. Betamax survived in a free market for that long. Completely different kettle of fish.

  68. Re:The big lesson by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

    I actually own a Go, nice device, nut never really used it. I could not find a development environment for it.

    --
    Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
  69. Re:Newton by Darinbob · · Score: 1

    Really, I've seen no good input keyboard on a smart phone. Maybe with extensive training but I'd rather use a real keyboard. I spend more time correcting the spelling from the stupid spell checkers, then fixing the same spelling a second time because the spell checker goes beyond stupid, and trying to position the cursor where it needs to be because there are no arrow keys for this, ugh. I can write things out faster on a palm pilot and with less training.

    I'm not the only one with the problem, I can tell when email is sent from a phone because I have to do the translation of the resulting spell check into what was originally intended.

  70. Re:What? No Samsung Note 7? by mnemotronic · · Score: 1

    Ok mr never-makes-a-typo. "self-immolated".

    What can I say. Chrome spell-checker didn't complain.

    --
    The Russians have won. They have made the world a cesspool of distrust, greed, fear and hate.
  71. Let me the first to nominate ... by 140Mandak262Jamuna · · Score: 1

    The good country of Pakistan. Failure of the first order.

    --
    sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
  72. RetroSpective by easyTree · · Score: 1

    This week's RetroSpective discusses Sweden's 'Museum of Failure' which last year became the first museum to include itself as an exhibit.

    <Documentary-article continues in the textually-warm tones exuded by a seventies icon wearing brown and orange, whilst draped over a sunken sofa>.

  73. The Fail MuseumÂs biggest failure is itself. by aliquis · · Score: 1

    The Fail MuseumÂs biggest failure is itself.

  74. Re:What? No Samsung Note 7? by drinkypoo · · Score: 1

    What can I say. Chrome spell-checker didn't complain.

    Maybe Chrome is the emo browser.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  75. HD Perfume? by ebvwfbw · · Score: 1

    Did it smell like ass? Real toilet water?

    Yea.. Dear Company, you had a really sucky product and we're opening a museum of failure, could you help us with one of your failures? They expected them to respond? Really?