IBM PCjr
Year: 1983

Several computer-industry competitors went broke as rumours leaked of project "Peanut" by Big Blue, a consumer PC that would bring computing to the masses. "The PCjr has no design limitations," the company had declared.

When it made its debut in late 1983, the $800 PCjr's chiclet keyboard, which had 62 keys versus the IBM PC's 83, was its Achilles' heel.

Limited memory also hurt its chances. A massive inventory pileup of the machines followed. It soon was exacerbated by the 1984 launch of the Apple Macintosh. IBM killed the line in 1985.

Apple Newton MessagePad
Year: 1993

Known as Newton, the name of its operating system, the line of Apple handhelds set out to revolutionize computing with its touch-screen and handwriting-recognition software.

The technology was so bad in the $700 debut models that it became the butt of "Doonesbury" jokes: "I am writing a test sentence" became "Siam fighting atomic sentry."

Though handwriting recognition vastly improved with later models, the Newton line was discontinued in 1998.


Microsoft BOB

Year: 1995

Software comes and goes, but BOB has left a lasting impression as one of the worst tech products of all time.

Introduced with the O featuring a yellow smiley face wearing nerdy glasses, BOB was designed to replace the desktop of Windows 3.1 and 95 with an interface designed mainly for novice users. Company engineers optimistically labeled the project "Utopia."

Cartoon assistants and virtual pathways to applications caused more confusion than clarity. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer later called it a situation "where we decided that we have not succeeded and let's stop."

SegaNet
Year: 2000

Sales of Sega's Saturn and Dreamcast consoles were getting trounced by Sony's PlayStation and Nintendo's consoles, so the company turned to this dial-up gaming service, one of the internet's first, as its savior.

SegaNet "has permanently changed the face of the gaming industry," Brad Huang, president and CEO of Sega.com, said at its launch.

With company fortunes tied to console sales, SegaNet lasted 11 months before Sega pulled the plug.

Apple PowerMac G4 Cube
Year: 2000

The flop that was the G4 Cube gets lost in the story of Steve Jobs's triumphant return to Apple.

"This is a stunning product, quite possibly the most beautiful we've ever designed," Jobs said at its unveiling.

Though considered a style triumph, Jobs's "one more thing" 8-inch desktop stumbled because of its high $1,799 price, design defects and inability to upgrade to more powerful graphic components. A year later, Apple announced it was putting the Cube "on ice."

SED TV
Year: 2004

The Canon-Toshiba project using so-called surface conduction electron-emitter display technology was hyped as replacing plasma and LCD televisions with crystal-clear pictures, offering deep blacks and better energy efficiency.

The companies called it a "once-in-50-years historical turning point for the television industry."

Delay after delay doomed the pricey technology, as LCD and plasma set prices fell sharply in the interim. "It's something that has to be seen to be believed," a Canon marketing executive said in 2006. Sounds good. Too bad we never saw it.

Motorola Rokr E1
Years: 2005

Heralded as the fusion of Apple's popular iPod technology with a cell phone, the $250 Rokr landed with a thud. Its 100-song limit, slow music transfer speed and sluggish iTunes interface doomed Motorola's comeback hopes against rising stars Samsung and LG.

"We've worked closely with Motorola to deliver the world's best music experience on a mobile phone," said Steve Jobs.

Turns out, not closely enough. Apple discontinued support for the Rokr little more than a year later, as it completed designs on its own phone. The Rokr experience gave Apple's engineers valuable insights into making the iPhone, which launched in 2007.