Avatar games like Second Life and The Sims were extremely popular in the 2000s because they gave players the chance to be a completely different person than they were in reality. Your avatar, which you designed, could meet people, talk to them, buy things and experience a new life. These games were a hit, which prompted Google to come out with its own version called Lively. Their game, which was launched in July 2008, was only online for four and a half months.
When the economy went bust in 2008, Google decided to focus on more important things and dropped Lively like a hot potato. Apparently, if you have never gotten over the loss, some version of the game is still out there, maintained by extremely dedicated users. This next gadget predated the iPad, but in the end, it just couldn’t compete.
HD DVD
As technology progressed, the quality of home video Improved. At this time, DVD was the norm, but when more and more HD TV’s were purchased, DVDs couldn’t keep up with their superior capabilities. Toshiba tried to take over the market with its HD DVD format and players and even partnered up with Microsoft’s popular gaming console Xbox 360.
Sony, however, saw their chance and launched the Blu-ray format. They overtook Toshiba by making deals with the major movie studios, meaning that many of the most popular movies were only available on Blu-ray. They also used their own successful gaming console, the PlayStation 2 and included Blu-ray playback functionality within it. Even now, Blu-ray is the leading format. HD DVD went the way of the dodo only two years after its initial release. Read on to meet YouTube’s older and less successful relative.
Joost
Video calling software Skype was a big hit and its makers were ready to take on their next challenge, letting people watch videos from anywhere on the internet. They named the product Joost and it was launched in 2007, amidst promises of your favorite TV shows on-demand and live sporting events. There are many websites that you know, such as YouTube, Netflix, and Hulu who ended up doing just that and were incredible successes, unfortunately, Joost was not.
The first issue was that Joost users had to download a program to their computer, similarly to Skype. The second and much bigger one was that the program was hard to use and often had video delays. Two years after its launch, Joost was sold and in 2012 it was shut down completely. This web game also had an extremely short life.
JooJoo
In 2010, slightly before the iPad became the tablet which ruled all tablets (for a while at least), the JooJoo was released. If the strange name doesn’t sound familiar it is because the product never really took off. Its release was plagued with naming drama and for some reason, even though it started out as the CrunchPad, the name JooJoo ultimately prevailed.
When the iPad launched, it became infinitely clear that the JooJoo was simply inferior. It was too heavy, hard to operate and bad at playing videos. The final nail in its coffin was that It didn’t have any apps while the iPad debuted with many. When you take into account that both tablets cost the same, it’s not surprising that the JooJoo was discontinued only a year after its release. The company famous for its PDA could not make the transition into tablets.
Blackberry PlayBook
Back in the day, Blackberries were more than just a phone or a PDA (personal digital assistant), they were a status symbol. They let the world know that you were taking care of business. Whoever was checking their Blackberry while they were out and about was both busy and important and they wanted you to know it. The devices, however, were not just about making a statement, they were also convenient and easy to use. The company should have kept those things in mind when designing the Blackberry PlayBook which came out in 2011.
This tablet-style device was great if you wanted to watch videos or browse the web, but it had one major design flaw, you couldn’t check your email on it. The only way to do so was to use the PlayBook together with your regular Blackberry, which made using it more complicated for people who owned a Blackberry and impossible for those who didn’t. Users found this unacceptable and the PlayBook quickly fell out of favor. This streaming giant decided to make things more complicated for their users in this almost unwatchable fail.