In 1999, the Digital Convergence Corporation decided that what people who were reading a magazine really needed was a cat-shaped device that could help them find information about things that were of interest to them without actually typing in the URL. In order to do so, all you had to do was scan a barcode in the magazine, use a USB cable to plug the Cue Cat into your computer, and just like that, you would be directed to the correct web page.
Sounds simple, right, wrong. Users couldn’t understand why they needed this device and those that did use it, had to deal with privacy issues and a famous information breach. By 2001, codes were no longer generated for the scanner and by 2005, Cue Cats were being sold for 30 cents a pop just to get rid of them.
Hoverboards
Coming back to Back to the Future, every person who saw that movie growing up, was waiting for the day when they could finally ride their own hoverboard just like Marty McFly. In 2015, it seemed like that dream was becoming a reality until they began spontaneously combusting.
It didn’t seem to matter who made them, the lithium-ion batteries that powered the devices overheated and caught fire. By 2017, thousands of hoverboards were recalled and they were banned by airlines long before that. Seems like our hoverboard dreams will have to wait a little longer.
Twitter Peek
In 2009, Twitter and technology company Peek Inc. released the Twitter Peek, a handheld device that let you tweet anywhere and didn’t even require wi-fi. The idea behind it, was a device for Twitter enthusiasts who didn’t have a smartphone, but do those even exist, and if so why would they pay nearly $200 for this product?
The worst part is that the device only displayed 20-character previews of tweets, and reading the whole thing was quite complicated. This frustrated users to no end and they gave the Twitter Peek a hard pass. By 2012, the company cut off all the support to this product. The only surprise is that it took so long.
Juicero Press
This startup company offered users a juicer that used single serving pre-packaged packets of fruits and vegetables, made exclusively by them, that the machine turned into juice. The Juicero connected to wi-fi and before each use, the packet’s barcode had to be scanned and approved. The company claimed this was to ensure freshness, but many believed it was so that you would have to purchase only their packets, which cost between $5 and $8 each.
The company raised a lot of money at first, but when claims surfaced that you could squeeze the packets with your hands and get the same results, people stopped buying the expensive juice maker. The product launched in 2016, but by 2017 they were finished, although they did manage to buy back the juicers sold.
Keurig Kold
The veteran coffee and beverage company tried to expand their brand into the in-home soda machine company, but couldn’t make it work. In 2016, they launched the Keurig Kold, a machine that could make sparkling water, soda and other cold beverages. They offered users flavors from the Coca Cola Company, Dr. Pepper and Snapple.
The machine, however, was too expensive for what it was offering, retailing at $369, when SodaStream only cost $79. The pods they sold were also pricey, costing $3.99 to $4.99 for a pack of four, and each pod only made one glass of soda. Other complaints were that the machine was loud and that it took a long time for the beverages to cool. The Kold was pulled from the market in mid-2016.