Mike03
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Fri Feb-22-08 04:44 PM
Original message |
Early Adopters Who Got Screwed: |
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Edited on Fri Feb-22-08 04:46 PM by Mike03
What new technology did you become invested in (financially or emotionally) that you truly believed in that entirely flopped or is no longer even remembered.
For me there were two:
The Apple Newton.
MiniDisc
(I was absolutely positive that these two gadgets would catch on. I particularly blew a wad on MiniDisc. But I have an unopened Newton that for all I know maybe worth some money--or more likely, worth nothing!)
Under the "It Remains to be Seen" category are these two:
Portable XM radio Portable Sirius radio
On Edit:
My father believed that Beta Max would overcome VHS.
And his entertainment analyst was hot on Laserdisc.
Another one I blew it on (although I was a teenager at the time) was the KeyPro portable computer. My father urged me to get a Microsoft computer rather than either a Keypro or a MacCintosh. Turns out he was right about the KeyPro.
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Omphaloskepsis
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Fri Feb-22-08 04:48 PM
Response to Original message |
1. How much would you sell the Newton for? |
Mike03
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Fri Feb-22-08 05:11 PM
Response to Reply #1 |
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I also have several of the memory cards, cases, rechargers, spare batteries.
I still think the Newton is wonderful and I still use one of them for storing passwords, account numbers and crucial info. The only thing I don't trust it for is handwriting recognition. :-)
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qb
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Fri Feb-22-08 04:53 PM
Response to Original message |
2. A little off topic, but my brother bought an 8-track player |
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about a day before they went out of style.
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Mike03
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Fri Feb-22-08 05:13 PM
Response to Reply #2 |
6. No, that's not off topic. That is definitely in the same ballpark. |
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My father's old car used to have an 8 track tape player.
I wonder if collectors seek after 8 Track equipment. It was pretty popular (but not huge) when I was in grammar school. My best friend had one at the time and I thought it was super-cool.
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Tikki
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Fri Feb-22-08 05:20 PM
Response to Reply #2 |
10. And I even had a 4-Track player.... |
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only played 4-track tape cartridges...I think I was able to find three or four 4-track tapes. In irony of all irony...someone stole it...without the tapes. :crazy:
Tikki
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DarkTirade
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Fri Feb-22-08 04:56 PM
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They were so great. Until suddenly CD burners became affordable. D'oh.
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Mike03
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Fri Feb-22-08 05:14 PM
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7. The entire Zip concept was so confusing to me when I was |
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just getting online that I really didn't figure it out until I bought a computer that sort of automatically unzipped documents.
Somethings are still zipped, aren't they?
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Heddi
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Fri Feb-22-08 05:19 PM
Response to Reply #7 |
8. Zip Disks, however, were a form of media storage |
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back when CD burners were a couple hundred bucks and CD's to burn on were pretty expensive, too.,
In about 1998 we got a Zip Drive so we could Zip all of our downloaded music. HA! Thankfully we were able to get the disks from work for free, but God....how many it took!
About a year later CD burners went down in price as did the price of CD"s. We paid $100 for our zip drive and it's basically obsolete, now. aah. I thought that was gonna be the wave of the future hah a
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FloridaJudy
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Fri Feb-22-08 05:01 PM
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My Dad was an engineer, and thought this was the best innovation since canned tuna.
We should have stuck with the tuna.
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DS1
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Fri Feb-22-08 05:20 PM
Response to Reply #4 |
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they're still using it on the RX-8
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FloridaJudy
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Fri Feb-22-08 05:27 PM
Response to Reply #9 |
12. It got seriously awful gas mileage |
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And was a bitch to repair: few mechanics knew enough to do a decent job. Granted, this was when they first came out, so things might be better now.
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hippywife
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Fri Feb-22-08 05:22 PM
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that one always gets screwed when jumping on a new technology right outta the shute, even if it does become a long-term success.
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Gidney N Cloyd
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Fri Feb-22-08 05:31 PM
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13. Digital audio cassettes |
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Competed with CDs for a while. I didn't buy in but I remember being asked in an interview for an AV job which one I thought would win and I went with the cassettes. Maybe that's why they didn't hire me.
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GoddessOfGuinness
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Fri Feb-22-08 05:35 PM
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14. We still have a bunch of Beta Max tapes... |
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I wish PBS would remaster the old George Page Nature series for DVD.
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Thu May 09th 2024, 11:15 PM
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