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Old 11th Jun 2017, 11:22 pm   #121
McMurdo
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Default Re: Museum of failure.

the trigger-powered torch. Any longer than a few seconds squeezing that thing and your fingers drop off.
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Old 11th Jun 2017, 11:48 pm   #122
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Default Re: Museum of failure.

Another flop video format: Funai CVC. camera-portable video tape. Never even seen one in some 3 decades collecting old video equipment.

Probably paved the way for the later 8mm and VHS-C.
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Old 11th Jun 2017, 11:54 pm   #123
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Default Re: Museum of failure.

No-one's mentioned the Hunts Mouldseal yet. However, as these must have remained in production and sold well over several decades, they can't be described as a 'failure', more likely a success with a limited service life. I guess this category would also include the AF117 and its friends.

Would the Tefifon qualify as a failure?
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Old 12th Jun 2017, 8:03 am   #124
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Default Re: Museum of failure.

No doubt a line could be drawn between actual Failures (e.g. Funai CVC) and things such as 'Mouldseals' & 'waxies', which were surely never intended, or expected , to las 40 or 50 years in use!
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Old 12th Jun 2017, 11:24 am   #125
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Default Re: Museum of failure.

If you mention Hunts Mouldseal then include Rifa caps.Having just repaired the church organ that went up in smoke!

The point being though that they ran happily for many many years and just like wax caps they do in the end fail. So,are they a "failure" or not??
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Old 12th Jun 2017, 1:20 pm   #126
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Default Re: Museum of failure.

Has anyone mentioned Philips DCC (Digital Compact Cassette)? I went to a weekend 'sort of' technical launch for the product, possibly an IEE organised event.

Technically very good, but we knew even then at the launch it was never going to be a success.
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Old 12th Jun 2017, 1:36 pm   #127
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The Jupiter Ace computer, which used FORTH.
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Old 12th Jun 2017, 1:38 pm   #128
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Seiko Data Bank watch.
 
Old 12th Jun 2017, 2:39 pm   #129
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Default Re: Museum of failure.

On the subject of torches I would add those induction charged ones that you shake to charge. They would just about light up a low intensity LED for a few seconds.
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Old 12th Jun 2017, 2:56 pm   #130
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Default Re: Museum of failure.

Can I add the "Mondex" electronic-cash thing that was trialled in the early-1990s?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mondex

In a way it was a precursor of the current contactless credit/debit-cards, but it had the major disadvantage that you had to "pre-load" money onto it from your current-account in advance, and it didn't pay you any interest on the cash it carried (unlike a current-account) so you were minded to keep the lowest amount of money on your Mondex as possible - which rather limited its usefulness.

Mondex didn't catch on - the world continued using credit-cards (and getting the free purchase-insurance and 56-days free credit...) though I gather a Mondex-like system is still used at some Universities/Colleges to pay for meals, photocopying/printing etc, as well as the Oyster-card used by TfL.
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Old 12th Jun 2017, 3:20 pm   #131
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Default Re: Museum of failure.

Hi
It's fascinating to read some old Television magazines - and similar - to see what the next new thing will be. Many of the ideas never made it beyond the prototype if they made it that far.
Post # 126 makes a good point - if the 'ordinary' engineer realises that this new gizmo isn't going to be a success why on earth did it make it this far past all the well paid R&D team members?
There has to be a distinction between things that worked very well (eg Betamax, DVD-HD, V2000) that failed due to good old market forces and those that were hopeless to start with (QL tape drives, the inevitable Sinclair C5).
A customer has just given me an old boxed L-shaped gadget that is supposed to keep your items solid in the car boot. It couldn't ever have worked and doesn't!
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Old 12th Jun 2017, 3:48 pm   #132
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Default Re: Museum of failure.

I am pretty sure the engineers get told to carry on by the marketing men so that you end up with problems later.
CRT computer screens were dreadful if the marketing department wanted the power switch on the other side of the front panel. They used to give the board to the new drawing office boy and later on when assembly time came all the heat sinks fouled the tube so they just cut them down if they hit it or left them with the tops of the fins against the bowl of the tube. The frame chips were the worst. Some never lined up with the ribs in the cabinet floor so that when the ladies man leaned over the screen for a peep it pushed the frame chip through the board.
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Old 12th Jun 2017, 4:56 pm   #133
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Default Re: Museum of failure.

I'n not sure that the Sinclair C5 really counts.
Certainly, as a practical roadgoing vehicle it was a failure, but as a proof of concept (which was its original purpose) it demonstrated that the idea had potential.
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Old 12th Jun 2017, 5:16 pm   #134
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Default Re: Museum of failure.

Funai CVC led to Bosch Quartercam a.k.a. Philips Lineplex (also a failure, it used the same shitty mechanisms to name one cause).

DCC development led to improved tapestreamers and microfilters to filter out bacteriaea and spores from a.o. foodstuff and indirectly to the modern heads as used in harddisks.

While Hunts capacitors cannot really be considered a failure as their quality was roughly in the same ballpark as the competition, any RIFA paper capacitors made after MKP capacitors became reliable in the late 1970's should be considered a failure as they could not keep up with the market, qualitywise.
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Old 12th Jun 2017, 6:11 pm   #135
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Default Re: Museum of failure.

I'd nominate:

The Fairy 'Rotadyne' (a jet rotor'd shuttle helicopter).
The Princess Flying Boats (again jet powered - just let to rot out on the Solent).

And ..............

The Nigerian Aerostat National TV broadcast relay system ..... that one was a cracker - featuring metalised tethered balloon ground stations ..... that exploded with spectacular results after lightning strikes during the rainy season. (It never worked, was obsolete prior to completion {was never completed} and of course ...... cost hundreds of millions of dollars!)
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Old 12th Jun 2017, 7:38 pm   #136
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Default Re: Museum of failure.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tracked_Hovercraft

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Old 12th Jun 2017, 8:11 pm   #137
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Default Re: Museum of failure.

A few more:

934MHz UK-only-band CB radios

"Magnetic Bubble" memory - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bubble_memory

"Wireless Application Protocol" [WAP] and the clunky cellphones that used it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wirele...ation_Protocol
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Old 12th Jun 2017, 8:47 pm   #138
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Default Re: Museum of failure.

Could 'Firewire' be considered a failure, or just one solution that was overtaken by the ubiquity of USB? My Gateway laptop (XP new-out vintage) had a 'Firewire' port but I didn't know anyone who used it.
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Old 12th Jun 2017, 8:50 pm   #139
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Default Re: Museum of failure.

My nomination would be the personal CD player. Remember those things that played one disc into headphones and got through a set of batteries almost in one disc? They didn't like being bumped, and where were you supposed to carry all your discs? Handbag/manbag perhaps..?

Nothing wrong with the audio CD format, but for personal use this was a non starter in my opinion. SJM.
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Old 12th Jun 2017, 9:09 pm   #140
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Default Re: Museum of failure.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tractionist View Post
I'd nominate:

The Nigerian Aerostat National TV broadcast relay system ..... that one was a cracker - featuring metalised tethered balloon ground stations ..... that exploded with spectacular results after lightning strikes during the rainy season. (It never worked, was obsolete prior to completion {was never completed} and of course ...... cost hundreds of millions of dollars!)
I mentioned Cobra Mist, the codename for a huge backscatter OTH radar installation, intended for Turkey, built in East Anglia. Never worked. It's said they couldn't find the source of an interfering noise. It probably rivalled the Nigerian Aerostat system in cost to taxpayers, but it was hidden behind national secrecy.

Some failures are tiny, some are silly, those were monstrously huge.

I don't think anyone's mentioned 'Stenode Reception' yet.

Cold fusion is probably worth a small exhibit.

David
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