The 57 Lamest Tech Moments of 2010

harrymcc writes "When it comes strange blunders, failed dreams, pointless legal wrangling, and other embarrassments, the technology industry had an uncommonly busy 2010. I compiled a list of the most notable examples--including the lost iPhone prototype, the short life of Microsoft's Kin, the end of Google Wave, the McAfee security meltdown, a depressingly long list of lawsuits over mobile patents, and much more."

Beta Test on the public!

[puterg33k]

Thank you HTC for Alpha testing the HTC EVO on the general public! So many of us were left with a phone that you have to charge every 3 hours, but the charging ports broke within the first few uses!
HTC says their warrantys don't cover physical damage, what the hell good is it?
Sprint says, pay me a hundred bucks for a refurb fool! So you do, and a week later; rinse and repeat!
It was different when it was software, but hardware being beta tested on the public and they eat the cost!? I'm left with only one thing to say: W T F

deselective memory

[DynamoJoe]

No mention of Gizmodo's password breach?

It's all downhill from here

[improfane]

I think we all know what's happening. The technology industry is no longer about technology, it's about bling, brother,

More seriously, we've come full circle with mainframe/cloud and software on phones (javaME)/iPhones. Ideas that don't fly now may fly again in the future but with a different name. I suspect portals will become a lot more important again. A social portal maybe?

Either way, I think the potential value for the web for the general public and our children will be a lot less than it is today. It will be 'dumbed down' and you will have to pay per page.

Re:Beta Test on the public!

[Shemmie]

HTC have done it for years. Their HTC Universal phone was known for having a real weak point at the charger. Many people (myself included) suffered from the USB port becoming loose, and falling into the unit. Pain in the ass. They took no responsability for what was clearly a design flaw on a heavily used part.

Re:Beta Test on the public!

[Richard_at_work]

Nokia did it with the N900 and seems to be getting away with it ...

Much vaunted here on Slashdot, I decided to try it out as an iPhone replacement and thus talked my wife into getting it when her contract came up for renewal in April. Phone felt nice, OS was usable etc etc so I upgraded soon after and retired my iPhone 3G to the junk drawer.

Now, 8 months on, I've been back on my iPhone for 4 months because the N900s software foibles were greater, for me, than the iPhone 3G. My wife has no such luck tho - screen scratched (through use of the stylus), ringer sometimes doesn't work, the keyboard keys have essentially almost entirely flaked off to leave the transparent backing plastic showing.

My wife hates the N900, not because of its poor phone software (or the fact that it cannot do MMS built in) but because the hardware is literally falling apart not even half way into the 18 month contract!

Re:Beta Test on the public!

[drinkypoo]

I've been modded down repeatedly for pointing out that the HTC Raphael (AT&T Fuze...) has a known problem with the sliding keyboard, a cable that comes loose. Fixable with tape but they don't do this when they refurb. Then it happens again. Old phone so nobody cares any more but it's just another HTC phone willfully misrepaired and dumped back on customers.