Curate the Museum of Failures

gizmo81 · 08-06-2017 09:11AM #1

The BBC Breakfast Show had a segment this morning on The Museum Of Failure in Sweden.

http://museumoffailure.se/#museum

Museum of Failure is a collection of interesting innovation failures. The majority of all innovation projects fail and the museum showcases these failures to provide visitors a fascinating learning experience.

The collection consists of over seventy failed products and services from around the world. Every item provides unique insight into the risky business of innovation.

I think this is a great idea, though no companies have supported the museum, afraid to tarnish their brands, but should we be proud of failures as Samuel Beckett once said;

"Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better."

So, what would you put in the Museum of Failures?

The Museum had A McDonalds Deluxe Burger, Colgate Lasagne, Coffee Coca-Cola etc

My first one is Mini Discs. I got the player as a teenager and it was very expensive, now it just sits on a shelf in the garage covered in dust.

Lady is a tramp · 08-06-2017 09:12AM

Fidget Spinners. So overrated. Bring back the good old Yoyo! Or Pogs. Pogs were great!

stimpson · 08-06-2017 09:18AM

gizmo81 wrote: »

My first one is Mini Discs. I got the player as a teenager and it was very expensive, now it just sits on a shelf in the garage covered in dust.

I never got the hate for mini discs. Near CD quality but the convienece of a tape. In the days before recordable CDs they were fantastic. I had a compact system with MD, a head unit in the car and a portable one. And hundreds of multicoloured discs. Just because they are obsolete doesn't mean they were a failure.

Mine would be electric cars. There were 8 Nissan leafs bought or imported last month.

gizmo81 · 08-06-2017 09:22AM

No I liked them and making my mixed tapes, but I mean they just didn't take off.

stimpson wrote: »

I never got the hate for mini discs. Near CD quality but the convienece of a tape. In the days before recordable CDs they were fantastic. I had a compact system with MD, a head unit in the car and a portable one. And hundreds of multicoloured discs. Just because they are obsolete doesn't mean they were a failure.

Mine would be electric cars. There were 8 Nissan leafs bought it imported last month.

The J Stands for Jay · 08-06-2017 09:26AM

I still use minidiscs. The Walkman runs off one AA battery, and seems to use very little lower. I actually use batteries that no longer power other things round the house. Makes me feel that little but more environmentally friendly. It also saves the battery on my phone.

silverharp · 08-06-2017 09:27AM

Is Sweden one of the exhibits?

Ted Plain · 08-06-2017 09:27AM

I remember having a can of Pepsi Crystal.

These are two Irish ones I can think of:

Club 90. It was lemonade with a hint of mint. Tasty too, from what I can remember. Launched in 1985 or 86, I'd say. Didn't sell well and wasn't available for long.

Carroll's Compass cigarettes. They were 100mm fags and the box had some sort of geometric design on it. I remember someone smoking them during Italia 90.

By the way, for anyone that finds this sort of thing interesting, there is a fantastic place in London called The Museum of Brands, Packaging and Advertising. Well worth a visit if you're there.

gizmo81 · 08-06-2017 09:29AM

Club 90 sounds like the 7up Mojito they had out last summer. Not for me.

Jordy Verrill wrote: »

I remember having a can of Pepsi Crystal.

These are two Irish ones I can think of:

Club 90. It was lemonade with a hint of mint. Tasty too, from what I can remember. Launched in 1985 or 86, I'd say. Didn't sell well and wasn't available for long.

Carroll's Compass cigarettes. They were 100mm fags and the box had some sort of geometric design on it. I remember someone smoking them during Italia 90.

By the way, for anyone that finds this sort of thing interesting, there is a fantastic place in London called The Museum of Brands, Packaging and Advertising. Well worth a visit if you're there.

The J Stands for Jay · 08-06-2017 09:30AM

Lady is a tramp wrote: »

Fidget Spinners. So overrated. Bring back the good old Yoyo! Or Pogs. Pogs were great!

"No, I don't want to see your Pog collection!"

DontThankMe · 08-06-2017 09:37AM

Motorola's attempt at creating a worldwide mobile phone service was a spectacular failure.

Iridium, the global satellite phone company backed by Motorola (MOT), filed for bankruptcy in 1999, after the company had spent $5 billion to build and launch its infrastructure of satellites to provide worldwide wireless phone service. At the time, it was one of the 20 largest bankruptcies in US history. To work properly, the system needed 66 satellites. The creation of this enormous system forced the company to default on $1.5 billion of debt. The service had been such a failure that it only had 10,000 subscribers. This was, in part, due to technical difficulties with Iridium's first handsets. According to a Dartmouth Tuck Business School case study on the history of Iridium in 1998, the company forecast that it would have 500,000 subscribers by the following year. But, the service was expensive for customers, and the cellular phone business had started to take hold as its infrastructure was built out in most of the large developed countries. An Iridium handset cost $3,000 and talk time was as much as $5 a minute. Cellular service was not as broadly available, but it was far less expensive.Technology difficulties also made the service unpopular. Because Iridium's technology depended on line-of-sight between the phone antenna and the orbiting satellite, subscribers were unable to use the phone inside moving cars, inside buildings, and in many urban areas.

gramar · 08-06-2017 09:39AM

Tayto chocolate bars.

Eponymous · 08-06-2017 09:42AM

The Sinclair C5

Microsoft Zune

Kodak Disc Cameras/Film: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disc_film

Breo beer. People calling it "white Guinness" didn't really help.

The J Stands for Jay · 08-06-2017 09:53AM

Eponymous wrote: »

The Sinclair C5

Microsoft Zune

Kodak Disc ,/Film: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disc_film

Breo beer. People calling it "white Guinness" didn't really help.

I remember someone in my class buying a second hand disc film camera at some charity thing in the early 1990s. It came with a roll of 110 film...

MRnotlob606 · 08-06-2017 09:55AM

Ray Darcy's career

silverharp · 08-06-2017 09:55AM

DontThankMe wrote: »

Motorola's attempt at creating a worldwide mobile phone service was a spectacular failure.

Iridium, the global satellite phone company backed by Motorola (MOT), filed for bankruptcy in 1999, after the company had spent $5 billion to build and launch its infrastructure of satellites to provide worldwide wireless phone service. At the time, it was one of the 20 largest bankruptcies in US history. To work properly, the system needed 66 satellites. The creation of this enormous system forced the company to default on $1.5 billion of debt. The service had been such a failure that it only had 10,000 subscribers. This was, in part, due to technical difficulties with Iridium's first handsets. According to a Dartmouth Tuck Business School case study on the history of Iridium in 1998, the company forecast that it would have 500,000 subscribers by the following year. But, the service was expensive for customers, and the cellular phone business had started to take hold as its infrastructure was built out in most of the large developed countries. An Iridium handset cost $3,000 and talk time was as much as $5 a minute. Cellular service was not as broadly available, but it was far less expensive.Technology difficulties also made the service unpopular. Because Iridium's technology depended on line-of-sight between the phone antenna and the orbiting satellite, subscribers were unable to use the phone inside moving cars, inside buildings, and in many urban areas.

what were the satellites used for after?

GavRedKing · 08-06-2017 10:04AM

gizmo81 wrote: »

So, what would you put in the Museum of Failures?

The DeLorean DMC12. It was an utter shambles of a car that found cult status for appearing in the Back To The Future movies.

Your Face · 08-06-2017 10:06AM

Prussia.

gizmo81 · 08-06-2017 10:39AM

Tayto Chocolate.

I'm trying to think of more food ones.

s3rtvdbwfj81ch · 08-06-2017 10:43AM

Eponymous wrote: »

Microsoft Zune

I own one of these, still going strong!

valoren · 08-06-2017 10:46AM

New Coke.

andekwarhola · 08-06-2017 10:49AM

Breo.

osarusan · 08-06-2017 10:55AM

Steorn and their Orbo should be front and centre.

Ri_Nollaig · 08-06-2017 10:56AM

stimpson wrote: »

I never got the hate for mini discs. Near CD quality but the convienece of a tape. In the days before recordable CDs they were fantastic. I had a compact system with MD, a head unit in the car and a portable one. And hundreds of multicoloured discs. Just because they are obsolete doesn't mean they were a failure.

Mine would be electric cars. There were 8 Nissan leafs bought or imported last month.

Minidiscs were great but they arrived too late really against MP3s and once costs for the latter dropped they were never able to compete.
Also Sony were very restrictive on the brand.

A bit early on the 'electric cars as a failure' no?

The J Stands for Jay · 08-06-2017 11:07AM

MRnotlob606 wrote: »

Ray Darcy's career

I was going to like this, but then remembered how much he gets paid, and how much he seems to enjoy his work.

Wibbs · 08-06-2017 11:10AM

GavRedKing wrote: »

The DeLorean DMC12. It was an utter shambles of a car that found cult status for appearing in the Back To The Future movies.

Horrible yoke to drive too. Woefully underpowered.

Apple Newton and associated products. Great idea that came too early and then missed the boat entirely.

OS/2.

Guinness light.

Segway.

Ford Edsel.

Google Glass.

Honourable mention to Betamax. Much better product than VHS(and still used today in industry), but failed to take off in the consumer market.

WHIP IT! · 08-06-2017 11:16AM

Wibbs wrote: »

Horrible yoke to drive too. Woefully underpowered.

Apple Newton and associated products. Great idea that came too early and then missed the boat entirely.

OS/2.

Guinness light.

Segway.

Ford Edsel.

Google Glass.

Honourable mention to Betamax. Much better product than VHS(and still used today in industry), but failed to take off in the consumer market.

Is this different to 'Guinness Mid Strength'? Not a Guinness drinker, but mid-strength has a kinda niche in sport clubs - as in, people can have a pint after their game of golf/tennis/five-a-side etc and still be ok to drive.... dunno if that makes it a success or not!

Noveight · 08-06-2017 11:19AM

Google Plus, once tipped to take a slice of the cake from Facebook. Went down like a lead balloon.

RayM · 08-06-2017 11:23AM

Tab Clear. All the flavour of Coca Cola (allegedly), but clear. Why?

stimpson · 08-06-2017 11:26AM

Ri_Nollaig wrote: »

A bit early on the 'electric cars as a failure' no?

OK, let's just say the Nissan Leaf. I read a thread on the EV forum about a new owner driving Dublin to Cavan and had to stop twice to charge. An hours journey taking 2 1/2 hours. Yet he was still saying it was so smooth and that he really didn't mind driving at 50mph. Right so.

The_Valeyard · 08-06-2017 11:37AM

Your Face wrote: »

Prussia.

?

They under the genius of Bismarck United the German states to form...... Germany.

Hector Savage · 08-06-2017 11:40AM

I wanna see that plastic bike wobble

Curate the Museum of Failures

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