Ten of Apple's Biggest Failures

It's hard to believe that only around fifteen years ago, Apple, Inc. was at its nadir. The operating system wars were long over; Microsoft's "quick and dirty operating system", aka MS-DOS, was replaced by Windows 95, essentially bringing the long war to a seeming conclusion, and Apple had lost. Hope came from an unlikely place: Steve Jobs, who, as The Apple Museum relates had left Apple in 1985 following a bloody boardroom tussle. Since leaving Apple, Jobs had started up the Next computing company, while Apple's fortunes continued to sour. Finally, in 1997, Apple bought Next, and Jobs returned in a small way; the following year, Jobs took over. By 1999, BusinessWeek reported that thanks in part to Jobs, Apple was on the rebound. Further successes followed, including the massively successful iPod that monopolized the industry and sold 100 million devices by 2007, according to Engadget.

Apple is once again a hot property, and the lean times of the 1990s seem to be behind them. That said, Apple is a corporation like any other, and it's made its fair share of mistakes-more of its fair share, in fact, considering that Apple has consistently attempted to be the trendsetter in the technology world. But all gambles are risks, and sometimes Apple lost big. Here are ten of their worst products and worst failures (in no particular order, because it's tough to play favorites with horrible things.)

1. The Lisa (1983)

The idea: Create an affordable, approachable and cutting-edge computer for the rest of us.

What happened: Apple created the massively unaffordable Lisa. At about $10,000, the Lisa would be pricey today, but factoring in inflation, what cost ten grand in 1983 would cost around $21,000 today (do the math yourself at the Inflation Calculator.) While the Lisa was cutting-edge, commercializing Xerox PARC's graphics-based user interface, the GUI (the foundation of all modern computing), the Lisa's price made its only audience businesses, who weren't willing to switch to an untested format. Other problems included its nonstandard floppy disk drives, and despite attempts to burnish the Lisa's image, it was essentially distrusted by the public. Lisa's failure, however, informed the now-classic 1984 launch of the first Macintosh, which was the success the Lisa never was. According to Infoworld, by mid-1985 the little Mac that could comprised 20% of the personal computer market, and its more affordable and modular design caused Apple to dump the Lisa in 1986, by which point the Mac was recognized as the better product.

2. The G4 Cube (2000)

The idea: Push the limits of computer design, and hopefully sell the public on that design.

What happened: The design was the true triumph of design over utility. Apple has always been known as favoring stylish designs-it had produced the fabulously expensive (and futuristic-looking) 20th anniversary Mac, but that had always been intended as a limited product. The G4 Cube, however, was supposed to be a big new product, released with much aplomb. It was a critical darling at first, but that didn't stop it from being scrapped less than a year later. The problems, as MacWorld reported, were great in number. First off, it was expensive, and consumers looking for power would pick a PowerMac G4 instead. Secondly, its small enclosure meant that its expansion options were severely limited. With a bad price point and no clear niche in the Apple computer lineup, the product was doomed to failure. It has a spiritual successor of sorts in the small Mac Mini, but even that computer is easier to upgrade and doesn't lack audio input.

3. The Windtunnel (2002)

The idea: Release a new generation of PowerMacs. Simple, right?

What happened: Apple released the mirrored drive door (MDD) PowerMac G4 in August 2002. The computers were certainly snazzy; unfortunately, as users soon realized, the computers were unbearably loud. So loud, in fact, that one manufacturer created special cases that you could stick your computer into to cut down on the noise. When you consider that a significant chunk of Apple's consumer base were and are audio professionals who have to hear things for a living, you can imagine how this problem transcends mere annoyance. Fans dubbed the machines "windtunnels", Wired reported, and it took an uprising of disgruntled PowerMac users to force Apple to take steps such as software updates and replacement options to alleviate the issues.

4. The Newton (1993)

The idea: Create a small, portable personal data assistant (PDA).

What happened: First off, "small" in this case is very much relative: just look at this picture comparing a Newton to an iPhone. Yikes! The Newton pioneered many useful features that we now take for granted, but its ungainly size, poor battery life and screen essentially doomed it. First released in 1993, the Newton product line lasted until early 1998, earning itself something of a cult status, but not much else. Ultimately, the Newton's advances in handwriting recognition would influence Palm in its Palm Pilot, which became the successful PDA everyone thinks of when they hear the name.

5. The Pippin (1995)

The idea: Create a hybrid personal computer-gaming system with online capabilities.

What happened: Once again, the Pippin was an Apple product that was revolutionary, but never ended up being the device that popularized its technology. Unable to produce the Pippin on its own Apple partnered with Bandai to release the product in 1995 and 1996. It boasted a 14.4 kbits modem for internet connectivity, a feature no other game console on the market had, but unfortunately its high price and the glut of more-supported systems (including the Sega Saturn, Sony PlayStation, and Nintendo 64) led to its quick demise. Apple hasn't dipped its toes in gaming waters since.

6. The Hockey Puck Mouse (1998)

The idea: Hey, this new computer looks quirky, let's make the mouse quirky too!

What happened: Apple created what CNET called one of the worst tech products of all time, and even Mac fanboys like myself will admit that it is quite possibly the worst pointing device created by man. The round, hockey-puck shaped mouse was difficult to hold for those with small hands, and its entirely circular design made it nearly impossible to tell which part of the device was supposed to point up. As CNET points out, however, the iMac and its abysmal mouse helped standardize adoption of USB peripherals, which everyone will agree is a good thing. Still, was it worth it?

7. Apple Hi-Fi (2006)

The idea: Apple can make computers, Apple can make music players. Why not speakers?

What happened: Apple stepped on its own toes and got burned. From a business standpoint, it's hard to say what Apple was thinking. By the release of the Hi-Fi in 2006, the iPod was the dominant digital music player, and dozens if not hundreds of companies were producing speakers with integrated iPod docks. Why would Apple want to threaten a booming industry that helped push adoption of its product? But try they did with the Hi-Fi. Its problems were many: it was pricey, which didn't mesh with its integrated and compact design. The iPod jutted out of the top of the system exposed, making it easy to damage. The iPod Hi-Fi disappeared September 2007, and as TUAW noted, few missed it.

8. Copland (1991)

The idea: The next-generation Apple operating system.

What happened: Apple tried to create a worthy successor to the MacOS, but after years of work, they had little to show for it. Eventually the whole project was scrapped by 1994. To be fair, Copland might have been a failure, but it was also a blessing in disguise of sorts; having failed at producing their own operating system, Apple shopped around, leading them to buy Nextstep OS, bringing Jobs back to Apple to head their resurgence.

9. Macintosh TV (1993)

The idea: Fuse a Mac and a television set! What could go wrong?

What happened: It seems premature to declare the AppleTV a failure, but there's no doubt that the Macintosh TV was one. It was released in 1993 and scrapped the next year. To be fair, it did start the computers-in-black trend, and its all-in-one design makes it a crude forerunner to the iMac, but beyond that it failed to impress. The product was expensive, and couldn't display television shows in a window. Only 10,000 were ever produced.

10. Mac Clones

The idea: Fight Windows-equipped Intel machines by licensing the Mac brand to other companies.

What happened: Apple nearly killed itself. The clone idea was a way for Apple to increase its diminishing market penetration in the 1990s: before then, they had strictly quashed attempts to reverse-engineer their products. It's not surprising that now that have the same policies, because the fling was a disaster. The clones turned out to be good products, so much so that they undercut Apple's rather poor and pricey offerings. It's hard to believe, but at the time Macs weren't known as excellent or even stylish machines, and so Power Computing's clones began to match the popularity of Dell while undercutting Apple at the same time. When Jobs took over, he halted the clone projects and Apple eventually swallowed Power Computing up. Macworld has an excellent documentation of what they dub "The Clone Wars".

Honorable Mentions

While this is of course a selective list, we can't forget many other smaller failures over the years. Apple seemed to have bad luck when partnering with other companies. For example, the Motorola ROKR functioned as a slow cousin to the iPod; Apple had much greater success with a music player-phone combo with its own iPhone. Software is also home to some of Apple's big stinkers, including "eWorld", a barely-advertised internet community.

While that's a big list, it's by no means comprehensive. Got some favorite flops that I have missed? Sound off in the comments!

References
*Foljanty, Lucas. "The Apple Museum | Steve Jobs". The Apple Museum. Retrieved January 28, 2010.
*Burrows, Peter (1999). "Can Apple Take its Game to the Next Level?". BusinessWeek. Retrieved January 28, 2010.
*Blass, Evan (2007-04-09). "Apple Sells 100 millionth iPod". Engadget. Retrieved January 28, 2010.
*McGeever, Christine (1985-06-03). "Apple's Lisa Meets a Bad End". Infoworld. Retrieved via Google January 28, 2010.
*Honan, Matthew (2001-07-01). "Requiem for a Cube". Macworld. Retrieved January 28, 2010.
*Allee, Alex (2003-01-16). "Don't Worry, Your G4 is Supposed to Be That Loud". MacObserver. Retrieved January 26, 2010.
*Kahney, Leander (2003-02-26). "Mac User Fights for Quieter Life". Wired. Retrieved January 27, 2010.
*Schramm, Mike (2007-09-05). "Bye-Bye Hi-Fi". TUAW. Retrieved January 28, 2010.
*Myslewski, Rik (2008-05-23). "Reliving the Clone Wars". Macworld. Retrieved January 27, 2010.