How 'Bout Them Rotten Apples?

Before era of iPod and iPhone, company had some stinkers
By Chip Bayers,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 24, 2008 8:59 PM CST
How 'Bout Them Rotten Apples?
The new Apple Newton MessagPad 2000 is shown at New York's Newton Source store, in this May 22, 1997 file photo. It may be worth reminding Apple Inc. and the buying public that not every product the company has put out has been successful. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, file)   (Associated Press)

Apple has been around for almost a quarter of a century, but not all of its products were as ingenious as the iPod. Wired highlights the company's biggest flops.

  1. The MessagePad (AKA The Newton): Fashioned to revolutionize personal computing, this PDA was too far ahead of its time for consumers.
  2. Apple Pippin: Apple's only foray into the world of video game systems got buried by Nintendo, Sega, and Sony.

  1. The TAM: Apple celebrated its 20th anniversary by releasing a computer that looked impressive but didn't offer anything innovative under the shell.
  2. Macintosh TV: The "unholy fusion" of a Sony television and a Mac computer had a pretty major flaw: it couldn't display television feeds in the desktop window.
  3. G4 Cube: While winning an award for design, the high price tag and absent monitor kept this computer off most people's buy list.
Click the link for the rest of Wired's choices. (More Apple stories.)

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