The Gadgets Page

PC World has compiled a list of the 25 Worst Tech Products of All Time. Like all “25 this” or “100 that” lists, it’s highly subjective, and the selections are somewhat random, but it’s still amusing. They boldly gave the #1 position to AOL, but many of the other selections are products that are now just unpleasant memories. Here’s a sampling of my favorites:

• #4, Windows Millenium, is called “the worst version of Windows ever released.” Come on, it wasn’t half as bad as Windows 3.1.
• #7, Microsoft Bob. What was Microsoft thinking.
• #12, PointCast Network. This seems a bit unfair. PointCast was an application that let me quickly access a wide variety of news sources, updated whenever there was news. It bears a striking similarity to what I now use BlogLines for. Released in 1996, PointCast was just ahead of its time… and a bit ahead of the technology of the day.
• #15, Iomega Zip Drive. This device singlehandedly destroyed more of my valuable data than any other. I curse its vile memory.
• #20, CueCat. “Typing URLs in from magazines is so hard! If only people could hook a bulky device up to their serial port, install some drivers, and then scan a barcode instead! That would save so much time.”

[Read the entire list at PC World]