Tech Clunkers of the year gone-by

First to quash any rumors of me having died in a night of drunken revelry on the last day of the decade. I’m very much alive, thanks for your concern.
I’ve done a so-so job of keeping this blog up to date in 2010, so without making a new year’s resolution I do commit to my regular Pool of readers that I'll reverse the trend and finally Nail it just the way I promised at the outset.. Come what may I'll blog regularly.


The tech vendors and enthusiasts have witnessed both pride and infamy in the departing year. Having bid adieu to the year 2010 let’s have a look on major tech disappointments that I feel weren't supposed to be. These are those terrible gadgets that came and never conquered, they made hypes that were never fulfilled. Devices, technologies and ideas that didn't have it all in sync with the geeks or with the end consumer either. Then its also about companies that announced their products or services too premature and made a bad situation hilariously worse..


1) 3G tops the list. It's ironic how the introduction of 3G has been delayed in India even as the world is talking of 4G. Earlier 3G was stuck in spectrum allocation And now 3G is derailed for the umpteenth time because of security concerns over video calling! 
But the last couple of months were however very promising. Atleast by the next decade India will have a top notch, cutting-edge, smooth as silk, spectacularly advanced telecom system. Thankfully this(will be) due to a refreshing lack of A Raja in the telecom ministry. God alone knows who's gonna be the next Monk without a Ferrari who'll finally ensure a 30 min. or free 3G experience even on our now 30 month old data starved phones..

Source: www.watblog.com

2) Number portability :Oct 31 Nov 25, and Dec 31- these were the dates on which Number portability was supposed to take off in India. After much talk, now only Haryana has this service and that too with a few telecom operators. The rest of the country will have to wait till April, 2011 to switch service providers without losing their current nos.. Although I don't really think that it's gonna help all consumers (well it may, in some cases) but I really think it'll not give our Service providers the chance to fuck the pockets of the so-called 'very valuable customers', coz of the large clutter of those 11 odd(i guess) in business. Who knows if this one technology brings a new Renaissance in our mobile experience.
Well for the time being we just have one thing to look at 


3)  McAfee:  McAfee’s software solutions are installed to protect your PC or laptops from virtual threats. But ironically, the most famous Anti-Virus caused hundreds of thousands of computers to crash. After installing the update, users found their PCs in ongoing reboot cycles with no end in sight. 
This makes McAfee a dis-fucking-gusting thing to buy for a 1200 bucks.


4)Tablets that didn't seamlessly blend creativity with efficiency:

www.notionink.com

First on the list is the Notion Ink's Adam. An Indian venture which actually defined the 'real tablet' around  the world. The device had everything you could ever imagine- a transflective display, a swivel camera, an HDMI out port, wifi, Bluetooth, 3G, sd, usb and mini-usb connectivity options and above all adobe flash support. There isn't a single thing that was missing.........except the DEVICE ITSELF.
Coz it never came out. Announced in early 2010, they started pre-booking in end- December and have already sold out(in 2010 itself).


Next is the Made in India, for India and by India(ns) tablet to revolutionize education, as announced by Kapil Sibal. But it was too shy to make a public appearence!! Well I just hope the tablet is in the hands of school going children atleast by the time his term as an Education minister ends.


Now the only good piece of tablet available in the Indian market and yet a DUD- The Samsung Galaxy Tab. It was very exciting and everything about the device felt good(including the advertisement with a man in boxers working in the office..oops taking a call on the galaxy tab) but hands on experience of the device at a Croma outlet really spoilt it all, atleast for me. Did it suck? Damn straight it did.

The Tab has a huge screen and yet not a single app has been made specifically for it. And almost all the apps are pixelated and don't fit the screen. Watching videos is a pain in the ass. Very little content on the device actually matches the resolution of the screen. Even the wallpapers were from Samsung's other android mobile devices. Everything was fussy. 


Well the device is good in terms of the hardware and the fact that you get a chance to use a tsunami of apps available in the Android Market place, but it will eventually be lost in the sea of mediocre devices out there in the market. 


Next up the Ipad
Psst.. Apple fanboys and Steve Jobs worshipers don't flame me for this being on my list. The Ipad is truly and incredibly the best tablet. It certainly did rock and is the best device in the segment it created.
It's on my list coz even after months passing-by and promises galore they still haven't launched it in India. This is when the world is actually preparing for the next Camera toting Ipad 2.
We still have to depend on our Uncles or Aunts in the States or the UK to get one or pay a moolah for it in the grey market.


To be Contd...
       

Tech Clunkers of the year gone-by