Biggest Tech Disappointments of 2007

PCWorld recently published their “15 Biggest Tech Disappointments of 2007” which they said were “much-ballyhooed products, sites, and services, it turned out, left much to be desired.” They called them the “biggest losers” and said that they left a sour taste in their mouths. After reading the list, I’m not sure what was up with their editors when they made their selections.  It’s like they took some of the best products and services that were the most popular this year (minus a few exceptions) and dug for a way in which they could put a negative spin on them. I’d guess that their intention was to try and get as much publicity as possible from this, and if that’s the case, we fell for it. So, without further ado, here’s PCWorld’s 15 biggest tech disappointments of 2007:

15.  Amazon Unbox
14.  Municipal WiMax
13.  Social Networks
12.  Internet Security
11.  Microsoft Zune
10.  Wireless Carriers
9.   Office 2007
8.   Apple “Leopard” OS 10.5
7.   Voice Over IP
6.   The Broadband Industry
5.   Apple iPhone
4.   Yahoo!
3.   Facebook Beacon
2.   The High-Def Format War
1.   Windows Vista

At first glance, when I saw Amazon Unbox on the list I thought, “Okay, it deserves to be there.” It certainly was a disappointment and I think it’s safe to say it was a flop.  But then I got down to “Social Networks” at number 13 and was baffled. Social Networks were a hit this year.  Sure, there’s an over-abundance of them, but PCWorld said sharing photos and videos is all “so… 2006.” Facebook made huge strides this year when thousands of 3rd party applications made their way to the site, so what’s so disappointing about that?

And what about Office 2007? It ranks number 9 on the list of biggest disappointments, but for myself, it’s been far from a disappointment. Nearly everybody I know who has used the new Office had a bit of a hard time adjusting to the changes, but once they did, they couldn’t imagine going back. The ribbons are awesome and save so much time, but PCWorld said “Ribbon schmibbon.  We’ll take the classic menus, please.” Hmmm..

Once I got down to #8 (Apple Leopard) and #5 (Apple iPhone), I was thinking that this surely had to be a joke, but let me assure you that it’s not. Their complaint with the iPhone is that it’s not opened up to everybody, only people who lock in to long contracts with certain carriers. Well duh, we already knew this! Yes, it is disappointing, but does that make the iPhone one of the greatest disappointments for the year? I think not.

I’m thinking that over the course of the year, PCWorld learned that by saying “Vista sucks,” they’ll get all of the fanboys talking and they like that. Perhaps this is why their number one biggest disappointment of the year is Windows Vista. They said “five years in the making and this is the best Microsoft could do?” Yes, it did take Microsoft quite a bit of time, and yes, we were all originally expecting Vista to be Longhorn, and it wasn’t.  But saying that “Vista isn’t all that good” and making it the biggest disappointment of the year is taking things a little too far. Were there some disappointing elements to Vista? Absolutely!

Had PCWorld put Windows Vista Ultimate on the list, I would have had no complaints because the promised “Ultimate Extras” have been nearly non-existent. But Vista itself? It doesn’t deserve to be there, nor do just about half of the other products and services on the list. Come on PCWorld, that’s the best you could come up with? What a disappointment.

 Enjoyed the post? Subscribe to our feed to get a daily dose of CyberNet!

Tags: Gadgets, Hardware, Software, Web Sites, Windows Vista

Related Posts:

• 2007 CyberNet Awards: Worst Tech Products
• Yahoo Tech Launched In Hopes To Compete With CNet
• Vulnerability Already Found In Internet Explorer 7
• Big Cash Piles in the Tech Industry
• 2007 CyberNet Awards Recap