How many times have you seen a gadget or application and thought to yourself “man is that ugly.” PC World was able to list off 10 items that will surely make you think just that.
I’m not going to post their list verbatim because they give a good amount of detail about each item they chose. Remember, a lot of the items in the list are over 10 years old, and at that time function was a lot more important than design. It’s also like looking at photos from 20 years ago where you wonder “what the heck was I thinking?”
Here’s what their top 10 consists of, and my thoughts on each one:
- Acoustic Coupler Modems – These are apparently from the 1970′s, and I’ve never seen one of these things in person. Thank goodness our computer modems aren’t like this anymore!
- Osborne 1 – A 24-pound portable computer that had a full-size keyboard, TWO floppy drives, and a sweet 5-inch monochrome monitor. Chicks are sure to swarm to you if you’re carrying this thing around!
- Motorola DynaTAC 8000X – Sure this phone was the size of a brick, but that didn’t stop people from dropping nearly $4,000 on it! After all, everyone wanted to be like Zack Morris.
- Microsoft Windows 1.0 – It may not have the 3D graphics and glittering eye candy that we are used to, but it did have a user interface. I guess the poor design didn’t hold people back from picking up a copy of Windows.
- Nintendo Virtual Boy – I never actually knew anyone that had used this because of the bad rep it got, but I’m amazed that no other game consoles have attempted their own version of virtual reality.
- Furby – This was one of those gifts that every kid wanted back in 1998 just like the classic Tickle Me Elmo. It’s pretty funny how fast these toys fall off the face of the Earth.
- iMac Flower Power – Apple is often applauded for their excellent taste in design, but what the heck were they smoking when they made a tie-dye design like this?
- Neuros II Digital Audio Computer – I remember hearing about this audio player back when it was released in 2004. It was supposed to take the market by storm with its wide array of supported audio formats (OGG, WMA, MP3, etc…), but it was lacking a bit in visual appearance.
- Commodore 1541 Floppy Disk Drive – Some accessories for the Commodore 64 were a bit bulky, but it is still a computer many of us will never forget.
- Microsoft Zune – I don’t think that the Zune deserved to be on this list because I think they look rather good. Well, the brown one is a bit interesting, but when they are selling for $80 my personal taste can be compromised.
That Osborne 1 computer is not ugly, it’s cute
In regards to #1, the kid in WarGames ([imdb.com]) had one and that was in 1983.
I remember those old 1541 drives. At least the ones that came with the 128 were a little smaller and white.
I’d like to think that most old technology is ugly. At the time, and even today, I thought all of those first generation apple computers were disgusting.
I guess for a 24 pound beast.
Probably wouldn’t be so cute if you had to lug that around town.
The original NES is still pretty sweet looking.
Agreed! Even the 1st generation iPod now looks a little ugly.
I will forever remember the early Motorola phones as the water bottle phones…
Windows 1.0 isn’t ugly…remember that was 1985
I actually haven’t heard them being referred to as a water bottle phone. Normally it is just the brick phone.
True, but that was the case with many of the gadgets they listed.
You’ve never heard of them?!?
This isn’t the right example but [alibaba.com]
I remember once seeing a father and son pair holding similar objects with different functions