15 most disappointing technology products in 2007

Only about two weeks away, 2007 will pass. Looking back on the past year with many successes and a series of new products launched to satisfy the user's thirst for technology. But besides, there are also many products that cause disappointment. The following are products like that.

1. Windows Vista

Windows Vista is considered to be the most disappointing product of 2007, not because the operating system version is too bad, but because it doesn't deserve the expectations of the users for 5 years.

First, Windows Vista requires an advanced hardware configuration. Older PC users are almost unable to upgrade to this version of the operating system unless they accept the upgrade. Second, Vista is too slow compared to Windows XP.

Third, Vista's compatibility with software and hardware is relatively limited. Part of this is because manufacturers are not quick to upgrade software and hardware, causing widespread incompatibility when Vista officially launches. Fourth, User Account Controls feature sometimes causes too many difficulties for users.

Therefore, it is not difficult to understand why users still prefer using Windows XP version than Vista. Even some users have upgraded to Vista after a while back to XP.

However, it is certain that Vista will replace Windows XP to dominate the global PC market by simply purchasing a new PC that does not have Vista preinstalled more than buying a pre-installed PC.

2. The standard battle of high-definition DVD format

February 2007: Sony announced Blu-ray won the standard battle of high-definition DVD format.

April 2007: Toshiba announced to sell 100,000 HD DVD players.

July 2007: Blockbuster Video said it will start selling Blu-ray discs at its more than 1,400 retail stores.

August 2007: Paramount and DreamWorks voiced support for HD DVD.

September 2007: The third highest-resolution DVD format standard appeared - standard HD VMD (Versatile Multilayer Disc)

Historically there have been many standard battles of similar format, such as between VHS and Betamax, CD-R and CD-RW, DVD-A and SACD . The standard format war will ultimately benefit For consumers, but when the war has not come to an end, the video industry will still have difficulty finding users.

3. Facebook Beacon - Advertising technology against social networks

The launch of the Beacon advertising program has caused a lot of frustration for users of Facebook virtual social networks. Now anything Facebook users buy on sites like Amazon, Overstock, Fandango or a series of other websites will be notified to their friends. Even if the user has exited the account on Facebook, the social network continues to collect their personal data.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg apologized to the user and clearly presented the easiest way to get rid of Beacon's watchful eye. But the damage to Facebook users is already visible and hard to deny.

4. Yahoo

Standing in the next position is a pioneer in the global technology village - Yahoo. 2007 was a disappointing year for the company with financial weaknesses and especially political involvement. The information provided by the company to the Chinese government has caused some people to be arrested. This is the third consecutive incident in Yahoo's five-year return.

Not only that, Yahoo's leader admitted to lying to Congress. Accordingly, Yahoo said it did not know the intention of the Chinese government 'asking for' data about its users. The reality is quite the opposite.

Yahoo Yang CEO and Yahoo lawyer chief Michael Callahan had to apologize to a congressional committee.

5. Apple iPhone

The most anticipated product in 2007 is also on the list of the most disappointing products of the year. Besides small errors like virtual keyboards that are too small or lack of support for Flash format, iPhone is really a great product. But on the other hand if users want to switch service providers to take advantage of better broadband service, they will have to go to . hackers.

However, looking for hackers to unlock the iPhone or being allowed to run other third-party applications, users will be able to use 'a brick', all services on the iPhone can no longer operate.

The price of the iPhone is not cheap either. The initial price is up to 600 USD but then it is reduced to about 400 USD. That's not to mention the 2-year contract service fee with the service provider .

6. 'Injustice incident' of broadband

In 2007, users found that many Internet service providers such as Comcast, Cox, Qwest, Cablevision or Charter interfered with the BitTorrent peer-to-peer flow of information and slowed down the speed of the road. this transmission. ComCast initially rejected it bluntly, but then admitted to taking the above action to prevent users from connecting peers to take up too much bandwidth. The cost of users who still have to pay monthly to use broadband services is not limited. The issue of Internet neutrality began to be controversial.

7. Bad year of VoIP

2007 was really a disastrous year for VoIP service. Leading VoIP service provider Vonage has spent nearly a year fighting copyright infringement lawsuits from rivals like Verizon, Sprint Nextel, and AT&T. SunRocket provider announced officially closed last summer. Thousands of customers are cut off service.

In November, a British security researcher announced the successful development of a VoIP-enabled attack code when recording all calls made through this service. This incident makes 2007 even darker with VoIP.

8. Leopard - Too many errors

Just a few days after its official release, a series of problems were discovered in the latest version of Mac OS X 10.5. Even, some bugs in this version are more dangerous than previous versions.

The most frequently mentioned errors include: wireless network connection error, unable to log in the administrator account, moving difficult data between different drives, the firewall does not operate . Most notably the Security vendors have discovered a security bug in Mac OS X 10.4 'has returned to reign over' on Mac OS X 10.5. Another problem is that users who upgrade to an older version of Mac OS X to version 10.5 often experience the "blue screen of death."

In mid-November, Apple released an update to fix some problems in version 10.5. But the error can still be repaired and Apple 's reputation seems hard to recover quickly.

9. Office 2007

Users who have spent a lot of time can learn how to master Microsoft Office software. However, their efforts finally poured into the sea when Office 2007 version was officially launched. The interface of Office 2007 has been completely changed. Office 2007's 'Ribbon' menu system is really confusing. Many experts have called the version of Office 2007 not a step forward but a step backwards from Microsoft.

10. Mobile service provider

No one can deny the fact that during the past time mobile phone hardware has changed a lot better. Not only the iPhone innovation, but also other manufacturers such as LG, Samsung, HTC or Nokia have launched a series of new unique creative products.

However, creativity does not seem to be able to find a foothold on the mobile network service providers. Call quality is still too poor. High-speed mobile data networks are still too rare. Most service providers still pay more attention to revenue than service quality.

11. Microsoft Zune

Microsoft actually had the opportunity to make Zune a "iPhone killer" this year with the launch of Zune 2.0 with many exciting new features like 80GB of storage, wireless connectivity, and touch control. . But Microsoft failed to adopt copyright protection or remove all limitations in wireless digital music sharing. Zune users can only share digital music with similar device users. Shared tracks can only be heard up to 3 times.

12. Internet security

In 2007 the term 'Internet security' was officially included in the list of phrases that caused users the most concern. Hackers have demonstrated the ability to kidnap or hijack a number of PCs necessary to knock down a nation's entire infrastructure within just one month. Estonia's network is now quickly restored, but network security concerns remain there.

13. Virtual social network

Memo, Badoo, Bebo, Catster, Dogster, Facebook, Faceparty, Flickr, Flixster, Hi5, Hyves, Imbee, Imeem, MySpace, Mixi, Pizco, Pownce, Takkle, Twitter, Virb, Vox, Xanga, Xing, Zoomr . and 3,245,687 other virtual social networks have not changed at all this year and remain the same as they have been since 2006. Web 2.0 technology does not seem to bring new breaths to social networks. virtual. It is predicted that if there is no innovation, only in 2 years, 90% of the virtual social network will disappear.

14. Urban WiMax

It sounds like a very nice idea - fast speed WiMAX mobile coverage across the city. Deploying the construction of WiMAX infrastructure for big cities helps people can easily connect to the Internet with high speed and low cost. But the reality seems to be as difficult as what people thought. Massive names such as Sprint or Clearwire have invested heavily but eventually have to cancel plans to build WiMax infrastructure. The final reason is that construction investment costs have soared to too high levels.

15. Amazon Unbox

Entertainment watching videos on demand is one thing Amazone wants to get with Unbox. However, it seems that the company had to accept bitter defeat. The Unbox service interface is too complex and not eye-catching. Inefficient search feature. Users can send movies from Unbox to the TiVo device, but it takes hours. And there are many other problems. Is it really 'entertaining on demand video'?

Hoang Dung