©iStockphoto.com/Andrew Rich
The job of the innovator is rarely easy. But a few of these could have been easily avoided using the simple mantra: "If it's not broken, don't fix it".
1. The Marshall phone
The legendary guitar amplifier company which goes up to 11 has long had a line of personal headphones bearing their iconic logo. Recently they've gone one further with a Marshall phone. The key difference? Two headphone sockets so you can share you music with your roadie/girlfriend. Because of course, you do that all the time.
©Marshall Press Office / Zound Industries Smartphones AB
2.Bic Lady's Pen
Ever worry that your writing implement isn't quite gender specific enough? Bic has your back. The For Her Medium Ball Point Pen is "Designed to fit comfortably in a woman's hand", while the "attractive barrel design is available in pink and purple".
Civilisation at last, and some of the funniest Amazon reviews of all time.
3. The hydrogen fuel cell charger
Weighing in at a pocket-busting 620g (the same as four iPhones), The UPP fuel cell is intended to be an easy way to top up your phone when it's out charge. But the economics don't quite add up, costing $140 up front and $40 for each additional cartridge. The DeLorean is not quite ready to head back to the future.
4. Kodak Advantix Preview
Having invented the digital camera themselves, Kodak spectacularly failed to capitalise on the invention which is now in everyone's pocket. Why? Because Kodak was a film business. And so they instead marketed the Advantix Preview. This camera took pictures simultaneously on film and digital so customers could chose which shots to print.
5. Internet Kettle
Ever wanted to turn your kettle on from another continent? No of course not. What about from upstairs? Well perhaps, but by the time you've got the app out and figured out how to use it, you're probably already in the kitchen. Water still needs to be inserted into the kettle in person.
©Firebox
6. USB toasters
You know those times when you really fancy a piece of toast but you're not near a plug... but you do have some bread... and a charged laptop into which you can plug a USB toaster?
Oh yeah, there aren't any. Great novelty. Zero function. Now consigned to the garbage heap of history.
7. Clap operated switches
If you're too lazy to walk to the wall to turn your lights on or off, you might prefer light switches that respond to your every clap. Almost synonymous with the 60s the clap operated switch fell out of favour when slamming doors, errant cats and... well just about everything would create an instant inadvertent disco.
8. Internet connected scales
Tweet your every move, every cake, every bowel movement? Well you might as well broadcast your wildly oscillating weight as well. Yes, it might be motivational for the world's most narcissistic slimmers but it turns out that the rest of us would rather not shout about our extra pounds.
©Withings Press Office
9. Google Glass
A good dose of common sense could have saved the search giant a little time and money here.
Wouldn't it be great to have you mobile phone overlaid on the real world so that you can never switch of and you can guarantee you'll freak out the people you're with?
Um. No. As soon as we had White men wearing Google Glass, it was fairly obvious the game was up.
©FreeImages/Leszek Soltys
10. Apple Watch
Well OK, its not quite there yet, but we were one short on the list and smart watches in general are fast lining up to fill that slot. Having spent years telling us to abandon our watches for our phones, Samsung and Apple would like to make a swift about turn. The killer feature? Yet to be disclosed.
©Pixabay (Public Domain)