It’s hard to forget when a technological design, business model, or implementation goes abrupt, making us feel like the devices we depend on seem more of an handicap than an aid. We’ve gathered together five of the biggest tech flops we find hard to forget.
The time a Twitter hacker crashed the stock market
In April 2013, a fake tweet posted on the Associated Press’s Twitter account caused the stock market to plummet within seconds. Hackers gained control over the newswire’s official account, tweeting that the White House was bombed and the president had been injured. The tweet itself didn’t agree with the AP style as it would never refer to the president as simply “Barack Obama,” and usually writes “Breaking” to announce a developing story. But nevertheless, it still incited panic in the market: The Dow dropped over 140 points, but was able to recover quickly after the AP addressed the hack.
When Apple Maps was put in danger
While most users find the Apple Maps app inconvenient and unreliable compared to Google Maps, there was a time when it was outright dangerous for travelers visiting the Australian city of Mildura. A flaw found in the app put the town within Murray-Sunset National Park, which is 40 miles away from its actual location, and known as a part of the extremely dry Australian outback, where water is scarce and temperatures have exceeded 114°F. Local police were called to the park six times to rescue visitors who were stranded there from using Apple Maps to navigate, and a public warning was issued referring to the flaw as “potentially life-threatening.”
The time Motorola shared personal data
In February 2012, 100 of Motorola’s Xoom tablets had leaked personal data from the owners of these devices to Internet retailer, woot.com. Due to an error in the refurbishing process, information that would typically have been erased, such as photographs, documents, usernames, and passwords, was not deleted from the tablets. As compensation, Motorola offered those affected a free two-year membership in an identity theft protection service.
When the Super Bowl had a blackout
During Super Bowl XLVII, a power outage delayed the half time show and brought viewers to shock. Rumors circulated that either Beyoncé’s megawatt performance overloaded the system or they experienced some type of cyber attack. But, utility company officials revealed that the culprit was actually a device called a relay that had been put in place to prevent an outage. The device was installed as a major upgrade to the Superdome’s electrical system in expectation of the big game, but turned out to do more harm than good.
When hoverboards kept catching fire
Aside from the name “hoverboards” that don’t actually hover, these devices don’t transport riders safely either. Along with several reports of hoverboards catching on fire, YouTube is also filled with videos of riders being flung off the boards. Overstock and Amazon were among the first to pull the devices from shelves, and pretty soon we may see hoverboards completely banned worldwide.
Source: Reader’s Digest
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