Technology that never made it to mass production
We are constantly being blown away by new technologies that are being invented but have you ever stopped to think about the processes which they have to go through to before they enter the market? When you think that the Apple iPhone was in production years before its release. Here at Discuss we have summarised some amazing technologies that never made it to mass production.
Google Glass
One technology concept that you may have heard of is Google Glass. Despite receiving a considerable amount of attention in 2013 these glasses actually never made in to mass production. They were designed to effectively be a hands free smartphone that looks like a pair of glasses. They allowed users to take photos, call friends and family, send text messages, essentially everything a smartphone can do, which sounds great, but do we actually need them? The public clearly think not. Whilst it is a great concept it suffered many bugs and glitches which caused Google to holt production for now. Why not take a look below and see whether you would have bought a pair?
PrePeat
This technology is definitely a unique one. The PrePeat is an eco-friendly printer which is inkless and toner less. Instead of using paper this printer uses reusable plastic sheets that the printer prints text into via heat. The plastic sheets can then be erased and reprinted onto up to 1000 times. This sounds great, where can we get one? Well priced at over £4,000 for the printer alone this has failed to make it to mass production and we think it will stay that way.
Internet Refrigerators
Next we have internet refrigerators, we are talking about refrigerators that are connected to the internet! Now initially this does sound like it could be potentially a good idea but when you really give it some thought, how practical is it? The purpose of these refrigerators is for them to inform you of when a product in your fridge is getting low and needs to be restocked as well as sensing what products are actually in your fridge. This may remind you of that episode in Friends when the gang are round Pete’s house spying and his fridge told Phoebe to ‘Have a nice day.’ This may seem great however being priced so high within the market, is this piece of technology we can live without? Clearly the answer is yes, as this failed at taking off and consequently never made it to mass production. After all, we are all capable of checking what needs to be replaced in our fridge!
Everykey
Last up this is not a technology that never made it to mass production as technically is has yet to be released, however it is one we predict that might not take off. The Everykey is effectively a key that can unlock your phone, laptop, tablet, house door, car door and any other access controlled device. All you have to do is be within close proximately of the device for it to unlock, then when you walk away it locks itself. This clever little key also remembers all of your website passwords. Sounds amazing right? Well perhaps not. It is all well and good for your phone/tablet/laptop but realistically how many of us have an electronic house doors and keyless cars? Another point which you must bear in mind is the fact that this key has to be charged up, not so ideal if it runs out of battery. All in all this does seem like a fantastic piece of technology however we feel that it is too futuristic for today’s world and as such will fail to take off in a big way at least not in the foreseeable future.
Does technology interest you? Why not take a look at one of the IT courses at CU Coventry, CU Scarborough or CU London.