Long before the Windows Phones we have today, there was another: the Kin. You may remember it...as being total garbage. Well now you can relive the horror with some previously unreleased videos WIRED dug up and watch Microsoft's own Kin testers recoiling in disgust.

We thought it was weird that Verizon oddly resurrected Kin after Microsoft killed it. It doesn't matter anymore because on January 31, 2011, Microsoft's Kin Studio, the cloud that the Kin relies on to work, will close. Verizon will even give you a free 3G phone to replace your Kin.

The Microsoft Kin One and Kin Two—which were killed off six weeks after launching—are coming back to life according to a leaked Verizon roadmap. Why, God, why?

Let's just get it out of the way: Windows Phone 7 is the most exciting thing to happen to phones in a long time.

Microsoft's about to embark on a one billion dollar marketing adventure to support Kinect and Windows Phone 7. Good luck to them! Because as these past epically failed advertising efforts show, Microsoft could be about to waste a lotta of money if they're not careful with the creative:

Two years on from taking over Old Billy Gates' role, and Steve Ballmer's not doing too badly. WP7 has got people excited, and Windows 7 is actually being used. Yet, he got half the usual bonus last year.

If people had talked this much about Kin while it was still alive, it might have stood a chance. Oh well! The battle continues to rage over who gets the write the final chapter in Kin's history.

Theories abound as to the forces behind Kin's speedy demise. And yes, ultimately the plug got pulled because it wasn't selling well. But a theory over at ZDNet holds that spats between Microsoft's internal fiefdoms doomed Kin from the start.