Since Memorial Day is right around the corner, let's let PCWorld help us remember the 25 Worst Tech Products of All Time. A lot of the products on the list are software-related—in fact, we have to wait until number 13 before we see the first item that might have felt at home on shiny-techno-obsessed Gizmodo: the IBM PC Jr. from 1984 with its roundly-hated "Chiclet" keyboard. Another notable hardware flop was number 15, the Iomega Zip drive from 1998, which victimized countless users with the click, click, click of its dying drives. And before you Mac snobs start getting all uppity, holding down spot number 17 is the worthless, anvil-like 16-pound Macintosh "Portable" from 1989.
What's the worst product, sitting at the top of the shitlist? Wait for it—it's the loathsome, noob-infested AOL, bringing home the bacon for Worst Tech Product of All Time. The runner-up was one of our most-despised annoyances: the nagging, presumptuous and obnoxious RealNetworks RealPlayer.
May this entire rogue's gallery rest in peace atop the ash heap of history, never to be seen or heard from again.
The 25 Worst Tech Products of All Time [PC World]