The Microsoft what? Yes, this more or less passed us Aussies by, in no small part to the pitiful sales of the device in the United States.The plan was to create a feature phone that was able to integrate with Facebook and Twitter, featured video recording capabilities, and was dirt cheap to buy and then use.However, the device couldn't run third party apps, the social integration was half baked, and the price savings weren't huge considering the capabilities of a true smartphone. It sold about 8000 units before Microsoft pulled the plug.

Back in the before time, there was actually such a thing as a failed Apple gadget. It was a gaming console, and its name was the Pippin.To be fair, there was nothing really wrong with the Pippin - designed in partnership with Bandai to be a cheapish networked machine that could play games. It's problem was more to do with timing. At launch, it was already competing with the likes of the Sega Saturn, the original Sony Playstation, and the Nintendo 64, which spelled doom for Apple's brief foray into the games market.

Now, it's really hard for us to do this, mainly because one of our staffers owns and loves a Touchpad. The truth, though,  is that the Touchpad tanked. There have been many suggestions as to why the first, and in all probability last HP consumer tablet failed - from unoptimised software to outmoded hardware - but the problem is most probably HP. It never really looked like they themselves knew what they wanted from a tablet, and it's since become clear they'd rather pursue the business sector anyway. A shame.

Now, to be fair, this gadget hasn't failed. It appears to be doing alright for itself in its native USA But by our reckoning it has failed in most other global markets. Almost entirely because it's illegal. But aside from that, it's also just plain weird. Not only is it a fully functional Taser electrical stun gun. Not only does it sport 1GB of flash memory for storing music. Not only does it come with a set of headphones. It also comes in leopard skin or pink patterns. A fetching fashion accessory for the local constabulary, then?

This has to be one of the worst ideas for a consumer gadget ever. At first you can kind of see why they made it. A portable device that connects exclusively to Twitter makes sense, right? But think about it for two seconds, and it's clear why it failed. In major markets like the US, Tweeting via SMS is almost universally possible. Even in Australia, it's possible through the Telstra network. With 10 year old feature phones. Add in the fact that the device was slow and horrible to use, and you have a ripe recipe for failure.