Stories of Technological Failure: PicturePhone, Dvorak keyboard & Betamax

Ғылым және технология

Introduction to a short series of three videos that takes a "snackable" look at the failure of three famous engineered objects: The Bell System's PicturePhone, which lost the company a half billion dollars, but nearly created the internet; the Dvorak keyboard, which is faster than our current QWERTY arrangement, but failed to gain traction in the marketplace; and the technically superb Betamax video cassette recorder, which lost to an inferior VHS-format machine.

Пікірлер: 151

  • @kuhmpashun
    @kuhmpashun10 жыл бұрын

    Really glad to see you posting videos again. This series seems very interesting. Great idea!

  • @jason3fc
    @jason3fc10 жыл бұрын

    Would love to see more of this series. I loved it! Surely there have to be several other technologies that failed like this. Great series.

  • @K25Khaleel
    @K25Khaleel10 жыл бұрын

    Good to have you back, really enjoy your videos.

  • @boris4231
    @boris423110 жыл бұрын

    I was so happy when i saw these new videos on your channel!!!

  • @KidFury27
    @KidFury2710 жыл бұрын

    Happy to see you back at it Bill. Looking forward to many more new videos!

  • @gedzior84
    @gedzior8410 жыл бұрын

    It's so good to see you back! Hope you'll keep on posting new videos :)

  • @nelumbonucifera7537
    @nelumbonucifera753710 жыл бұрын

    Two years since the last video! Great to have you back.

  • @RealationGames
    @RealationGames10 жыл бұрын

    Very interesting topic! Thanks for making these videos.

  • @Sizifus
    @Sizifus10 жыл бұрын

    Awesome, Bill is back!

  • @roberthorn9897
    @roberthorn989710 жыл бұрын

    Wow - very good - just discovered your videos. Well done! Love the wide angle view - draws you in. Sending you much success!

  • @ummtone
    @ummtone10 жыл бұрын

    Your back!!! Looking forward to watching all these videos!

  • @ShaunDreclin
    @ShaunDreclin10 жыл бұрын

    Wow I totally forgot about this channel! Great to see more videos from you :D

  • @infiltrator7777
    @infiltrator777710 жыл бұрын

    The Commodore Amiga would have been on this list as well. Way ahead of its time!

  • @oozekip

    @oozekip

    9 жыл бұрын

    Joe Smith XboxAhoy has a fantastic video on the Amiga's failure called 'Doomed: The Embers of Amiga FPS' if you're still interested. It does focus on the video game (primarily FPS) side of why the Amiga failed, but it's still a very good video.

  • @infiltrator7777

    @infiltrator7777

    9 жыл бұрын

    ***** Thanks for the info! Will check it out now. Cheers!

  • @Angie2343

    @Angie2343

    4 жыл бұрын

    And EPCOT too!

  • @DaScribbler
    @DaScribbler10 жыл бұрын

    Engineerguy is back! Ah! I'm excited.

  • @alfredoestrada1242
    @alfredoestrada124210 жыл бұрын

    YES! this channel is back, thank you Mr. Bill, WELCOME BACK!, love this channel, you just made my entire week.

  • @TestMyVidsOut
    @TestMyVidsOut10 жыл бұрын

    Yes! Thanks for returning!

  • @KustomFu
    @KustomFu10 жыл бұрын

    wow 4 videos in 1 day!

  • @LukeBeacon

    @LukeBeacon

    10 жыл бұрын

    And then no more for another 3 years

  • @BenStarling
    @BenStarling10 жыл бұрын

    These are just the sort videos we've been waiting for. Many thanks!

  • @rustbucket94
    @rustbucket9410 жыл бұрын

    Glad to have you back Bill!

  • @AlbbiMe
    @AlbbiMe10 жыл бұрын

    I'm really excited that you're doing more videos!

  • @mmd90
    @mmd9010 жыл бұрын

    Welcome back! hope to see more of your awesome videos!

  • @theshonen8899
    @theshonen889910 жыл бұрын

    I loved these videos, keep em up!

  • @ChipGuy
    @ChipGuy10 жыл бұрын

    Thanks for 4 fantastic videos !

  • @eFlare
    @eFlare10 жыл бұрын

    Great to see new videos, Bill!

  • @igorilyasov2057
    @igorilyasov205710 жыл бұрын

    Welcome BACK, Mr. Hammack! KZreadrs missed you! I missed you. 😊

  • @WenzelCORP
    @WenzelCORP10 жыл бұрын

    YOU'RE AWESOME! It's good to see you again making videos!

  • @alessandrore6905
    @alessandrore690510 жыл бұрын

    It's great to see you again! :D

  • @seanmolincreative
    @seanmolincreative10 жыл бұрын

    SO glad you're back, bill!

  • @tigercake558
    @tigercake55810 жыл бұрын

    WOOP! Welcome back Bill, good to have you back! Just made my week :)

  • @FyberOptic
    @FyberOptic10 жыл бұрын

    Good to see you back!

  • @jugermaut
    @jugermaut10 жыл бұрын

    You're back!! This made my day lol.

  • @AbrarShaikh2741
    @AbrarShaikh274110 жыл бұрын

    Wow, you are back. Dare you go back this time. I had to watch your old videos over and over again. Lol

  • @talonfortytwo2719
    @talonfortytwo27199 жыл бұрын

    I love your stuff. I wish you did longer videos.

  • @sameyers2670
    @sameyers26705 жыл бұрын

    Thank you for making such interesting videos

  • @ikemkrueger
    @ikemkrueger9 жыл бұрын

    I think this videos are a good way to teach people how to be successful as an engineer. I wanna see this serie continue.

  • @MallocArray
    @MallocArray10 жыл бұрын

    Glad you are back!

  • @pnogas
    @pnogas10 жыл бұрын

    Just watched all 3 of these. They were great. I wish my school did more to teach me this type of wisdom.

  • @botar99
    @botar9910 жыл бұрын

    I love these videos so so much!!

  • @SigbinNinja
    @SigbinNinja10 жыл бұрын

    Glad you're back! :D

  • @supcomFAN
    @supcomFAN10 жыл бұрын

    Quality stuff as always :)

  • @nonamedpleb
    @nonamedpleb10 жыл бұрын

    this is so great..engineerguys vids are one of my favorites and now hes back!

  • @vanmaren962
    @vanmaren96210 жыл бұрын

    So so so so so so so happy you have new videos!!!!!!! n_n

  • @GroovingPict
    @GroovingPict10 жыл бұрын

    It's cool that you are able to take the time to make these videos even though you must be very busy with the filming of the new Star Wars movie. Good on you Mr Hamill

  • @Vlad88667
    @Vlad8866710 жыл бұрын

    You're back?!?!?! Best news of the week!

  • @MRguywithlazereyes
    @MRguywithlazereyes10 жыл бұрын

    Yesssss, your back!!! Finally!!

  • @blahking
    @blahking10 жыл бұрын

    You're back!!

  • @yepyep87
    @yepyep8710 жыл бұрын

    Thank god!! You're back!! :D I really missed your amassing videos!! Btw - buy the book, i learned a lot from it.

  • @SLIPOwnage
    @SLIPOwnage10 жыл бұрын

    YES! Welcome back.

  • @endingalaporte
    @endingalaporte6 жыл бұрын

    very clear, agréable à écouter

  • @Asdayasman
    @Asdayasman10 жыл бұрын

    I don't remember subscribing to this guy, but I'm glad I did. Very enjoyable.

  • @JBMoevies
    @JBMoevies10 жыл бұрын

    Yes, he's back!

  • @symbolxchannel
    @symbolxchannel10 жыл бұрын

    I love these videos! :D

  • @infiltrator7777
    @infiltrator777710 жыл бұрын

    Yeah Bill is back! I was starting to think this channel was closed.

  • @Zerepzerreitug
    @Zerepzerreitug10 жыл бұрын

    yay, more videos :D

  • @LifeOfPabs
    @LifeOfPabs10 жыл бұрын

    YES!!! new videos!!

  • @Remuji
    @Remuji10 жыл бұрын

    This is quite the comeback.

  • @hyundkim199
    @hyundkim19910 жыл бұрын

    i want more of these!

  • @yiting7456
    @yiting74562 жыл бұрын

    How is it that such good quality videos were made 7 years ago? 😱

  • @PranavJindal999
    @PranavJindal99910 жыл бұрын

    fuck yeah!! \m/ EngineerGuy is back.

  • @ericsorensen1552
    @ericsorensen15526 жыл бұрын

    Please do more of these

  • @hushaohan
    @hushaohan10 жыл бұрын

    You're back!

  • @hfd484
    @hfd48410 жыл бұрын

    YOU'RE BACK!!!!!! YEAH SCIENCE!!!!!!

  • @WATTHEUHK
    @WATTHEUHK10 жыл бұрын

    OMG YOU'RE BACK!!!!!

  • @seventeesrock
    @seventeesrock10 жыл бұрын

    You back! Aligato-gozaimasu!

  • @SilverMiraii

    @SilverMiraii

    10 жыл бұрын

    it's arigatou gozaimasu what aligator are u talking about

  • @seventeesrock

    @seventeesrock

    10 жыл бұрын

    That's "THANK YOU" in japanese.

  • @SilverMiraii

    @SilverMiraii

    10 жыл бұрын

    Yes, I speak japanese, and I just corrected your spelling :) どいたしまして

  • @seventeesrock

    @seventeesrock

    10 жыл бұрын

    Oh, thx.

  • @bl4xb0x1
    @bl4xb0x110 жыл бұрын

    The way these are shot reminds me of Good Eats

  • @SamuraiM0
    @SamuraiM010 жыл бұрын

    Welcome back.

  • @1nitniuq
    @1nitniuq10 жыл бұрын

    He's back.

  • @edgarmark909
    @edgarmark90910 жыл бұрын

    Long time no see!

  • @oafkad
    @oafkad10 жыл бұрын

    I watched these in reverse and find myself getting excited about Videos I already watched :p.

  • @Lazyguy22
    @Lazyguy228 жыл бұрын

    The '59 Edsel was a thing of beauty.

  • @jayyoutube8790

    @jayyoutube8790

    8 жыл бұрын

    I think it's a great looking car too..

  • @m0ther_bra1ned12

    @m0ther_bra1ned12

    7 жыл бұрын

    It is a nice looking car.

  • @thepie8u
    @thepie8u9 жыл бұрын

    your vids are great engi guy!

  • @balls2balls
    @balls2balls10 жыл бұрын

    Engineer guy is back!!!!!!!

  • @apollothemanboy
    @apollothemanboy10 жыл бұрын

    WELCOME BACK!

  • @goldfiles
    @goldfiles10 жыл бұрын

    Welcome back

  • @stephaniepajares4602
    @stephaniepajares46027 жыл бұрын

    I Love this!!!! :)

  • @DarkMessiah6
    @DarkMessiah610 жыл бұрын

    YAAAY ENGINEERGUY!!! WE MISSED YOU :D

  • @ApuValiathura
    @ApuValiathura10 жыл бұрын

    He is back

  • @flamin-yawn
    @flamin-yawn9 ай бұрын

    Will you ever do an episode on the Ford Edsel?

  • @xnamkcor
    @xnamkcor10 жыл бұрын

    Wasn't the Edsel in Maniac Mansion?

  • @HaouasLeDocteur
    @HaouasLeDocteur9 жыл бұрын

    PLEASE NEVER LEAVE AGAIN

  • @iamfuturetrunks
    @iamfuturetrunks8 жыл бұрын

    So what about the car? Why did that fail? :(

  • @D8W2P4

    @D8W2P4

    7 жыл бұрын

    In one world it was delicate.

  • @jimshulman9221

    @jimshulman9221

    6 жыл бұрын

    For a wide variety of reasons, most unrelated to technology. First, Robert McNamara wanted it to fail, since it would steal sales from the Ford division (Edsel was part of the separate MEL, Mercury Edsel Lincoln division). He is reported to have said as much to Fax Cone, head of Foote Cone Belding, a leading ad agency of the time. Second, it was introduced in time for the 1958 recession, which hurt auto sales among the big three--much like Cadillac launching its V-16 cars in time for the Great Depression. Third, its varying sizes were confusing--was it a mid size car, or a big car? Fourth, it was conceived in the early to mid 1950s, a very different market. Auto sales were booming in the 1954-56 period, so adding another division might have made sense. By the introduction of the Edsel the mid-50s auto market had cooled considerably. Additionally, in 1956 Ford went public, and was forced to consider shareholder profits as a NYSE company, rather than family firm. The Edsel project was considered an extravagance by the penny-pinching McNamara. Fifth, smaller cars were gaining favor among the public--the rising tide of small car imports, especially Volkswagen, and the popularity of American Motors' Ramblers. The Edsel was a new barge among smaller craft. Sixth, quality control was inferior. To save money Ford tacked the Edsel onto existing Ford production schedules. That didn't exactly endear it to auto workers. Famously, when Henry Ford II escorted singer Rosemary Clooney to her new Edsel (Clooney was a star of "The Edsel Show", a CBS variety special to introduce the car.) the door handle came off in her hand. She turned to Ford and said, "Mr. Ford, about your car..." The new Teletouch automatic transmission was plagued with solenoid problems, which caused the car to slip out of gear. Styling wasn't really that much uglier than many other cars' of the era (consider the all-new '58 Lincoln, with a face only a mother could love.) It was also a time where the Big Three had more than their share of quality control bombs: Chrysler's Electro-Jector fuel injection system (which had to be recalled), GM's air suspension (which was usually replaced with traditional coil suspension), and GM's famed Tri-carb set-up, which was prone to fires. For a wonderful assessment of what ailed the mighty US Auto Makers of the era, find a copy of John Keats' "The Insolent Chariots".

  • @PersonaRandomNumbers
    @PersonaRandomNumbers10 жыл бұрын

    He's aliiiiive!

  • @blanktester
    @blanktester10 жыл бұрын

    You could easily do a video on the 3DO along the same lines as the PicturePhone, Betamax, and Dvorak keyboard videos. A lot of the 3DO's features were way ahead of the times, but no one bought one so it never went anywhere. The Dreamcast had a lot of interesting features too, but the 3DO is really a tragedy in the videogame console world.

  • @Toxicbell
    @Toxicbell10 жыл бұрын

    Please, sir. More Engineering Failures.

  • @rodier_ratafakus
    @rodier_ratafakus7 жыл бұрын

    Can we get part about Edsel ?

  • @greggeshelman7106
    @greggeshelman71069 жыл бұрын

    How about the Pepperoni Pizza Principle? Is Pepperoni nearly always on a sale or special because it's the most popular, or is it the most popular because it's nearly always on a sale or special? Easy enough to prove/disprove. Have several pizza restaurants select another topping to always have at a special price while making pepperoni cost the same as the others. At the end of the test period, see how the pricing change has affected sales of both toppings. Then after going back to business as usual with flogging pepperoni at the low price, see how much the trends change back over the same time. This also goes for products that have been discontinued due to low sales, because stores refuse to stock the product. For example, Shasta quit making strawberry soda. It was nearly impossible to find, I'd always ask managers "Why don't you have any strawberry Shasta?" "Because it doesn't sell well." "Well, you can't sell it if you never have any!" Pepperoni Pizza Principle corollary. What you don't sell, you can't sell. Advertising. If you fail to tell people continuously that you have this thing for sale, they will forget about it and your sales and income will drop. Many companies that *didn't* go out of business in the Great Depression survived because they did not cut their budgets for advertising. So many companies had gone under that people assumed once they stopped seeing ads in newspapers and stopped hearing ads on radio, the company was gone. Thus they quit looking for those products in stores or quit mailing in orders. Companies that kept shouting "WE ARE STILL HERE!" got attention and tended to keep enough sales volume to stay in business. What you don't tell, won't sell.

  • @azntranc3951
    @azntranc395110 жыл бұрын

    Bill is back! :)

  • @poseidonc1259
    @poseidonc12594 жыл бұрын

    “But the important lesson is: To dislodge an existing technology it requires a significant change in performance and likely an increase in functionality.” *THE METRIC SYSTEM HAS ENTERED THE CHAT*

  • @TheCodeTinkerer
    @TheCodeTinkerer7 жыл бұрын

    You're way of presentation has some David Attenborough over it :D

  • @1revjay
    @1revjay10 жыл бұрын

    MORE!!!

  • @KTFG
    @KTFG9 жыл бұрын

    Cool

  • @Malsherz
    @Malsherz10 жыл бұрын

    We actually have an Edsel parked in the driveway.

  • @drethedog
    @drethedog10 жыл бұрын

    Give this guy a TV show already....

  • @Drchainsaw77
    @Drchainsaw775 жыл бұрын

    Great videos ..but that's not a "Ford Edsel" any more than it's a "Ford Lincoln." Edsel was its own make, like Dodge or Buick or Mercury, which had its own model names: Citation, Ranger, Bermuda, and a handful of others.

  • @oliviernadeau5608
    @oliviernadeau560810 жыл бұрын

    very good videos ! but it would have been better if it was about something a little more current

  • @Ponlets
    @Ponlets7 жыл бұрын

    but i wanna know about Edsl ford car and why it faild

  • @Rimsiakas
    @Rimsiakas10 жыл бұрын

    Aw yes, I thought you were gone forever. Sweet!

  • @GodMr1
    @GodMr19 жыл бұрын

    He is ALIVE!?!? aaaaaaaaaaeeeeee

  • @jamescrook99
    @jamescrook9910 жыл бұрын

    UR BACK !!! YER !!!"

  • @wade42
    @wade4210 жыл бұрын

    More EngineerGuy? Yes, please.

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