Did you catch the big announcement yesterday from Apple? New iPhones with bigger screens and new, intriguing features, and the unveiling of the Apple Watch.

Justin Sullivan, Getty Images
Justin Sullivan, Getty Images
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The tech world is buzzing over these new products, with both praise and boos coming in abundance. Apple has spent a lot of time and money to make sure you think of them as being on the cutting-edge of technological development.

Others have stepped to the stage at one time or another to announce their latest "game-changer" device. Some have had remarkable success, others...not so much.

From Laptopmag.com comes a piece that takes a look at some of those products that just kind of flopped afterward their big rollout announcements. Things like:

The Segway

David Lafranc, Getty Images
David Lafranc, Getty Images
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Priced at a staggering $5,000, the Segway didn't even come close to living up to its expectations. Sure, it was nifty that the Segway was self-balancing, but that wasn't nearly enough to overcome the sticker shock or the sheer geek factor of this vehicle. The final insult came when President Bush fell of a Segway in 2004. Today, you'll see these scooters ridden by some police officers and postal workers, but that's pretty much it.

 

Oakley Thump Sunglasses

Paul J. Richards, Getty Images
Paul J. Richards, Getty Images
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Before there was Google Glass there was Oakley's Thump sunglasses, which combined shades with an MP3 player. Too bad the glasses were ugly and the audio controls were difficult to use. Plus, users were stuck with a measly 256MB of flash memory at a sky-high $495 price tag. Shockingly, a celebrity endorsement from Dog the Bounty Hunter failed to move the needle.

 

The Microsoft Zune

Scott Olson, Getty Images
Scott Olson, Getty Images
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Hoping to make a dent in the iPod’s mammoth market share, the original Zune got some people so excited that one man decided to have the Zune logo tattooed on his arm. Too bad he didn’t have anyone to share his music with. The Zune-to-Zune sharing feature (which worked over Wi-Fi) fell flat because you could only play tracks you acquired three times within three days. You also had to be near the other unfortunate Zune owner. A lack of a video store at launch further hurt the Zune’s cause. A more polished design in the Zune HD and a half-baked gaming strategy couldn’t save this franchise, but elements of its slick UI live on in Windows Phone.

 

While you're considering which Apple Watch to buy, check out the rest of the list of tech flops here.

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