On-stage tech mishaps
When tech companies are presenting their new devices and products to a live audience, there is always a chance things won’t go smoothly.
More recent on-stage tech mishaps – such as the Windows 98 crash; Honda’s robot under-performing; the iPhone 4’s troubles; and Microsoft’s troublesome Surface presentation – remind us that even the top-tier of the tech elite have their fair-share of problems.
Windows 98 on-screen crash during presentation
Probably the most infamous and well-known on-stage tech blunder came during Microsoft’s presentation of Windows 98.
Everything was going smoothly, until a scanner was plugged into the PC.
The notorious “blue-screen” of death makes a laughable appearance in front of a packed conference hall.
Asimo doesn’t make it up the stairs
Honda attempted to show off the pinnacle of the Japanese company’s technology in the form of Asimo.
Asismo was a robot built by Honda to emulate human movement and interactions.
During Asimo’s debut to the world, the compact white robot took a tumble down some stairs.
While not a monumental problem, it didn’t do much to spur excitement and hype around Honda’s robot.
Apple iPhone 4 Wi-Fi fail
Not even Steve Jobs himself could save Apple from an awkward on-stage presentation moment.
During the demonstration of the iPhone 4G’s Wi-Fi capabilities, the device was, ironically, unable to connect to Wi-Fi.
The late Apple CEO did a good job at trying to rectify the situation, though it quickly deteriorated into a photo-sharing session.
Microsoft Surface fail goes viral
In June, Microsoft unveiled its new Surface tablet to the world. And then the tablet’s on-stage demo presentation got hit with a bit of a blunder.
The company’s new Windows 8-powered tablet appeared to crash during the demonstration by Microsoft’s Windows president, Steve Sinofsky.
Sinofsky slyly tried to keep things flowing, but luckily the live audience was around to film the mis-hap – and share it online.
The video immediately went viral and has since garnered significant attention, accumulating over 3.1 million views on YouTube.
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