What if a technological failure is just a matter of timing? Here, we’ve gathered inventions from different countries and eras that never "took off" in their day— yet whose core ideas seem startlingly relevant now. From early electric cars and touchscreen interfaces to forgotten gadgets, we explore how modern tech, shifting user needs, and new business models could breathe fresh life into these bold but mistimed concepts. The next great invention might have already been dreamed up—just too soon.
Brief Summary:
Invention/Product: Setun Computer
Developers: Nikolay Petrovich Brusentsov (lead), E.A. Zhogolev, V.V. Vereshchagin, S.P. Maslov, A.M. Tishulina, and others (Moscow State University, MSU)
Country: USSR
Period: Development 1956-1958, serial production 1959-1965
Essence: A small digital computer (EDC), unique for operating based on a ternary symmetric numeral system (-1, 0, +1) instead of the commonly used binary system.
The "Setun" was a pioneering development that demonstrated the potential advantages of ternary logic (higher information density, easier execution of certain arithmetic operations). However, it did not gain widespread adoption and development, remaining a unique experiment. The main reason for its "failure" (in terms of lack of continuation and mass adoption) was the global and Soviet computer industry's focus on the binary system, which made the "Setun" incompatible and "non-standard," as well as possible misunderstanding and lack of support from scientific officials.
Brief Summary:
Invention/Product: Sony Librie EBR-1000EP e-reader
Company: Sony Corporation (in collaboration with Philips and E Ink Corporation)
Country: Japan
Period: Released in Japan in April 2004
Essence: One of the first commercially available e-readers using electronic ink (E Ink) technology to create a paper-like display.
The Sony Librie was a pioneering device, ahead of its time, laying the groundwork for future e-readers like the Amazon Kindle. However, it did not achieve commercial success due to its high price, limited content selection, inconvenient DRM system, short content lifespan (books "self-destructed" after 60 days), and the market's overall unpreparedness for such a type of device.
Brief Summary:
Invention/Product: Apple Newton MessagePad (and Newton OS platform)
Company: Apple Computer
Country: USA
Period: 1993-1998
Essence: One of the first PDAs (Personal Digital Assistants) with a touch screen, stylus, and an ambitious handwriting recognition feature.
A famous failure from Apple. A device ahead of its time that was let down by the imperfection of its key technology (handwriting recognition), high price, bulkiness, and short battery life. It became a subject of ridicule but laid the groundwork for future PDAs and smartphones.
Brief Summary:
Invention/Product: AT&T Picturephone Mod II
Company: AT&T / Bell Labs
Country: USA
Period: Commercial launch in 1970, development since the 1960s.
Essence: An early commercial personal videotelephony system that allowed users to see the person they were talking to on a small screen during a call.
A technological pioneer but a resounding commercial failure due to exorbitant costs (both for the service and calls), lack of network effect (few people had it), low video quality, and psychological discomfort for users. Less known than many other failures, but a very illustrative example of how technology can be ready before the market and social norms.
Brief Summary
Invention/Project: VNIITE PT (Prospective Taxi)
Developer: VNIITE (All-Union Scientific Research Institute of Technical Aesthetics), Yu. A. Dolmatovsky and others.
Country: USSR
Development Period: Early 1960s (prototype ~1964)
Essence: An experimental car specifically designed as a taxi, featuring a futuristic design, cab-over layout (engine at the rear, driver over the front axle), sliding passenger door, and fiberglass body.
A little-known but very interesting project that remained at the stage of a single prototype due to production complexities, anticipated high costs, and lack of demand from the industry. A model of advanced design and ergonomics that found no application.
Brief Summary:
Invention/Project: Ball Train (high-speed train on spherical/roller bearings in a trough).
Inventor: Engineer Nikolai Grigorievich Yarmolchuk.
Country: USSR.
Development Period: Early 1930s.
Essence: An original high-speed transportation system with carriages moving along a concrete trough on electrically driven bearings.
An ambitious, futuristic engineering project that was not realized due to technical difficulties and high cost. An example of a technological failure or an idea ahead of its time.
Brief Summary:
Invention/Product: K-202 Minicomputer
Inventor: Jacek Karpiński
Country: Poland (People's Republic of Poland)
Period: Early 1970s
Essence: An advanced 16-bit minicomputer of its time with high performance and modular architecture.
A technologically groundbreaking project that was ahead of its time but was stifled due to bureaucratic, political, and organizational issues within a planned economy and Comecon. Produced in minimal quantities.
Summary:
Invention/Project: OGAS (National Automated System for Accounting and Information Processing).
Visionary/Leader: Academician Viktor Mikhailovich Glushkov.
Country: USSR.
Development period: 1960s - 1970s.
Essence: A project to create a unified nationwide computer network for collecting and processing economic data and managing the economy.
A visionary yet unrealized megaproject. Failed due to bureaucracy, high costs, technological challenges, and lack of political will. An important lesson about systemic barriers to technological progress.
Product: Google Glass (Explorer Edition)
Company: Google
Country: USA
Period: ~2012-2015 (consumer version)
Essence: Wearable computer in the form of glasses with a HUD, camera, and voice control.
An innovative gadget that failed in the consumer market due to privacy concerns, social acceptance issues, price, functionality, and design. Refocused on the corporate segment.
Summary:
Invention/Project: VVA-14 (Vertical Takeoff Amphibious Aircraft / Ground Effect Vehicle)
Designer: Robert Ludvigovich Bartini
Country: USSR
Development period: 1960s - 1970s (test flights from 1972)
Concept: Experimental aircraft combining functions of conventional airplane, amphibious vehicle, VTOL aircraft, and ground effect vehicle.
An exceptionally ambitious and futuristic project that was never fully realized due to technical challenges (missing critical engines), integration difficulties between flight modes, and termination after the designer's death. A prime example of technological "overreach".