Names from the Tech Graveyard: Honoring the Brands that Didn’t Survive
Here’s to the unlucky ones.
The February 2025 demise of the Humane AI pin got me reflecting on the many gadgets and products I’ve named that are no longer with us.
Join me on a nostalgic stroll down memory lane to celebrate these dearly departed tech brands.
Do any of these spark memories for you? I’d love to hear your stories in the comments below!
Named by Anthony Shore at Landor
Philips Velo: One of Tony Fadell’s earliest designs and among the first PDAs. Launched in 1997, the Velo had a built-in modem—cutting-edge at the time. Unlike most PDAs of its era, its full keyboard made it a forerunner to ultra-mobile laptops. It’s even in the Smithsonian!
Did you have one?
Named by Anthony Shore at Operative Words
Now retired from the lineup, Fitbit Surge, Blaze and Ionic were fitness wearables. Blaze and Ionic graced the wrist of President Obama. Like their audio companion, Fitbit Flyer headphones, these gadgets and their names are now fond tech memories.
Did you wear any of them?
Named by Anthony Shore at Landor
Norton SystemWorks: A software utility workhorse with wide distribution across PCs of the world. The bundle above included a utility by my alma mater, Aladdin Systems (RIP).
Named by Anthony Shore at Operative Words
Lytro lightfield camera: The Lytro light field camera enabled users to refocus images post-capture, a radical departure from traditional cameras. Steve Jobs showed interest in this novel camera technology and design. In 2013, Apple was granted a patent for similar technology, and in 2023, the iPhone 15 included the feature.
Did you ever see or use a Lytro or hear of it at the time (2012-2018)?
Named by Anthony Shore at Landor
Microsoft ActiMates: Talking plush dolls that responded to special VHS tapes and an RF dongle, because Barney wasn’t creepy enough. Trojan horses released by hackers could get Barney to say inappropriate things like, “We can go pee-pee right here!”
Named by Anthony Shore at Landor
Sony MYLO: MY Life Online—a sleek “personal communicator” with style all its own. It blended messaging, media, and Wi-Fi access before smartphones took over. ObsoleteSony tells me, “It definitely influenced other devices like the PSP Go and the Xperia Play with that slide-out keyboard.”
Named by Anthony Shore at Landor
Vibe malt beverage: Launched by Coors in 2002, Vibe was a flavored malt beverage aimed at men —positioned as a “Zima for dudes.” Test-marketed in cities like Atlanta, Boston, and Denver, it never gained traction and quickly disappeared.
Did you ever see it in the wild?
Named by Anthony Shore at Operative Words
SITcomm: Simply Intuitive Telecommunications: My first product name, software developed by my alma mater, Aladdin Systems, in 1994. Simply Intuitive Telecommunications was dial-up terminal software for the Mac with built-in StuffIt (.sit) compression. I was especially proud of the promotional bumper stickers I created for the product that read, “I’d rather be telecommuting” — a sentiment just as relevant over 30 years later. Fun fact: As Aladdin’s Creative Services Manager, I personally created their logo, seen in the screen grab above.
Anyone out there remember StuffIt Expander by Aladdin Systems?
Intel Vaunt named by Anthony Shore at Operative Words
Do you remember Vaunt? Of course not, nobody does. Vaunt was Intel’s noble foray into AR, a pair of eyeglasses that could whisper contextual information visually straight into the eyeballs of the wearer. It was announced in February 2018, and then folded two months later without ever being released commercially, which is too bad because it was very cool tech.
“Other kings said I was daft to build a castle on a swamp, but I built it all the same, just to show ’em. It sank into the swamp. So, I built a second one. That sank into the swamp. So, I built a third one. That burned down, fell over, then sank into the swamp. But the fourth one… stayed up.”
Named by Anthony Shore at Operative Words
Revue was Smith Micro’s take on media management, offering a sleek way to organize music, videos, and photos in the pre-cloud era. It arrived at a time when digital libraries were growing fast, but before streaming took over. Though promising, Revue never broke through against giants like iTunes and Windows Media Player, fading into obscurity like so many forgotten software tools of the 2000s.
Named by Anthony Shore at Lexicon
Incite videogame magazine: A project from my Lexicon days, my first and to-date only magazine name. Incite covered PlayStation, PC, Dreamcast, and other consoles. Unlike many gaming mags of its era, Incite leaned into premium production values, sometimes bundling demo discs and exclusive content with issues. It launched during a highly competitive time for print media, battling giants like GamePro and Electronic Gaming Monthly, and ultimately folded after just a few years. You can browse the issues on archive.org.
Named by Anthony Shore at Landor
Samsung Instinct, Rant, Highnote, Jetset, Behold, Epix, Gravity, Sway, Delve, Memoir, Gloss mobile phones: As Samsung Telecommunications America one-time agency-of-record, me and the Landor team were kept busy with intentionally-short-lived names to generate excitement and sales. It worked: Samsung gobbled up LGs market share for years following this strategy. At a certain point, Samsung stopped bothering to file for trademark protection for these segment-driven phones because the name would be retired before it could be awarded a ®.
Named by Anthony Shore at Operative Words
Autodesk Homestyler: A rare consumer-facing product from Autodesk, Homestyler let users design homes and floor plans with ease. It also connected with furniture and home goods manufacturers, driving sales downstream. Homestyler originated from Autodesk’s Project Dragonfly in 2009 and was later acquired by Alibaba Group and Easyhome New Retail Group in 2016.
While Autodesk no longer owns Homestyler, the platform continues to offer robust home design tools under new ownership.
Named by Anthony Shore at Operative Words
Plantronics Vocalyst voice and text services: Vocalyst was an early voice-controlled assistant for hands-free use with Plantronics headset like the Savor M1100 (which I also named). A bit like a proto-Siri that could Send and listen to emails & texts, post to social media, retrieve news, weather, and reminders.
Named by Anthony Shore at Operative Words
Dropcam Tabs: Shortly before Dropcam was acquired by Nest (and later Google), the company introduced wireless motion sensors designed to stick to doors, windows, and other key areas to detect movement. Announced in 2014, Dropcam Tabs never made it to wide release, fading out around the time of the acquisition.
Named by Anthony Shore at Operative Words
Cinder Precision Grill: A dry sous-vide of sorts, Cinder was a countertop appliance that used literal rocket technology to precisely heat food—adjusting in real time to ensure even cooking, whether your steak was partially frozen or fully thawed. I still have one opened and one unopened Cinder at home.
Fun fact: I also own both a used and unused Juicero from some naming work I did on that legendary catastrophe. No, I didn’t create the name Juicero, but I did endorse it before launch—and I stand by that decision.
Named by Anthony Shore at Operative Words
The Wove Band, developed by Polyera around 2015, was an innovative wearable featuring a flexible, always-on E Ink display that wrapped around the wrist. This pioneering device aimed to blend digital content seamlessly into daily wear, offering a unique platform for artists, designers, and developers to create custom experiences. Sadly, it never took off.
Named by Anthony Shore at Operative Words