System Error 04 Please Try Again Later Remote Inventory Connect Frys Electronics
The only constant is change, and after a rough 2020, nosotros were looking frontward to a more productive 2021. Progress there is bear on and go, but there were glimpses of normalcy. Apple and Samsung released their latest flagships, game makers launched major titles, and billionaires simply couldn't help themselves.
But equally shiny new gadgets lined stores shelves (or got stuck in ports) and innovative services lit upward Twitter, others had their last hurrah. Some chosen information technology a day after less than a year while others said farewell afterward decades in business.
We had a few false starts. Amidst public backfire, Sony in April reversed a decision to close the PlayStation shop for the PS3 and PS Vita. Over the summer, OnlyFans besides opted not to ban porn from its platform. And things looked bad for the "anything goes" social network Parler following the Jan. vi attack at the Capitol, but it returned to the App Store in May subsequently like-minded to certain content-moderation policies.
Facebook, meanwhile, survived a tough year, but opted to change the name of the company overseeing all its backdrop (Instagram, WhatsApp, Oculus) from Facebook to Meta. Mark Zuckerberg would adopt you strap on a VR headset and have a tea party in the metaverse than focus on the societal damage caused by social media. (Non to be outdone, Square also inverse its proper name to Cake, before long after its CEO Jack Dorsey resigned his other CEO gig at Twitter.)
Much to some people'due south chagrin, Facebook probably isn't going anywhere, only the engineering listed below can't say the same. Pour one out for the tech that died in 2021.
January
Minecraft Earth
Minecraft Earth
The success of Pokemon Go prompted other developers to attempt games that incorporated existent-globe play, including Minecraft maker Mojang. Merely Minecraft Globe arrived merely ahead of a global pandemic that made exploring the physical world less tenable. Past Jan 2021, Microsoft said it would shut down Minecraft Earth on June xxx. "Minecraft Earth was designed around free movement and collaborative play — two things that have go nigh impossible in the electric current global state of affairs," the Minecraft team said.
In the wake of Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol, the tiptop social networks—Twitter, Facebook, YouTube—close down the outgoing president's accounts, arguing that they couldn't be sure he wouldn't apply them to incite violence. Twitter has said that Trump is now banned for life, Facebook volition revisit the ban in early on 2023, and YouTube has said but that it will reinstate Trump when the gamble of violence goes downwards.
(Photo Illustration by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
Netflix on Wii U and 3DS
For those who were binge-watching on Nintendo'southward crumbling Wii U and 3DS consoles, the game maker announced information technology January that it would discontinue Netflix access by June 30 for the New Nintendo 3DS, New Nintendo 3DS XL, New Nintendo 2DS XL, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo 3DS XL, Nintendo 2DS, Wii U Deluxe, and Wii U Basic, after removing the app from the eShop on Dec. 31.
Simple
If your app-based depository financial institution disappears, did it ever actually exist? The pop online banking app Simple shut down(Opens in a new window) early this year, several months afterwards its parent company, BBVA USA, was acquired by PNC Bank. Customers initially retained access to their Simple accounts, but were ultimately transferred to BBVA Usa. The Simple website and app are now offline.
Amazon Pantry
Amazon Pantry debuted in 2022 as a style for customers to regularly stock up on staple items in one shipment. But with the growth of Prime, equally well as Amazon's acquisition of Whole Foods and its expansion into grocery deliveries with Fresh, there was less of a need for Pantry, and it shut down in January.
Alphabet Project Loon (Photo: Alphabet)
Alphabet Projection Loon
Tech firms have spent large bucks in the terminal decade trying to go internet access to far-flung corners of the globe—in part because they recognize that it's hard to exist in today's earth without the spider web, but there's also the added do good of attracting more users. Project Loon from Google (now Alphabet) used balloons that continued to special antennas on the ground to provide service. It took flight in 2013, simply Alphabet announced in January that the effort was too expensive "to build a long-term, sustainable business," and would be winding downwards.
Tucows Downloads
Afterward more than 25 years online, the freeware and shareware downloads website Tucows Downloads finally retired in 2021. "A lot has changed since those early years," Elliot Noss, Tucows CEO, acknowledged in a January blog mail service. "Tucows has grown and evolved as a business. Information technology's been a long time since Tucows has been TUCOWS, which stood for The Ultimate Collection of Winsock Software." The company has since become a domain name registrar, but its contents have been preserved by the Cyberspace Annal for posterity.
February
Fry's Electronics in Sunnyvale, California, April 2000 (Photo by David McNew/Newsmakers)
Fry's Electronics
The rise of due east-commerce has killed many retail stores, from Circuit Metropolis to Radio Shack. This year, it was Fry'southward that threw in the towel. The venerable West Coast electronics chain, known for its kitschy themes, couldn't compete against the deep pockets of juggernauts like Amazon, Best Buy, and Walmart. It suddenly closed(Opens in a new window) its 31 remaining stores in early Feb, citing changing customer habits and the pandemic. Go down memory lane with PCMag's Chris Stobing hither.
Google Stadia Games and Entertainment Team
Game-streaming services offer the promise of superlative games without the expense of a panel or gaming PC. But Google'due south solution, Stadia, hasn't exactly blown gamers out of the water. We gave it a tepid two.v stars out of five when information technology debuted in 2019, in function for its disappointing launch library. In Feb, comeback on that front end grew less probable, when the company disbanded the Stadia Games and Amusement team, which was charged with developing first-party titles. The reason? "Creating all-time-in-grade games from the ground upwards takes many years and significant investment, and the price is going up exponentially," said Stadia General Manager Phil Harrison.
March
Apple HomePod
Start-Gen Apple HomePod
Apple's first smart speaker wasn't particularly impressive. Voice control was express to Apple Music and Siri lagged behind competing vocalization assistants. Last yr's HomePod mini was big improvement, specially since information technology was just $99, leaving little reason to purchase the $300 original. Apple plainly recognized this and discontinued the kickoff-gen device in March.
Apple iMac Pro
Also getting the heave-ho by Cupertino this year was its iMac Pro, which hadn't seen a refresh in several years. In March, Apple suggested that iMac fans check out the 2022 27-inch iMac. It later released an M1-based iMac.
Apr
Logitech Harmony Limited
Logitech Harmony Remotes
Logitech's Harmony line was one of the biggest names in universal remote controls. In 2017, we found its Harmony Elite to be "the most advanced universal remote you lot can purchase without a custom installation," though it came at a $349 premium. After efforts weren't as impressive, though, and past 2021, the ascent of streaming made universal remotes less relevant(Opens in a new window). In April, Logitech announced(Opens in a new window) it would no longer brand Harmony remotes.
Legacy Microsoft Edge
Redmond stopped trying to make Border happen this year, sort of. The Microsoft-made browser is still tightly integrated with Windows (particularly in Windows eleven), but it's now a Chromium-based gateway to the web. For a time, the original coexisted with the Chromium upgrade, simply only one could prevail. As of April 13, anyone with the original Border still installed on their Windows 10 PC saw it automatically replaced with the Chromium version.
LG Wing
LG's Mobile Phone Business organization
It'due south tough out there for telephone makers that aren't Samsung or Apple tree. In 2021, LG saw the writing on the wall and airtight upwards its mobile shop. Despite some innovative takes on the smartphone, like the flippable LG Wing ("the wildest phone of belatedly 2020," we wrote), LG couldn't keep up with the deep pockets of its chief rivals. Going forward, the company will focus its efforts on "electric vehicle components, continued devices, smart homes, robotics, bogus intelligence and concern-to-business solutions, as well as platforms and services," it said in April.
These "tech that died" lists usually include a handful of Google products. The search giant wasn't quite as ruthless in 2022 as it has been in previous years, but a few services did give up the ghost. Post-obit an April update to Google's iOS and Android Shopping platforms, Google Shopping app users started seeing "something went wrong" error messages and were redirected to shopping.google.com. Google confirmed the shutdown and directed spider web users to the Shopping tab on Google.com and the full Google app.
May
Yahoo Answers
Am I pragnent(Opens in a new window)? Sadly, the world may never know, as Yahoo Answers said farewell to the cyberspace earlier this year. The site has been around since 2005, and despite not being equally pop as other question-and-respond sites, similar Quora and Reddit, Yahoo Answers still pulled in a respectable amount of traffic. Just the often-incoherent queries of the Yahoo crew did not charm parent company Verizon, and the site shut down on May 4.
Amazon Prime Now App
Quick online deliveries are the norm these days, particularly in big cities. Merely in 2014, it was uncharted territory, and Amazon took the reins with 1-hr "Prime Now" deliveries in New York City. It was express in scope and just accessible via a divide app. Vii years afterward, that standalone app was no longer necessary, and Amazon folded Prime At present into its main app, so you can shop for two-twenty-four hours and one-60 minutes items in the same place.
Microsoft Surface Neo running Windows 10X
Windows 10X
Device makers accept been experimenting with foldable and dual-screen devices in recent years, and Microsoft's solution was the Surface Neo. Information technology ran Windows 10X, a lightweight version of Windows 10 intended to go head-to-head with Google'due south Chrome Bone. Simply afterwards "a year-long exploration," Microsoft said in May that it didn't brand sense to have a split version of Windows for devices with unique form factors. Instead, it axed 10X and folded the technology into Windows 10.
LiveLeak
If you wanted disturbing or violent videos in the mid-aughts, LiveLeak was more than than happy to satisfy your morbid marvel. Fifteen years later, though, the internet is awash in nighttime corners for those who need them, while the residual of u.s. would honey it if everyone would have it down a notch. In a May blog post(Opens in a new window) announcing the shutdown of LiveLeak, its founders acknowledged that "The world has inverse a lot over these last few years, the Cyberspace aslope it, and we as people."
Peloton Tread+
Peloton Tread+
It'south been a bit of a rollercoaster twelvemonth for Peloton. Following a blockbuster 2022 that saw exercise buffs turn to smart gym equipment during COVID-19 quarantines, the company was forced to recall its Tread and Tread+ treadmills after the accidental expiry and injury of children playing on them. It later released an updated Peloton Tread, which stock-still the problematic elements of the original (it's a PCMag Editors' Choice pick), only the Tread+ remains off the marketplace for "the foreseeable futurity," Peloton told united states in October.
June
Google Photos
Unlimited Storage for Google Photos and Docs
Every twelvemonth, Google pulls a move that irks the masses, and this year it was the demise of unlimited storage on Google Photos and Docs. The one-time had long been a gratuitous way to automatically back up (lower-res) smartphone photos to the deject. Merely zippo in life is truly free, and Google capped us all at 15GB of data per Google business relationship, starting June 1. Why? To go us to upgrade to paid plans, of course. (Here are some Google Photos alternatives.)
Nighttime Heaven App
The standalone, hyper-local weather condition app Dark Heaven will shut downward next year, co-founder Adam Grossman confirmed(Opens in a new window) in June. The pop app was acquired by Apple tree in 2020, and the Android and Wear Bone versions of the service take already gone kaput. Wait for the Night Heaven tech to pop up in Apple's own weather solutions going forward.
Pepper robot at a Beverly Hills HSBC co-operative in 2019. (Photo: Amanda Edwards)
SoftBank Pepper Robots
Perhaps one day the robots will come for us. Until so, they're still getting stuck in the snow(Opens in a new window). At SoftBank, its Pepper robot joined Jibo in the android graveyard this year. The four-pes, 62-pound device arrived a few years ago, marketed as a robot who "understands emotions," and could provide assistance in retail situations, like banks. Every bit Reuters reported(Opens in a new window) in June, all the same, Pepper struggled to find a customer base, and SoftBank stopped production.
Donald Trump's Web log
Banned from almost social media networks, the former president turned to blogging. Well, sort of. He basically started posting statements to his official website in a format that mimicked a Twitter feed. Information technology didn't last long, though. After a mere month of Trump Thoughts, the blog shut down with promises of a larger social media effort downward the line. That has yet to fully materialize, though Trump did convince Rep. Devin Nunes to quit Congress and run the Trump Media & Technology Group.
July
Twitter Fleets (Image: Twitter)
Twitter Fleets
Social media platforms have struggled to come up with original ideas lately, and the feature they've all ripped off is "Stories," or short-lived, fifteen-second clips. Twitter's version was Fleets, pitched as a "low force per unit area" style for people to use Twitter without fear of the dreaded ratio or other corruption. Merely screenshots are a thing. Plus, Fleets let tweeters run into who viewed their posts, unlike regular tweets, which (for me, at least) was definitely a deterrent to tapping on them. Twitter announced in July that information technology was axing the characteristic, and by Aug. 3, less than a year subsequently they debuted, Fleets expired one last time.
August
Bluetooth Google Titan Security Primal Bundle
Bluetooth Titan Security Key
Google'due south Titan Security Keys offer an extra layer of security for multi-factor hallmark, simply with the introduction of NFC-enabled Titan Security Keys, Google this yr discontinued(Opens in a new window) its Bluetooth version. The Bluetooth ones volition go along working, though.
Android Auto for Telephone Screens
Android Auto adds the Android experience to your car's infotainment organisation when you lot connect your smartphone, only but in compatible vehicles(Opens in a new window). For those with not-uniform cars, in that location was Android Auto for Phone Screens. Simply people running the Android 12 beta who attempted to load it this summer saw a message urging them to use Google Assistant driving mode. Google later on confirmed that "Starting with Android 12, Google Assistant driving style will be the built-in mobile driving experience."
LinkedIn Stories (Image: LinkedIn)
LinkedIn Stories
When I said that every social media visitor tried Stories, I meant information technology. The main reason LinkedIn's version failed, though, was because its users didn't like that their messages disappeared. The whole point of LinkedIn is to have something that prospective employers tin can peruse, so creating catchy career-related content and having it disappear 24 hours after wasn't super helpful.
Primephonic
Primephonic has been in the classical music streaming concern for years, and in 2021, Apple tree took note and caused it. Unfortunately, that means the standalone service has been close downwardly for at present. Adjacent year, "Apple Music plans to launch a dedicated classical music app…combining Primephonic'southward classical user interface that fans accept grown to dearest with more added features."
Groovy Discord Bot
Groovy lets users gather for online listening parties, playing music from major services like YouTube, Spotify, Soundcloud, Deezer, Apple tree Music, and Tidal. But since nearly of those platforms don't allow direct sound playback, Groovy inputs metadata into YouTube to find the closest equivalent to your intended track. In August, Google said that ran afoul of YouTube's terms of service and shut down the Groovy music bot.
September
(Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Rythm Discord Bot
Less than iii weeks after axing Discord's Bully music bot, Google did the same to Rythm, which had more than than 560 meg Discord users. "We take received a observe from YouTube asking us to shut downwardly our service," the team said at the time. "Since we use YouTube every bit our main source of music, that means our current service will close down entirely."
Recommended by Our Editors
Tesla Referral Program
Tesla is now a well-known brand in the automotive earth, but it's long used a referral program among the Tesla faithful to help pulsate upwardly sales. One person referred so many people in 2022 that they scored a free P90D, a Tesla Powerwall, and entry to Tesla launch events. But things alter. These days, the scrap shortage and other production issues hateful Tesla is struggling to keep up, so it doesn't really need a referral program to help it sell cars. As of Sept. 18, vehicle products and solar panels "are no longer eligible for Referral awards," the company said, though the Solar Roof is still part of the program, Electrek reported(Opens in a new window).
XTube
In that location had to be at least ane porn website on this list, and 2022 saw the demise of XTube in early September. As The Next Spider web reported(Opens in a new window) this summer, XTube owner MindGeek has faced a number of lawsuits over illegal content across its collection of adult sites. And while MindGeek didn't say that legal issues were the cause of the XTube shutdown, that's usually the reason when these things happen.
October
Bear on Bar on the 2022 thirteen-inch MacBook Pro
Apple tree Touch on Bar
Since 2016, certain versions of Apple tree'south MacBooks have included a strange little strip atop the keyboard that allowed for touch functionality on apps like the calculator, predictive text, and more. As we noted in our review of the latest 16-inch MacBook Pro, "Apple touted the Affect Bar as a benefaction to creative pros, who could use it to scrub through video timelines and quickly access the settings they needed to conform for whatever given chore." Only many people found it to be gimmicky, and then Apple ditched the Touch Bar in the 14- and new 16-inch MacBook Pros, replacing information technology with concrete function keys.
Houseparty
The team behind Houseparty retired the video-chat app in October to focus on building new social experiences for Epic Games, which acquired Houseparty in 2019. The shutdown was a little surprising, given that Houseparty's popularity grew terminal year due to the pandemic. But its developers said they've been as well busy creating new features for Ballsy Games and its popular Fortnite franchise, and something had to requite.
LinkedIn China
LinkedIn's seven-year endeavour to operate in China—a country notorious for online censorship—came to an end this year. Parent company Microsoft cited the state's strict regulations on content moderation, as well equally "greater compliance requirements in China."
Nov
Fortnite in China
A modified version of Fortnite debuted in China in April 2018, simply concessions fabricated past Epic Games (removing in-game purchases, modifying certain skins) were not enough to satisfy Chinese authorities. And so Epic opted to shut downward the game rather than run a stripped-downwards version. Account creation was halted on Nov. 1 ahead of a formal shutdown on Nov. 15.
Facebook'southward Facial-Recognition System
In a surprise movement, Meta appear it would shut down Facebook's facial-recognition system and delete the template it uses to recognize people in photos—"one of the largest shifts in facial recognition usage in the technology's history," Jerome Pesenti, Facebook'southward VP of Artificial Intelligence, said at the time. He didn't point to a single incident that prompted the decision, saying just that there are "growing concerns most the apply of this technology as a whole." But information technology came as facial-recognition systems (and Facebook in general) were under fire.
YouTube Dislike Counts
In a bid to prevent "dislike attacks," YouTube this year opted to hide dislike counts on videos from the public. Simply video creators can encounter how many dislikes a prune has received. The decision didn't sit well with a lot of YouTube fans, including one of its co-founders, Jawed Karim. Simply YouTube argued that information technology's "the correct matter to do for our platform—to better protect creators from harassment [and] aid ensure smaller creators and those just getting started tin can thrive."
Instagram Threads
You'd be forgiven for not knowing this one even existed. Introduced(Opens in a new window) in late 2019, shortly after the demise of Instagram's standalone messaging app Direct, Threads was pitched as a "photographic camera-first messaging app" that permit y'all share photos, videos, letters, Stories, and more with your Instagram shut friends list. Though it later expanded to allow for messaging to anybody, not simply shut friends, Threads never really caught on, given that you lot can DM inside the main Instagram app. It's set to shut downward(Opens in a new window) by month's end.
Instagram Threads
Cortana-Alexa Integration
Microsoft and Amazon in 2022 announced they were working to tie their voice assistants together. The ensuing partnership meant you lot could use an Amazon Echo device to summon Cortana to open up your Microsoft programs, such every bit Outlook. But in Nov, Microsoft confirmed that it dropped Cortana support on Alexa two months earlier and shifted its Cortana resources to focus on productivity within Microsoft 365. The fact that no one really noticed for ii months should tell you why.
Spotify Car View
Spotify Automobile View served up a simplified Now Playing screen on the mobile app when connected to a vehicle's entertainment system, just it disappeared this autumn. A moderator on Spotify'southward forums after confirmed the company had bid goodbye to Car View. They didn't actually explain why, except to say that retiring Auto View needed "to happen in an attempt to make way for new innovations coming down the rail."
Dubsmash
After working for nearly a yr to integrate Dubsmash into Reddit, Dubsmash will shut down equally a standalone platform on Feb. 22, 2022. At that indicate, "Dubsmash will no longer exist available for download in the Apple App Shop or Google Play Store; currently downloaded apps will terminate functioning on the same date," Reddit wrote in a November blog postal service.
Zillow Offers
For many, Zillow is where dreams of home ownership become to dice. But all the same we return, favoriting overpriced apartments and cool abodes(Opens in a new window). But did you know that Zillow itself may be to blame for your house-hunting blues? Turns out the company ran an algorithm-based house-flipping business, Zillow Offers, that scooped upward homes on the cheap from motivated sellers, flipped them, and resold for a profit. At least that was the idea. As the housing market cooled off this fall, it "flummoxed Zillow's algorithm," the Wall Street Journal reported(Opens in a new window), and the company threw in the towel on the flipping business altogether.
Dec
Firefox Lockwise
Firefox Lockwise debuted in 2019(Opens in a new window) as a manner for iOS and Android users to create, manage, and sync passwords beyond devices. Unlike other password managers, which are mostly browser-agnostic, Firefox Lockwise was specifically designed for use with its namesake web browser. Just as of Dec. thirteen, the standalone apps were deprecated in favor of Firefox's congenital-in password management tools.
Alexa.com
Don't worry, Amazon's virtual assistant isn't going anywhere. Since 1996, Alexa.com has offered spider web traffic analysis and rankings. Perhaps you lot remember websites referencing their "Alexa rankings" back in the day. Information technology was acquired by Amazon in 1999, only in a cursory notation(Opens in a new window) posted on its website this month, the company said it'southward "made the difficult determination to retire Alexa.com on May one, 2022." Its APIs will exist retired on Dec. 15, 2022.
Earlier Google formally dipped its toes into browsers with Chrome in 2008, it relied on getting people to add together toolbars to browsers like Internet Explorer. In the era before address/search bar combos, it saved y'all a few clicks when searching the web. Equally Ars Technica discovered(Opens in a new window), even so, Google quietly shut downward Google Toolbar for Internet Explorer this twelvemonth after more than 20 years. Ars took information technology for i last spin before that happened, though, if you're feeling nostalgic.
Did we miss anything important? Allow us know in the comments below.
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Source: https://www.pcmag.com/news/tech-that-died-in-2021
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