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PalmPilots, the Apple Newton and the Cisco Flip – Discontinued tech products everyone misses
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By Hugh Fort in News Stories, posted November 30, 2022
In the technology industry, it's common for products to be discontinued regularly.
It uses its resources for other products to aim to create something bigger and better.
For example, Apple is always working on its next iPhone and Microsoft is constantly innovating new computer technology to replace its old products.
There have been products that users continue to miss, whether that be for nostalgic reasons or functional purposes.
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PalmPilots
This was a relic of the late 1990s.
It was introduced in 1997 and then discontinued in 2010.
Palm's devices were the most popular handheld organizer for many years.
It ran specialized apps like smartphones today, and some even had their own wireless data connections.
HP bought the company for $1.2 billion in 2010, and it all ended.
Google Reader
Google discontinued the Reader news aggregator in 2013.
Google Reader was a powerful RSS feed management device made in 2005.
Many people loved it; however, more was needed to support the costs.
Google's official explanation was: "While the product has a loyal following, over the years, usage has declined. So, on July 1, 2013, we will retire Google Reader."
Cisco Flip
This device was trendy when it first came out in 2006.
It was a camera you could fit into your pocket and shoot a video recording for up to 1 hour.
Cisco bought Pure Digital Technologies, the company behind the device, so production stopped in 2011.
Cisco used its consumer company's resources to support further "four of its five key company priorities."
Also, technology began to evolve, and people could use cameras on their phones without having to use a separate device.
Apple Newton
This was Apple's first attempt at a handheld administrative device, which was introduced in 1993.
It had a stylus and handwriting software to take notes, organize your calendar, and look up contact information.
Unfortunately, it was discontinued in 1998.
There are several theories as to why Apple stopped production.
There were many problems with it; one big one was that the writing recognition dictionary retained just 10,000 words.
The legendary Steve Jobs came back to the company in 1997, decided he thought the Newton was a terrible product, and got rid of it.
Adobe PageMaker
The PageMaker was a popular desktop publishing program that produced magazines, documents, or other text and image media you liked.
It came out in 1986 but was discontinued in 2004.
Although development has stopped, Adobe still sells and keeps it.
The company chose to focus on something called InDesign instead.
Image: Blake Patterson - Flickr
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