1. TOP
10
‘INNOVATIONS’
THAT
SHOULD
HAVE
CHANGED
THE
WORLD...
BUT
DIDN’T
MANAGE
IT.
This
list,
compiled
by
a
panel
of
20
experts
from
the
BriNsh
Science
AssociaNon,
reveals
the
most
exci+ng
innova+ons
that
failed
to
live
up
to
expecta+ons.

2. 1.
Concorde
It
was
an
engineering
marvel
admired
by
NASA
and
the
envy
of
airlines
around
the
world.
ASer
its
maiden
flight
in
1969,
Concorde
was
heralded
as
the
dawn
of
a
new
age
of
supersonic
passenger
air
travel.
UlNmately,
however,
just
20
of
these
aircraS
were
ever
built
and
the
high
running
costs
saw
a
trip
on
Concorde
become
a
luxury
flight
rather
than
rouNne
transport.
A
combinaNon
of
the
Air
France
crash
in
2000
and
the
slump
in
air
travel
following
the
September
11
terrorist
aYacks
saw
Concorde
finally
reNred
from
service
from
the
two
airlines
that
operated
them
–
BriNsh
Airways
and
Air
France.
Today,
airline
passengers
can
barely
travel
at
half
the
speed
reached
by
Concorde.

3. 2.
Microwave
ovens
The
microwave
oven
was
supposed
to
sound
the
death
knell
of
the
tradiNonal
oven.
UNlising
microwave
radiaNon
to
heat
water
inside
food,
it
was
able
to
cook
from
the
inside
out.
The
inability
to
put
metal
objects
inside
microwave
ovens,
their
tendency
to
heat
crockery
more
than
the
food
and
their
associaNon
with
unhealthy
ready
meals
meant
they
only
ever
became
an
addiNon
to
the
oven
rather
than
a
replacement.

4. 3.
The
Millennium
Bug
Known
as
the
Year
2000
problem,
the
Millennium
bug
was
reported
as
a
computer
soSware
glitch
that
threatened
to
send
financial
markets
crashing,
cause
aircraS
to
drop
out
of
the
sky,
cause
power
cuts
and
cause
widespread
computer
chaos.
The
problem
stemmed
from
a
problem
with
many
computer
programs
that
only
stored
years
with
two
digits,
which
would
have
resulted
in
their
clocks
being
reset
when
the
millennium
rolled
over.
The
new
millennium
arrived
with
liYle
trouble
and
countries
that
had
spent
very
liYle
on
tackling
the
Y2K
bug,
such
as
Italy
and
South
Korea,
performed
just
as
well
as
those
who
had
spent
a
fortune.

5. 4.
High
Rise
Buildings
Tower
blocks
began
springing
up
in
ciNes
in
Europe
to
replace
the
buildings
destroyed
by
the
aerial
bombardment
during
the
blitz.
They
provided
cheap
and
easily
assembled
housing
that
allowed
large
numbers
of
people
from
the
crumbling
tenement
blocks
to
be
given
homes.
They
were
seen
as
a
bold
social
experiment
and
were
welcomed
for
their
innovaNve
design
and
spectacular
views.
Soon
we
would
all
be
living
in
a
high
rise
utopia.
Dwindling
council
budgets
for
maintenance
and
poor
building
materials,
however,
saw
these
dreams
turn
sour
and
they
have
now
become
a
symbol
of
1970s
ugliness
and
poverty.
High
rise
buildings
now
rank
among
the
least
desirable
places
to
live.

6. 5.
Moon
landings
The
excitement
that
followed
the
Apollo
mission
to
the
Moon
and
Neil
Armstrong's
famous
words
as
he
became
the
first
human
to
set
foot
on
the
surface
of
a
solar
body
other
than
our
own,
was
huge.
The
pictures
beamed
back
by
the
crew
revealed
a
barren
and
inhospitable
landscape
with
an
undeniably
fantasNc
view.
Apollo
11
and
the
subsequent
five
lunar
landings
certainly
helped
to
inspire
a
generaNon
of
scienNsts.
Sadly
only
one
scienNst,
Harrison
SchmiY,
a
geologist,
ever
got
to
walk
on
the
Moon's
surface
and
aSer
Apollo
17
in
1972,
Nasa
abandoned
manned
missions
to
our
nearest
astronomical
neighbour.

7. 6.
DomosNc
Robots
In
the
1950s,
predicNons
of
what
life
would
be
like
by
the
end
of
the
millennium
placed
robots
firmly
into
the
domesNc
sefng.
Intelligent,
autonomous
machines
would
move
out
of
the
science
ficNon
movies
and
into
our
homes.
They
would
help
housewives
with
domesNc
chores
from
vacuuming
to
washing
up.
Today,
robots
are
now
only
just
finding
use
in
military
sefngs
in
the
guise
of
unmanned
aircraS
and
bomb
disposal
drones,
but
sNll
have
to
be
remotely
controlled
by
humans.
Small
numbers
of
roboNc
vacuum
cleaners
that
trundle
around
the
home
sweeping
up
crumbs
have
been
sold,
but
sadly
most
home
owners
sNll
have
to
get
their
hands
dirty
without
the
aid
mechanical
helper.

8. 7.
Video
Phones
Featured
on
Tomorrow's
World
in
the
late
1980s,
video
conferencing
was
billed
as
the
way
we
could
be
communicaNng
in
the
future.
Not
only
would
we
be
able
to
talk
to
friends
and
relaNves
on
the
other
side
of
the
world,
but
we
would
be
able
to
see
them
too.
Despite
enjoying
a
slight
revival
in
the
business
world
as
concerns
about
climate
change
saw
many
push
video
conferencing
as
an
alternaNve
to
air
travel
for
meeNngs,
they
have
really
failed
to
take
off
in
any
meaningful
way.
Instead,
the
video
funcNon
on
mobile
phones
now
tends
to
be
used
to
capture
the
wacky
drunken
anNcs
of
friends
while
enjoying
a
night
out
on
the
Nles.

9. 8.
The
Mini
A
revoluNonary
vehicle
made
by
the
BriNsh
Motor
CorporaNon
and
is
successors,
which
made
small
cars
"cool"
and
classless.
It
became
an
icon
of
the
1960s
and
helped
inspire
new
ways
of
packaging
engines
and
passengers.
Despite
the
trend
it
set
for
so
called
"superminis",
for
the
next
forty
years
cars
got
bigger
and
heavier.
Even
the
revamped
version
of
the
Mini
produced
by
BMW
saw
the
iconic
liYle
car
grow
in
size.
It
is
now
22
inches
long,
12
inches
wider
and
nearly
twice
as
heavy.

10. 9.
MagneNc
trains
Another
Tomorrow's
World
favourite,
Maglev
trains
were
to
be
the
ultra
modern,
super
fast
form
of
transport.
Rather
than
using
wheels
and
tracks
the
trains
levitated
above
powerful
magnets
along
the
track.
MagneNc
trains
really
only
entered
use
in
Japan
and
parts
of
China.
Despite
having
the
potenNal
to
reach
speeds
far
in
excess
of
aircraS,
the
highest
speed
achieved
so
far
was
361mph.
just
3
miles
per
hour
faster
than
the
speed
record
set
by
convenNonal
trains.

11. 10.
Nuclear
power
Seen
as
the
answer
to
the
world's
energy
problems
in
the
1950s,
there
were
predicNons
almost
everything
from
cars
to
kitchen
appliances
would
become
nuclear
powered.
Fears
over
safety
and
difficulNes
in
disposing
of
the
radioacNve
waste
got
in
the
way....

12. Share
your
innovaNon
mistakes
and
learn
from
the
mistakes
of
others!
www.redzezel.com/innova+onfailures