6 Worst Wearable Tech Gadgets That Failed

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Nowadays, when you hear the term “wearables”, you probably think of smartwatches like the Apple Watch, fitness trackers, and VR headsets like the Oculus Rift. However, these gadgets didn’t just appear out of the ether. Several other devices had to crash and burn so modern wearables could flourish. While the 2010s was the first decade where wearables really took off, these devices actually have a long, storied history. They date all the way back to 17th century China, when scholars invented a tiny wearable abacus—or you know, the world’s first smart ring. Since then, there’s been a lot of trial and error in creating wearable technology that the average person would actually use. But we’re not here to talk about the successes. Some devices just had unlucky timing—revolutionary technologies that were simply ahead of their time. Others...

This USB-C gadget from hell brings back the worst part of USB-A

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USB-C ports, I am occasionally forced to admit, are somewhat confusing. Different standards, different charging speeds, different data and video capabilities, proprietary labels like Thunderbolt, all on top of identical-looking plugs — it can be a lot. But one thing that USB-C ports had going for them was a solution for one of the biggest annoyances of USB-A — it’s no longer possible to insert a USB cable the “wrong” way, thanks to the symmetrical design of the plugs. Or, at least, it was, until mechanical engineer Pim de Groot came along with a USB-C gadget from hell, which does behave differently depending on which way your USB-C plug is facing. And I hate it so, so much. The device itself is rather simple: when the USB-C cable is plugged in one way, a green LED lights up on the top of the device. Plug it in reversed, and the bottom...