Without a doubt, THE WORST "Gadget" OF ALL TIMEOh yes, I already know what you’re going to say. “You’re too late dude, the entire internet’s beaten you to publishing a list of the best and worst of 2009. You suck!“. To which I’d say: well, you’re right. But what else can you expect from a website that wasn’t updated for a whole year? Besides, better late than never, right? Right?

Well, like it or not, here I am with my very own “worst list” of 2009. A disclaimer before we proceed: This list is based purely on my personal choices and prejudices, and the amount of scientific research put into ascertaining facts is a big, grand zero. This explains why the list is dominated by Apple products. What’s more, some of these devices were actually launched much before 2009. If you don’t like it, go make your own list. Tthengaa!

Oh, by the way, if you would like to recommend a gadget that should be added to this list, or rant about my biases, feel free to use the Comments section. It’s at the bottom of the page, for those of you too dumb to find it (mostly comprised of Apple fanboys). So without further ado, I hereby proudly present my list, in descending order.

#1:TwitterPeek

TwitterPeekIf you think Twitter’s useless, boy, are you going to have a fit over this device. The sole purpose of TwitterPeek is to send and receive tweets. Fortunately, this device is not available in India. Otherwise, almost all the bi-curious people in Bollywood would have bought one. Don’t you know that Karan Johar loves Twitter? Don’t bother about Bollywood’s taste though — people there even buy Apple products. Even so, why would anyone buy this device for nearly Rs 9000? It’s not a mobile phone, and it literally does nothing more than managing your tweets. What I’m trying to say is, even a Twitter Fan (whom I like to call “twat“) will prefer to buy any Rs 5000 phone with internet access that lets him manage tweets, along with which he’ll also get calling capabilities, not to mention a basic media player, camera, and file sharing options.

#2: Samsung Corby

Samsung CorbySamsung Corby phones are everywhere. They come in many shapes and sizes — so much so that it’s getting difficult to keep track of the variants available in the Corby lineup. Half-witted college goers are hopping around in their excitement to buy these phones, just because touchscreen phones are considered “hip and cool” these days. I cannot tell you how much I hate the word “cool”. The phone itself is priced reasonably, but the user interface is garbage. Samsung has selected hideous color schemes and fonts for the entire range. Third-party application support hardly exists, and the pre-installed games are literally sad. Someone in Samsung’s designing team must have said, “Let’s give it a sporty look”. And that would have left the entire team extremely excited and slapping each other’s backs in congratulations. However, what they ended up doing was beyond ”sporty”. They painted half the phone in one colour and the rest in another, making it look like a Gangsta Rap artiste’s accessory. One colour combination includes yellow and black, which reminds me of taxicabs.

#3: Apple TV

ANOTHER overpriced and overhyped Apple productApple TV is a 24 x 7 television channel that shows Steve Jobs unveiling new useless products, as well as his keynote speeches. Horrified already? Don’t be, I was just kidding. It’s actually a white-coloured device with soft, rounded corners and the Apple logo on it. “Big deal“, I hear you say, “All Apple devices are white and have rounded corners!“. OK, so read what its official page has to say about the Apple TV: “Watch YouTube on your TV. Show off your photos. Enjoy your iTunes library“. Meh.

Incidentally, you might like to know that Apple TV costs Rs 15,100 in India. Shelling out 15 big ones for experiencing YouTube and the so called “enjoyment” with the iTunes library sounds like a pretty dumb idea to me. Like always though, Apple fanboys have bought the Apple TV by the container-load. Guess what — it hardly works.

#4: iPod Radio Remote

iPod Radio RemoteApple’s iPod cannot tune in to radio channels, such as FM. What a shame!  That, unfortunately, hasn’t stopped the company from trying to make even more money from this shameful flaw by selling a little attachment just to play radio — the iPod Radio Remote.

Since the consumer has made the mistake of buying an iPod, he now must pay a hefty “fine” of Rs 3700(!) to get access to radio channels. This is ridiculous, knowing the fact that you can buy a nice Philips Go Gear MP3 Player with an inbuilt radio receiver for around the same price as this “accessory”.

#5: Sony Ericsson W350i

Sony Ericsson W350iIf you’re looking for the textbook definition of piss-poor build quality, look no further. The Sony Ericsson W350i is made of a plastic that’s hardly better than what Chinese manufacturers use for their “FM Receiver”; the kind you can buy from a hawker outside the local train station for Rs 40. As soon as you hold the W350i, you get a cheap vibe from it.

Seriously, if you can’t provide a good user-interface, at least make the phone sturdy. But nooo, the company just can’t have that. The in-ear earphones are as bad as you can expect from Sony Ericsson.

Oh, I almost forgot — the W350i has a flap that covers the keypad, with keys for playing your music on the flap. No prizes for guessing that said keys are oddly coloured orange.

#6: HTC Dopod C720W

Fugly!The HTC Dopod C720W has a nice specification sheet. This smartphone runs on Windows Mobile 5.0. It supports Microsoft Office and the PDF file format; it also features Windows Live Messenger and Microsoft Direct Push. Frankly, this smartphone is packed to the gills with good stuff. So what’s it doing in the list of “worst gadgets”?

Well, look at it! The device is fugly. The button placement is as dumb as Rahul Mahajan, and as a bonus, HTC decided to colour nine buttons in white to make its numeric keypad stand out.

In short, the manufacturer tried its best to lose all the brownie points it had earned with the kickass specifications.

#7: Apple Magic Mouse

Apple Magic MouseSteve Jobs hates buttons. This could also be the reason behind him favouring turtleneck t-shirts. Anyway, this is about Apple’s Magic Mouse. This is what Apple has to say about its product: ”The same Multi-Touch technology first introduced on the revolutionary iPhone comes to the mouse. It’s called Magic Mouse, and it’s the world’s first Multi-Touch mouse“. Basically, it’s like replacing a desktop mouse with a laptop’s trackpad. For Rs 3700. Nice one, people.

Dishonourable Mentions

Apple’s Wireless Keyboard also deserves to be on the list. However, I’d (justifiably) be blamed for making this article monotonous, so I won’t write much about it. Instead, I’ll simply mention some facts, such as Logitech’s wireless keyboard & mouse combo costs Rs 1645.  And that Logitech’s combo is a genuine plug-and-play device. Whereas Apple’s keyboard, made exclusively for the Mac— oops, iMac — requires another keyboard for the initial setup. And it still costs Rs 3700, and another Rs 3700 for Apple’s mouse. Which is the same price as that for the iPod Radio Remote. Wonder why Apple likes that figure so much. Whatever.

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