Next big things that never lived up to the hype, failed, or disappeared without a trace... What do you remember??

[Electric_Andy]

Friends reunited, I guess Farce book superseded it. Never did either personally.

Everyone at my school (it came in shortly after I left college) jumped on friends reunited straight away. You could create a profile for free but you had to pay to add any pictures or message anyone. Some people realised that you could type a hint to your email address into your profile, but it didn't really work. No-one was willing to pay a fiver to contact old school friends. Which is why FB completely took over, as it was free, and now look at what its done to the population!

 

[matticus]

Simple Minds

 

[stephec]

^^^Full possible length thread title that^^^ 😆

Anyway, Segways for a start,

Didn't the inventor of the Segway die when he crashed one?

 

[classic33]

You don't see many Ronco Buttoneers any more?

JML own them now.

 

[raleighnut]

Didn't the inventor of the Segway die when he crashed one?

Rode one over a cliff edge I seem to remember, yep checked and he did in 2010

 

[DCLane]

In our world ....

Kirk Precision , magnesium bike frames

I've got a magnesium-framed bike, this being the second one I've had from Carrera (built by Merida). Not a Kirk Precision though.

I am very aware it will crack spectacularly at some point, probably when I'm going downhill and hit a bump. But that's all part of the 'ownership experience'.

 

[a.twiddler]

Have a look at the Crighton *CR 700W over 200bhp and under 130Kg, OK they're only making 25 initially and they are quite expensive but Brian is looking at possibly making a road version.

* Brian Crighton was the guy behind the Norton that won multiple championships as the JPS Norton and was the last British bike to win a TT with Steve Hislop beating Carl Fogerty.

In a world where reciprocating engine technology has been developed to be relatively cheap, plentiful and reliable, and the rotary piston engine didn't manage to become widespread enough to bring costs down enough to have a self sustaining network behind it before emissions regulations made further development uneconomic, it's just another footnote in history. They were always uncommon unlike for example two stroke motorcycles which were everywhere at one time for the utility rider. It's likely that many more people could afford a Francis Barnet Plover than a Norton Atlas back in the day. Due to emissions regulations, very few two strokes are produced now and they are around 50cc.

If history had taken a different turn who knows what might have been the commonplace technology now. Feet first super lightweight turbocharged diesel motorcycles? Gas or steam turbine technology?

With the future of vehicle technology being most likely battery electric or hydrogen fuel cells or something as yet unimagined the era of significant development in internal combustion vehicles is probably over.

 

[raleighnut]

In a world where reciprocating engine technology has been developed to be relatively cheap, plentiful and reliable, and the rotary piston engine didn't manage to become widespread enough to bring costs down enough to have a self sustaining network behind it before emissions regulations made further development uneconomic, it's just another footnote in history. They were always uncommon unlike for example two stroke motorcycles which were everywhere at one time for the utility rider. It's likely that many more people could afford a Francis Barnet Plover than a Norton Atlas back in the day. Due to emissions regulations, very few two strokes are produced now and they are around 50cc.

If history had taken a different turn who knows what might have been the commonplace technology now. Feet first super lightweight turbocharged diesel motorcycles? Gas or steam turbine technology?

With the future of vehicle technology being most likely battery electric or hydrogen fuel cells or something as yet unimagined the era of significant develpment in internal combustion vehicles is probably over.

I for one miss 2 strokes and one of my favourite memories was Trevor Nation getting 'black flagged' in practice at Mallory Park for 'wheelying' the JPS Norton rotary through the Devils Elbow a nasty off camber downhill bend with no runoff and not just once but lap after lap.

 

[Aston]

Milk in pyramid shaped cartoons.

We still have these for Oat Milk for when our millennial children come home!

 

[Mad Doug Biker]

We still have these for Oat Milk for when our millennial children come home!

I'm a Millennial and I've never had that in my life! 😆

 

[lenfield]

Milk in pyramid shaped cartoons.

We still have these for Oat Milk for when our millennial children come home!

Can you open them without the contents squirting everywhere though?

 

[glasgowcyclist]

I'm a Millennial and I've never had that in my puff! 😆

I’m a boomer and I have it every day in my porridge.😀

 

[Ming the Merciless]

If history had taken a different turn who knows what might have been the commonplace technology now. Feet first super lightweight turbocharged diesel motorcycles? Gas or steam turbine technology?

Imagine windmills and electricity had come together in the 18th century and where we would we be now. Imagine the electric car took hold in the early 20th century, instead of being suppressed by oil interests. Where would we be by now?

 

[Ming the Merciless]

I'm a Millennial and I've never had that in my puff! 😆

I thought you were in your 80s!

 

[a.twiddler]

Imagine windmills and electricity had come together in the 18th century and where we would we be now. Imagine the electric car took hold in the early 20th century, instead of being suppressed by oil interests. Where would we be by now?

I could imagine the same forces at work, with the electric autonormative interests this time suppressing developments in other forms of power and transport that might threaten their profitability in mining of lead, cobalt and lithium for example, for which the planet would have been ravaged instead of coal, iron ore and eventually oil. You can imagine 18th century safety standards in producing the vast amounts of sulphuric acid needed for the battery technology, and mining the the lead before moving on to other materials as the technology advanced.

I suspect that this might be happening in China to a degree after the state decision to reduce the amount invested in competing with the West in established fossil fuel technology and plough vast amounts into developing a lead in sustainable electricity generation and battery technology instead. Fairly easy to coordinate when industry is controlled by the state. They seem to have been remarkably successful. Although China still has some mighty polluting industries, they have been forced towards green-ness by default to go down this route. Initiating change to yet newer forms of power should some other technology become possible once the process has become established, not so easy when what was once new becomes the norm and becomes a vested interest in itself.