When Jeff Bezos determined Amazon wanted to get within the smartphone recreation, he went all in. And the ensuing gadget, the Fireplace Telephone, wound up extra densely full of large concepts than simply about any gadget you’ll discover anyplace. There was only one tiny downside: they have been largely unhealthy concepts.
The Fireplace Telephone shipped in 2014 with a function checklist a mile lengthy. The display had a 3D impact! There have been, like, 400 cameras! There was a complete house display crammed with one thing referred to as “delighters!” However the Fireplace Telephone was, above all, a manner to purchase issues on Amazon. That was what Bezos wished, in any case. It’s simply not what customers wished.
For this episode of Model Historical past, we inform the story of the Fireplace Telephone from starting to finish. (It doesn’t take that lengthy.) David Pierce, Allison Johnson, and Sean O’Kane talk about how the success of the Kindle led to Amazon’s expanded {hardware} plans, the brewing combat with Apple over app retailer insurance policies, the methods during which Bezos himself directed the product, and the astonishing velocity with which the factor flopped. Just a few months after it launched, the Fireplace Telephone could possibly be had for lower than a buck. Individuals nonetheless didn’t need it.
Utlimately, the gadget that was alleged to be the start of one thing large for Amazon turned out to be very small certainly. However that doesn’t make its story any much less fascinating.
That is the fifth episode of Model Historical past. (We’re greater than midway via season one!) If you wish to discover the present, there are three good locations to go:
Because of everybody who has already watched or listened to the present, and has despatched suggestions! We’re already placing on the subsequent bunch of episodes, and wish to hear every thing you suppose we ought to be doing or not doing or doing otherwise. What different enormous product failures deserve their very own episode? You inform us. Within the meantime, if you wish to know extra in regards to the Fireplace Telephone story, listed here are some hyperlinks to get you began:
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