Modern technology and innovations should actually make our everyday lives easier. But when it comes to developing, installing or using the devices, some people face major challenges. Some technical malfunctions provide unintentional amusement.
Manufacturers of electronic products often have to come up with very special features for their devices in order to arouse the interest of potential buyers. Once this has been achieved, the presentation should leave a correspondingly positive impression. But instead of great amazement, many a presentation ends in loud laughter. And it is not only when the presentation of a new product mutates into a mishap show that amusing stories emerge. atechbook shows a selection of the most embarrassing, but also the funniest technology mishaps.
Overview
Apple Maps – the little helper that puts people in danger
Every now and then, Google’s or Apple’s camera cars are on Germany’s roads, busily recording footage and collecting data. Back in 2012, Apple decided in its rivalry with Google to declare war on the popular “Google Maps” app. They wanted it to disappear from iPhones and replace it with a new, in-house map app.
Porn started playing in a monitor at Union Station. Passersby horrified, workers scrambled to shut it off pic.twitter.com/VcVkm0zBGh
– Kristin Wright (@kristinywright) May 16, 2017
Party with Alexa
Smart home is closely linked to the idea of making the home more comfortable, efficient and smarter. But it’s also responsible for technology glitches every now and then. One of the many little helpers for this is the smart speaker system Echo, with the help of which Alexa sets the tone. It can be used to remotely control and keep an eye on all home appliances, even when you’re out and about. However, there are sometimes unpleasant surprises when the digital assistant acts on its own or users unknowingly give commands.
Newscaster triggers Amazon order
American news anchor Jim Patton actually only intended to report on his news program CW6 about a young girl who communicated with the voice assistant Alexa and accidentally triggered the online order of a dollhouse and two kilos of cookies. By describing the events, however, he in turn triggered – unnoticed and unintentionally – a series of Amazon orders among his viewers. A technical breakdown live on television, so to speak.
Google mistakes the entire web for malware
Google also draws attention to itself every now and then with its technical glitches. “This page may harm your computer” in every search result? Anyone who did a Google search on the morning of January 31, 2009, got just that message. The label “This site may harm your computer” adorned every single search result that day. This was a pretty obvious technical glitch, but it caused a lot of confusion and uncertainty among users, especially in the morning hours.
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