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Gallery

Whatever happened to...

Posted on 18 Jun 2009 at 17:13

The VR helmet

If there was ever an example of a great concept inadequately executed, it was the VR helmet. Virtual reality was everywhere in the early 1990s, with the holodecks in Star Trek convincing us all we'd be taking holidays in our own living rooms within ten years. Instead, we got a chunky, heavy helmet attached to computers far too slow to render the complex geometry required.

But while they weren't much cop at producing realistic 3D environments, they were brilliant at causing "cybersickness" in their users - a result of the lag between turning your head and the image changing. Nearly 20 years later, and companies are beginning to creep back towards the scene of the crime. Increased processing power and better optics have convinced NASA to experiment with VR helmets as a training method for astronauts. A group of British universities is also developing the Virtual Cocoon, a multisense helmet that will apparently simulate all five senses, paving the way for virtual tourism. We're not holding our breath.

Usenet

Usenet was the internet's first public forum, enabling like-minded users from all over the world to communicate with one another in an open, email-like format. Despite being established in 1979, it's still going today. Usenet is divided into thousands of themed, hierarchical groups, known as "newsgroups" - although they rarely carry any real news. Rather, they cover a huge gamut of discussion topics, in groups ranging from comp.os.os2.bugs to rec.sport.football. Usenet is still growing, with more than 4TB of new content posted every day, but most of today's online communities use web forums and social media to communicate, relegating this text-only service to a niche interest.

Vista's broken promises

WINFS

Back in the days when Windows Vista was still known by its codename, Longhorn, one of the flagship features being touted by Microsoft was WinFS. This was the next-generation filing system to replace the robust but ageing NTFS. WinFS uses a relational database, supposedly allowing "users to uniformly organise, share, and manage all their data consistently, no matter whether they use different applications, online or offline". Originally intended to ship with Vista, it was subsequently slated to ship at some point post-release. That didn't happen either. The latest version available to developers was released back in June 2006. But while it appears to be completely dead, both Steve Ballmer and Bill Gates have said there are still plans to integrate it - or something very like it - into future operating system and application releases.

Vista Ultimate Extras

This must rank as one of the biggest Windows flops ever. In an attempt to convince Windows customers to shell out for the most expensive version of Vista, Microsoft promised to provide a regular supply of additional content to Ultimate buyers post-release. Over two years since Vista's appearance, Ultimate Extras consists of two games, a couple of DreamScene packs and some extra sound themes. Needless to say, there's no sign of Ultimate Extras in Windows 7.

Vista SideShow

Vista SideShow was a sound idea. Attach auxiliary screens to things such as laptops and remote controls, and allow them to communicate with Vista to show information such as unread email and media playlists. In practice, extra laptop screens needed the laptop to be powered up, rendering them useless. SideShow remote controls are a better idea, but they've failed to materialise, probably due to cost.