2018年終于過去了，很多人松了口氣。過去一年里經歷了許多起伏動蕩，科技行業也不例外。2018年黑客攻擊和破壞導致上億個人資料泄露，所以人們特別關注隱私問題。除此之外還有一系列失敗的新品、糟透的硬件故障，還有其他很多。

以下是2018年科技行業的十大失敗案例。

5G

2018年，美國四大運營商美國電話電報公司、Sprint、T-Mobile和威瑞森無線都在瘋狂宣傳5G，稱該技術比當前的4G技術快10倍。但實際并未達到那么高的預期。威瑞森在幾個社區推出了人造5G，替代家庭寬帶。臨近2018年年末，美國電話電報公司終于在幾個市場中推出了服務。可悲的是，要等到2019年年中才會多幾個城市用上5G。

蘋果無線充電座AirPower

早在2017年9月，蘋果就宣布要推出AirPower，可為iPhone和蘋果手表充電的無線充電座。沒錯，已經過去15個月了。蘋果推遲發布，然后一而再再而三地跳票。現在都到2019年了，AirPower還是沒影。以前蘋果推出新品還從沒有這么艱難過。

Facebook

可以說，2018年各大科技公司里社交媒體巨頭Facebook過得最慘。Facebook經歷了一系列隱私泄露事件重創，而且影響還在持續過大。解釋不力加上缺乏真正的問責機制導致事態越發惡化。不幸的是，2019年陰云不會那么快散去。

Facebook聊天設備Portal

Facebook推出了幫人們保持聯系的聊天軟件Facebook Portal，堪稱最低調的新產品。人們可以用來聊天，也可以發送照片和視頻，還能用上Alexa數字助理。不過到最后還是要在廚房或起居室安裝連接Facebook的攝像頭。Facebook一再保證會保護隱私，但人們很難徹底放下心中的懷疑。

華為/中興禁令

2018年1月，華為原本打算跟美國電話電報公司和威瑞森合作推出旗艦手機Mate 10 Pro，美國白宮就安全問題施加壓力后只得取消，其他發行合作計劃也一并泡湯，華為基本上被趕出了美國市場。4月，美國政府指控中興違反了有關制裁的和解協議，采取了嚴重的封殺禁令。三個月內中興不得從美國進口手機零件或軟件。結果呢？中興在美國的銷售暴跌而且可能永遠無法恢復。

Hydrogen One

一家名叫“紅”的相機公司宣布，在2017年夏天要推出一款聽起來革新性的手機，但直到一年多后的2018年11月才上市。Hydrogen One配備了“全息”顯示器，看3D內容不再需要戴特制眼睛，工業設計獨特，而且可以拍攝3D照片和視頻。聽起來是不錯，但由于軟件糟糕，表現極差，整個手機簡直一團亂。哦對了，價格還高達1300美元。還是算了吧。

微軟的Windows 10更新

PC用戶最擔心的可能就是更新系統時文件丟失。微軟于2018年10月推出的更新讓用戶噩夢成真，因為電腦真會在硬盤上隨機刪除文件。干得好啊，微軟！后來問題實在太嚴重，微軟只得取消更新，還花了好幾周重新調試代碼防止問題再現。但還不只這些。10月的更新會嚴重損壞英特爾的音頻驅動，導致聲音出現問題。還有，更新后鍵盤驅動受損，還會導致藍屏。微軟的臉都要被臭雞蛋打腫了。

Palm Phone

一家加州創業公司收購了2011年后已經被放棄的Palm品牌，推出了新款智能手機Palm Phone。但這款并非普通的具有各種功能的新手機，公司的新主人決定走極簡路線。原來Palm Phone并非單獨可以使用的產品，而是手機的手機。Palm Phone只具備最基本的功能（接打電話、收發信息和導航），不可裝社交網絡，以免浪費時間。小小的設備是很可愛，但電池只能用幾個小時，簡直太爛了。再說，誰愿意花350美元給手機買個配件？還不如買個智能手表呢。

Pixel Slate

2018年谷歌路走得不太順，硬件部門推出的Pixel Slate摔得最慘。本來谷歌想用這款平板填補安卓平板和Chromebook筆記本之間的市場空白，但軟件非常不穩定，硬件再好也救不了。評論界罵聲一片。

Uber無人車導致死亡事件

2018年3月，Uber成了第一家旗下無人駕駛汽車導致行人死亡的公司。在亞利桑那州坦佩市一次測試中，無人駕駛車撞死了正在過馬路的伊萊恩·赫茨伯格。目前并未公布所有細節，但看起來無人車發現了赫茨伯格但未減速、轉向或停車。該事故發生后，Uber將無人駕駛車測試中止了八個月。此外，該起死亡事件還導致一起官司，好幾個州也因此禁止Uber測試無人車。（財富中文網）

譯者：Pessy

審校：夏林

Many of us are likely relieved that 2018 is in the rear view mirror. The year provided lots of ups and downs, and the tech industry was no exception. Privacy concerns factored big in 2018, with hacks and breaches exposing the personal details of millions. Moreover, there was a spate of missed product launches, abysmal hardware failures, and much worse.

Here are the 10 worst tech failures of 2018.

5G

All four major U.S. carriers, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, and Verizon Wireless, spent much of the year hyping 5G, the wireless technology that is 10-times faster than current 4G tech. But the reality didn’t live up to those lofty expectations. Verizon launched faux 5G as a home broadband replacement in just a few neighborhoods and AT&T lit up its service in only a handful of markets mere days before the end of the year. The sad fact is that it will be mid-2019 before we see 5G available in a respectable number of cities.

AirPower

Apple announced AirPower, a wireless dock that can charge an iPhone and an Apple Watch at the same time, in September 2017. Yes, that’s right, 15 months ago. The company delayed the launch, and then delayed it again and again. Here we are at the start of 2019 and still no AirPower. Apple has never failed so hard at getting a product onto store shelves.

Facebook

It’s safe to say Facebook had the worst year of any tech company. The social networking giant was rocked by a cascading series of privacy breaches that continues to snowball. Facebook’s explanations and lack of real accountability haven’t helped matters. Unfortunately, this story will color much of the company’s 2019 too.

Facebook Portal

In one of Facebook’s most tone-deaf moves, it announced Facebook Portal, a video-chatting hub that it pitched as a way for people to stay in touch. It handles chats, as well as photo and video content, and the Alexa digital assistant. At the end of the day, however, it entails putting a Facebook-connected camera in your kitchen or living room. Despite the company’s assurances about privacy, it’s hard to give Facebook any benefit of the doubt here.

Huawei/ZTE Ban

In January 2018, Huawei was prepared to launch its flagship phone, the Mate 10 Pro, with AT&T and Verizon. Pressure from the White House over security squashed those and other distribution deals, leaving Huawei effectively squeezed out of the U.S. market. In April, the U.S. accused ZTE of violating a settlement agreement over sanctions that led to a crushing ban. For three months, ZTE was unable to export U.S. parts or software for its phones. The result? Its sales cratered in the U.S. and may never recover. In December, the White House threatened to ban the use of both Huawei’s and ZTE’s telecommunications gear and had Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou arrested in Canada for violating sanctions.

Hydrogen One

A camera company called Red announced a revolutionary-sounding phone in summer 2017, but it didn’t reach stores until more than a year later in November 2018. The Hydrogen One boasts a “holographic” display that doesn’t require special glasses for 3D content, a unique industrial design, and the ability to capture 3D photos and videos. This all sounds neat, but the phone is a train wreck from top to bottom thanks to awful software and janky performance. Oh yeah, it costs $1,300. No thank you.

Microsoft Windows 1 train wreck0 Update

Perhaps the one thing that worries PC owners most is that they may lose their files during a system update. Microsoft capitalized on this fear with its October 2018 update to Windows 10, which saw computers randomly deleting files from hard drives. Well done, Microsoft! The issue was so bad Microsoft cancelled the update and spent weeks re-tooling the code to prevent the problem from happening again. But wait, there’s more. The October update also wreaked havoc on Intel audio drivers, which caused sound issues. Last, the update included a borked keyboard driver that caused the screen to go blue. Smelly egg lands on Microsoft’s face once again.

Palm Phone

A California startup bought the Palm brand, which has been dead since 2011, and cooked up a new smartphone called the Palm Phone. Rather than create a regular, fully-functional phone, Palm’s new owners decided to take a minimalist approach. The Palm Phone isn’t a stand-alone product; instead, it’s a phone for your phone. The Palm is meant to offer basic services (calls, messaging, navigation) while preventing time-sapping social networks from wasting your time. The miniature hardware is cute, but at just a few hours battery life is simply the worst. And who needs a $350 accessory for a phone anyway? You’d be better off with a smartwatch.

Pixel Slate

Google hit a few bumps in the road that was 2018. The company’s hardware division generated a pretty epic failure in the Pixel Slate. The tablet initially promised to bridge the gap between Android tablet and Chromebook, but the uneven software ruins the fine hardware. It was widely panned by reviewers.

Uber Death

In March 2018, Uber became the first company developing autonomous cars to kill a pedestrian. A test vehicle in Tempe, Ariz., ran into Elaine Herzberg as she crossed a street. Not all the details are clear, but it appears that the car was able to see Herzberg and yet didn’t slow, swerve or stop. Following the accident, Uber halted its self-driving car tests for eight months. The company also suffered fallout in the form of a lawsuit over the death and bans from operating autonomous cars in several states.