1996 Pippin

Another widely panned Apple product, the Pippin was a multimedia games console that was only on sale for about a year.

Apple never intended it to be a standalone product – rather, it was meant to be an open technology platform that other companies could license, use and alter, much like VHS.

However, only two companies – Bandai and Katz Media – took Apple up on the offer. Coupled with a lack of developers for the platform, it was an unattractive prospect for consumers.

There were many other problems. Bandai attempted to market their version of the Pippin as a computer, not a games console, which confused consumers. The Pippin struggled to compete with the Sega Saturn, the Nintendo 64, and the Sony PlayStation, which were already established in the games console space, and the Pippin’s $599 price – three times higher than the Nintendo 64’s and double the PlayStation’s – was way too high.

Like the Newton, the Pippin was axed in 1997 when Jobs returned to Apple.