3 BlackBerry PlayBook ($499)
Amidst the heated tablet craze that Apple’s iPad ignited in the spring of 2010, almost every device-maker was rushing to market with their own tablet solution by the following year. One of these contenders vying for a slice of the market was a rather unlikely (i.e. unviable) one, however — the BlackBerry PlayBook from Research in Motion.
It’s interesting to think that by the time the PlayBook even emerged on the scene in 2011, most modern consumers had forgotten all about BlackBerry. Customers could purchase an entry-level iPad 2 from Apple for just $499, which was the exact same price BlackBerry decided to charge for its entry-level PlayBook. And yet, at $500, BlackBerry’s tablet offered users a much, much smaller screen at 7-inches, an outdated and incapable operating system, and specifications that could literally make a dead person yawn.
Most ironically of all, the PlayBook was such a flop that within months of its release you could pick one up for half the price; and are going for about $52 on Amazon now.