Apple Newton
Released: 1993
Discontinued: 1998
This was Apple's first take on a handheld organizational device. It used a stylus and handwriting recognition software to capture notes, orchestrate your calendar, and look up contact information.
There are a number of theories surrounding why it was discontinued. It had several flaws — the writing recognition dictionary contained only 10,000 words, for instance. The most reasonable seems to be that Apple was in financial distress and had to make cuts where it could.
PalmPilot devices
Introduced: 1997
Discontinued: 2010
Another relic of the late 1990s, Palm's devices were the de facto handheld organizer for years — and hugely popular with business-types back in the day. They ran specialized apps like current smartphones, and some even had their own wireless data connections.
The devices bit the dust when HP acquired the company for $1.2 billion in 2010.
Google Reader
Introduced: 2005
Discontinued: 2013
This one's set to see its plug pulled on July 1 of this year. Google Reader was/is a powerful RSS feed management tool. It's beloved by many, but not enough for Google to keep busy supporting it.
The official explanation: "While the product has a loyal following, over the years usage has declined. So, on July 1, 2013, we will retire Google Reader."
HP TouchPad
Introduced: 2011
Discontinued: 2011
This discontinuation is almost laughable. Despite showing some promise, HP's TouchPad got the axe after just a month and a half on the market. We would've loved to see what it became.
It's unfortunately something of a mystery why it was ever discontinued. The closest to an explanation was that "the company isn’t going to release any more HP WebOS products, but will sell through any that have already shipped."
Cisco Flip
Introduced: 2006
Discontinued: 2011
A beloved, pocket-sized, super-simple camera that shot up to an hour of video and stored it digitally — what's not to love? Cisco acquired Pure Digital Technologies, the company behind the device, and ended up ceasing production.
Cisco had decided to use its consumer companies' resources to further support "four of its five key company priorities." Also, phone-based video cameras were becoming sophisticated enough so that people did not need to carry a separate video camera.
Sparrow
Introduced: 2011
Discontinued: 2012
We use this awesome email client every day, but it's no longer supported since the company was acquired by Google.
Songbird on Linux
Introduced: 2006
Discontinued: 2010
Songbird, an open source software alternative to iTunes, was incredibly popular among the Linux community. Then one day in 2010, the company stopped its Linux support, disappointing loads of users.
Google Desktop
Introduced: 2004
Discontinued: 2011
This was a handy piece of PC software that provided users with a central location to simultaneously search email, files on a computer, music, photos, and web page history. It even supported handy widgets to offer up useful info at a glance.
Desktop was one of several products discontinued all at once as Google refocused its resources.
Polaroid film
Introduced: 1948
Discontinued: 2008
One of the "celebrities" of discontinued products, Polaroid's instant film hung in there for a long time before the company pulled the plug. It saw a number different formats over the years before it ultimately went the way of the dodo.
The culprit behind its demise? Digital cameras.
Adobe PageMaker
Released: 1986
Discontinued: 2004
PageMaker was a groundbreaking desktop publishing program that made it a snap to produce compelling documents, magazines, or whatever other text and image-based media you wanted. Although development has ceased, Adobe still sells and supports it.
Adobe chose to focus on InDesign instead.
