Museum of Failure opens in Sweden, features Apple Newton and Google Glass

Apple's Newton platform made its debut at Macworld Boston in 1993 but was marred by a poor OS and non-functional handwriting recognition on release. (Source: The Register)

A so-called "Museum of Failure" has been opened in Sweden in an effort to showcase the more interesting failures from companies in recent decades and encourage learning from mistakes. The museum is 450-square-meters and features 70 different failed products.

Douglas Black, Published 06/12/2017

Failure is a natural part of success and is also one of the best teachers. Most people with some life experience would agree with this statement, as does the Museum of Failure's curator, Samuel West. West opened the Museum of Failure in Helsingborg, a small city of 130,000 in Sweden, to spread the message of learning from failures.

The Museum features some very famous failures, such as Apple's Newton (a device many believe was simply before its time as PDA with handwriting recognition), Google Glass, and Betamax. There are also some lesser-known oddities, such as a plastic bicycle that wobbled when you rode it and a Donald Trump board game titled "I'm Back and You're Fired!".

Interestingly, West said that none of the companies responsible for the 70 failed products featured in the 450-square-meter museum cooperated with him in opening it. In an interview with website failuremag, West emphasized the the need to accept failure "as an essential aspect of progress and innovation" and not sweep it under the rug.