Zune

Have you ever thought that some tech companies occasionally invest more brainpower in naming their products than in making them successful? You're not the only one who thinks so. The Digital Age has been dotted with many a disappointing product that had a tragically awesome name; here are 10 of our favorites in no particular order.

Microsoft's Zune, before its name was made public, was known among gadget geeks as simply the "iPod killer." And you've got to admit, Redmond didn't do that bad a job of actually naming the device once it got around to it--"Zune" is kind of funky in a post-Star Trek way, right? Unfortunately, as many speculated, the music player was a sales disappointment despite decent reviews. Even opening-day interest was tepid, and it probably didn't help much that the announcement of the sales of one million Zunes came right around the same time that Apple celebrated the sale of its hundred millionth iPod.

Caption text by Caroline McCarthy, Staff Writer, CNET News.com