Every year, the tech industry brings us unexpected surprises and long-predicted changes, and among those ups and downs are usually a few endings to some of our favorite technology products.
This year was no different, with some of the biggest names in tech shuttering products and services beloved by many, and even a few successful upstarts deciding to call it a career and close up shop.
Perhaps the biggest ending of the year, and maybe even the decade, was Microsoft’s decision to end support for Windows XP. The move effectively left millions of users around the planet wondering whether they should fend for themselves, find an alternative or surrender and begin using Windows 8.1.
Similarly, although slightly less impactful, Google decided to shut down an entire social network when it opted to end the long run of Orkut.
The company’s original social-networking experiment failed to find legs in the U.S. but somehow managed to garner a large following in Brazil. But with Google+ on the menu, the lingering shadow of Orkut was apparently too much of a reminder of past failures to be allowed to live on, and now it’s history.
But those weren’t the only sad tech endings of 2014. We’ve gathered together the year’s most notable closures so you can mourn a bit more efficiently and light a digital flame in homage to some of the most beloved tech products and services that are no longer with us.
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iPod Classic
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Facebook Poke App
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MSN Messenger
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Orkut
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Xbox Entertainment Studios
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Windows XP
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Justin.tv
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Macworld Magazine
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Nokia X
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Flappy Bird
Techiax 