AOL - Gizmodo

Since Memorial Day is right around the corner, let's let PCWorld help us remember the 25 Worst Tech Products of All Time. A lot of the products on the list are software-related mdash;in fact, we have to wait until number 13 before we see the first item that might have felt at home on shiny-techno-obsessed Gizmodo: the IBM PC Jr. from 1984 with its roundly-hated "Chiclet" keyboard.

Another notable hardware flop was number 15, the Iomega Zip drive from 1998, which victimized countless users with the click, click, click of its dying drives. And before you Mac snobs start getting all uppity, holding down spot number 17 is the worthless, anvil-like 16-pound Macintosh "Portable" from 1989.
What's the worst product, sitting at the top of the shitlist?

Wait for it mdash;it's the loathsome, noob-infested AOL, bringing home the bacon for Worst Tech Product of All Time. The runner-up was one of our most-despised annoyances: the nagging, presumptuous and obnoxious RealNetworks RealPlayer.
May this entire rogue's gallery rest in peace atop the ash heap of history, never to be seen or heard from again.

ndash; Charlie White
There's been quite a bit of media play about AOL and Yahoo's plans to adopt a quarter-cent "email tax" or "stamp" or whatever you want to call it, and we're here to tell you it's horseshit. While this utopian vision of data exchange for pennies a day mdash;the price of a cup of coffee mdash;makes for nice Business Section copy, this will fail in practice.

And by "fail in practice" we mean "never, ever get off the ground."
Their theory is this: if you have to pay to send email, you won't send spam. This theory has a gaping hole mdash;spammers will pay to send you spam.

It all depends on your definition of "spam" mdash;and how lax AOL or Yahoo's definition will be.
Our thoughts after the jump.
The gay community has so much of its own culture at this point, so why not a music channel on AOL?

No reason at all, it seems. Looks like AOL has launched a site called "G-Sides, Music for the GLBT Community," which features all the "gay and lesbian artists we love." Obviously, lots of Boy George and Melissa Etheridge, and today's launch also includes an interview and DJ session from Cyndi Lauper and videos of the Strokes.

So there's that.

"This site will talk about all different facets: gay artists, music that has a strong LGB fan base, and even videos that you might not think have relevance to the gay and lesbian community -- but do."

..says M.

Tye Comer, senior programming manager for AOL Music. Oh, and expect a bunch of Madonna links as well. To check it out, click .

Not that there's anything wrong with that.