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  • I'm in Helsingborg, in Sweden, to film a museum.

  • And normally I don't travel just to film museums,

  • because most museums -- science, natural history --

  • are pretty much the same the world over.

  • But this museum is not only interesting, it's also unique.

  • Welcome to the Museum of Failure.

  • 80-90% of all innovation projects fail.

  • Everybody in the business knows this.

  • And where are these failures?

  • Companies sweep them under the carpet and pretend they don't exist.

  • The Museum of Failure takes these failed products, puts them on display,

  • so that everybody can learn from them.

  • The criteria that a product has to meet to be here is:

  • that it was an innovation, and that it was a failure.

  • and the failure is a deviation from expected, desired outcomes.

  • (I didn't know Apple even had a gaming console!)

  • No, this is their hidden, dark secret(!)

  • This one was supposed to measure the EEG of a dog's brain

  • and then translate those mental states into human voice.

  • Of course, utter nonsense. It's completely impossible.

  • I've gotten one legal threat from New York.

  • We're in Sweden, you can't sue me(!)

  • Kultur Hotellet, that runs this gallery space,

  • are generously allowing us to be here for three or four months.

  • This space isn't permanent,

  • but the Museum is permanent in downtown Helsingborg.

  • I'd say about a third of the stuff I've bought on eBay,

  • the other third I've gotten on specialty forums.

  • Some of them have been donated, which is great.

  • Some of them just come by my office, and say "I want to give you this", you know?

  • One of them was a Palm Pilot: I took it,

  • but I can't put it on display because the Palm Pilot was a success.

  • Two of these items I've bought in dark alleys paying cash only.

  • Can't tell you which ones they are(!)

  • All of which leads to one fairly obvious question:

  • What happens if the Museum of Failure...

  • fails?

  • One serious concern that I do have is:

  • when a product is overhyped,

  • and then when it's launched, it doesn't meet those expectations,

  • then there's a big risk of failure.

  • So I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous that the Museum of Failure would flop!

  • It would have to be on display at its own museum, so...

  • The Museum of Failure is like one of these perpetual, everlasting machines.

  • It can never fail(!)

  • Thank you very much to Samuel West and all the team at the Museum of Failure.

I'm in Helsingborg, in Sweden, to film a museum.

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