Today marks 10 years of Google’s worst failure in the field of hardware

You know when you’re wrong, because as soon as you make the decision you feel like it was the wrong one. That happened to Google with its Nexus Q, a gadget that never saw the light of day, despite not being a bad idea, theoretically.

The Nexus Q was such a flawed product that Google decided to withdraw it before it went on sale. Ten years after its introduction at I/O 2012, the $299 media player billed as a “social streaming device” remains a unique debacle at Google.

And while we could talk about Google Glass as a catastrophe product, the Nexus Q was an example of what can happen when a company gets lost in its own world and doesn’t ask the world if it really needs that product.

There were promising aspects in the Nexus Q. For example, you can clearly see the groundwork that ended up giving Google’s Chromecast. Unfortunately, that potential was actually hidden.

The Nexus Q gave off authentic sci-fi vibesas explained in TheVerge. Thanks to its industrial orb-shaped design and its ring of bright LEDs. And it is that this design was long before the Amazon Echo appeared.

The Q looked like something that could connect you to the matrix of an alien ship. And everything was original. Unlike other Nexus devices, which were collaborations with partners like LG, Samsung, Asus, Huawei and others, the Nexus Q was completely conceptualized by Google.

The most surprising thing of all is that it was designed and manufactured in the United States. Google has never singled out US manufacturing, but it certainly contributed to the anticipated $299 price tag for the Q.

Inside the sphere was an “audiophile-grade” 25-watt amplifier that could power passive speakers.along with optical, Micro HDMI and RJ45 connections.

The Nexus Q was powered by the same smartphone chip as the Galaxy Nexus. You could turn the top half of the dial to control the volume or touch it to mute whatever was playing. It had all the ingredients to be a great salon device.

But the limitations of the software ruined that potential. It’s been 10 years since the gadget didn’t come out and, now, we remember it as it deserves.