40+ People who were so close but just couldn't get it right

Brad Dickson • Managing Editor

Dec 12, 2022 1:00 PM EST

We're not always going to succeed at everything we do in life, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't try. There is a certain purpose and dignity in the attempt itself that is meaningful in and of itself. At least, that's how it might have been before the internet. Now, every mistake you make is immortalized for eternity somewhere online. Every video of that stupid thing you did, every hot-take that you Tweeted out in 2012, it's all up there in the cloud somewhere (aka sitting on a server in a room in California.)

These people aren't exactly getting a whole lot right either; it might have been better if they just gave up before they started and just didn't try at all. It's mind bottling how many of these people got it completely wrong — and yet were so close to finding the pot of gold at the end of the neuron. If only they could have stretched their brain just a little bit further, they might not be ending up on this list.

Keep reading for this collection of delightful mistakes. For more, check out these throwback tech failures.