The Hub has died.

Not that the world is going to come to an end because the Hub was pulled from retail shelves, but truthfully, I'm a bit disappointed.  Turns out, Verizon's "Hub" product - the one that was all set to revolutionize the home phone as we know it - was a flop.  I attribute it to three things: a lack of marketing, a lofty price, and reported issues with customer service.  Every time I went into the Verizon store, the Hub was all the way against the back wall, with no marketing whatsoever.  And at $200 with a monthly fee of $35, it wasn't cheap.  With the increasing trend of moving to wireless devices for all calling purposes, shelling out $200 for a device, regardless of how cool it was, was steep.  The Hub was also saddled with a notoriously poor reputation when it came to customer service (here, here, and here).

A truly great idea, gone because of a few poor moves.  Could we see a new Hub debut at $49, with a strong marketing campaign?  Only time will tell.  Until then, it's back to boring landline service.

Source: Zatz Not Funny