When Reality Doesn't Meet Expectations

Often the reality of a technology doesn't meet the requirements or the expectations that you have for it. Best recent example, an automated secure DVD checkout and retrieval system, which I most often (and inaccurately) referred to as the DVD Jukebox. [For similar comparison see The Red Box machine at McDonald's] However, the technology was just not up to the high demand of frequent use and lacked interoperability with existing systems. The most important thing to learn from these failed technology situations is project evaluation and realizing when to wait for the technology to meet your expectations. It's good to be brave and try new things, but you must make sure that you are investing wisely in technology that enhances what you have and doesn't cause more headaches that you can handle!

This situation is not restricted to the library world. See this post for another hilarious example.