There’s a fun conversation ^[1] happening on Quora ^[2] about the worst product design of all time. The nominees include such ubiquitous products as umbrellas, bras, cigarettes, PT Cruisers, sofa beds, and that infamous Florida butterfly ballot. And from the annals of tech, come several celebrated flops—including one from those design geniuses in Cupertino.

Among the members of the tech-design hall of shame:

1. The CueCat, the barcode reader that in some ways foreshadowed the use of QR codes, received 16 votes from Quora users. “People were then expected to stop reading whatever magazine they were reading, go to the computer, scan a barcode, and be magically transported to a webpage about the product,” the submission says. “It was based on a complete misjudgment of consumer behavior, was nearly impossible to install.”

2. Google Wave ^[3], the search giant’s orphaned real-time messaging application, received 12 votes.

3. Microsoft’s original Zune 1.0 MP3 player (in brown no less) received 14 votes.

4. Finally, as promised, there’s a flop created by the design-powerhouse Apple. Specifically, Apple’s puck mouse from 1998. “The Apple puck mouse is definitely a contender,” reads the original comment. “Not only was it incredibly uncomfortable and impractical to use, it came with a cable so short that it was almost unusable by right handers because the USB port on the keyboard was on the left. A disaster.” At the time this item was posted, 23 Quora users had voted up the dumb puck.

What’s your nominee for the worst product design ever?