I'm trying to think of examples of technologies that were innovative and basically worked, but weren't potent enough to overcome the skepticism eventually, and/or couldn't overcome the deadweight of externalities. 

Not potent enough: flying cars
Couldn't overcome externalities: nuclear rockets

Any others?

Blogger at ribbonfarm.com, running summerofprotocols.com, host of /gloom ☀️

Supersonic business travel 
Seasteading
Hummers
Palm Pilot
Everything Japan invented in the 90s

Building /bright-moments - minting onchain art IRL | /purple #15 | FID 129 #magikarp

Rome, Metropolitan City of Rome Capital, Italy

Hummers as a consumer tech, yes, but they're a fine military vehcle
Palm pilots I think should be counted as a successful bridge technology to the smartphone. While they were dominant, they were mainstream enough.

Supersonic business travel and seasteading I think are solid examples.

The Japan swipe :D