A cheaper, poor-quality copy of something better or more famous.
The term stems from the fact that, in grade school, most kids would have the pricier, top-quality Crayola Crayons, while the unfortunate few students would be stuck with the cheaper, crappy Rose Art Crayons which nobody wanted.
In IT when management cannot get anything done because they are unable to decide between the current version of software, and the promised "next version".
Mike wasted 3 days on a version excursion, while the rest of us played OnlineBingo