Worst inventions ever?

[TheSlamma]

Estrogen.. that $h!t should be a controlled substance!

 

[jessieqwert]

Swiffer mops. What happened to just scrubbing?

 

[alfa147x]

Swiffer mops. What happened to just scrubbing?

Those things are awesome when you live in an apartment with full hardwood

 

[Cogman]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tieA5wfcgH4

are we having time-warp issues again? VI's post came out after the replies to him

Not that I've noticed

 

[unxpurg8d]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tieA5wfcgH4

"lady prizes"

Thanks, that's getting emailed to a friend of mine who layers like it's a ticketing offense to go without at least two shirts, and sometimes three.

 

[eadInc]

 

[BTA]

Autotune

 

[Matt915]

are we having time-warp issues again? VI's post came out after the replies to him

 

[Cogman]

Motion sensing toilets that flush every time you so much as flinch. Yes...I love having the thing flush 4 times as I'm trying to wipe my ass and pull up my pants. And then I go over to the motion sensing sink and have to wave my hands around furiously trying to find the magical spot where it notices I'm trying to get it to turn on. Only to be faced with the same motion-retarded soap dispenser that doesn't know your hand is there until it's gone and then blows it's load on the counter. And once I have consumed 14x the amount of water that I normally would, taken 4.3 times longer to wash my fucking hands while leaving foaming piles of lightly scented antibacterial spooge on the counter I have to go over and spend another 45 seconds drying my hands under a motion sensing hand dryer consuming god knows how much electricity it requires to fire up, make heat, and blow it at 180 miles per hour across my hands when I could have just grabbed a paper towel and been on my merry way.

Don't forget, the paper towel dispensers are motion sensing as well, so are the lights.

Nothing is more fun than sitting quietly in a room, typing on something only to have the lights turn off on you ever 10 minutes.

 

[skyking]

What are your least favorite things that have been invented?

I think whoever invented the straight blade screw should be shot. He must have felt like a real moron when the phillips head screw was invented. The worst part is that people still use straight blade screws. WHHHYYY! There are at least 10 kinds of screw that are better in every way than the straight blade.

My runner up is that hard plastic packaging they put everything in nowadays that is damn near impossible to open without slicing your arm off. I'm amazed companies haven't gotten sued for it with all the other stupid lawsuits that have happened like the coffee spilling ,etc...


edit: I'm talking more about things that you use on a day to day basis that are so aggravating you have to wonder what the hell the inventor/engineer was thinking when they designed the product.

Home Depot still sells them, sometimes it is the only style of screw you can get in certain sizes. Somebody should be shot repeatedly over that one.

 

[Cogman]

Home Depot still sells them, sometimes it is the only style of screw you can get in certain sizes. Somebody should be shot repeatedly over that one.

Straight blade screws do have their advantages. Have you ever stripped a straight blade screw? It is pretty difficult as they generally have pretty deep grooves. Philips are much worse that way.

That being said, I go into fits of rage every time I deal with a straight edge screw and have the screw driver slip out (resulting in me having to re-align the screw driver, etc).

 

[tenthumbs]

Television. Boob tube is a good description. We stopped going outside and gathering our own experiences when the TV came around.

 

[shortylickens]

Straight blade screws do have their advantages. Have you ever stripped a straight blade screw? It is pretty difficult as they generally have pretty deep grooves. Philips are much worse that way.

That being said, I go into fits of rage every time I deal with a straight edge screw and have the screw driver slip out (resulting in me having to re-align the screw driver, etc).

Yeah but thats why Torx and Robertson and Allen are so much better than either.
You dont slip out and you dont destroy the head trying to get it in there and get some action done.

 

[vi edit]

Don't forget, the paper towel dispensers are motion sensing as well, so are the lights.

Actually of all the motion senseless (heh I like that term from an earlier op!) the paper towel ones are the least offensive, if not actually useful. They have a better sensor than any other type of machine and they don't have the problem of the folded towels falling out of the bottom as people pull at them. The only time they are really frustrating is when they are calibrated to give you some little strip of towel that is barely capable of drying a normal adult sized pair of hands.

 

[slag]

Plastic grocery bags. They always seem to split down the center and dump the contents of your purchase on the ground with just the slightest poke of something sharp. Then you have over 9000 of them gathering at your house that you have to take somewhere to get recycled or use them for ghetto lunch boxes.

Bring back the paper bags. Those had tons of uses and were biodegradeable as well as functional as trash can liners. They rarely ripped, were able to stand open on their own, and held a ton more groceries than those flimsy plastic pieces of shit. They also folded down nice and neat to store between the counter and wall.

 

[bignateyk]

Straight blade screws do have their advantages. Have you ever stripped a straight blade screw? It is pretty difficult as they generally have pretty deep grooves. Philips are much worse that way.

That being said, I go into fits of rage every time I deal with a straight edge screw and have the screw driver slip out (resulting in me having to re-align the screw driver, etc).

It's damn near impossible to unscrew or screw in a straight screw without the screw driver slipping off 10 times. Especially if it is at any sort of awkward angle. You can screw a phillips in from almost a 45 degree angle.

Not only that, but try using a drill to drive a straight blade screw in. You'll probably end up with the drill bit going through your wall.

 

[Jeff7]

...
edit: I'm talking more about things that you use on a day to day basis that are so aggravating you have to wonder what the hell the inventor/engineer was thinking when they designed the product.

On things like the plastic shell, the thinking was probably, "My boss says that I need to find a way of reducing our packaging costs by 78%, and it's already dirt-cheap. I don't see too many options..."

Or in some projects, where you're listening to the requirements for something at a meeting, and visualizing your timeline for the project, somewhere on the order of 3 months....and they need it done by the end of the week, and it's already Wednesday.
There's no time to make a properly-functional, sparkling gem - there's only time to polish up an old dessicated turd. :\

Don't forget, the paper towel dispensers are motion sensing as well, so are the lights.

Nothing is more fun than sitting quietly in a room, typing on something only to have the lights turn off on you ever 10 minutes.

You'd think they'd use a motion sensor with presence detection in that kind of environment. Presence detection probably adds a few dollars to the cost though, and our society values dollars, not basic functionality.


I worked retail, at good ol' Walmart, and someone asked me which toaster was the best. I don't really know anything about the durability of the things of course, but I suggested that the higher-priced ones are probably going to be made of better materials, and would be a bit more robust.
He bought the $6.43 toaster.

 

[vi edit]

Bring back the paper bags. Those had tons of uses and were biodegradeable as well as functional as trash can liners. They rarely ripped, were able to stand open on their own, and held a ton more groceries than those flimsy plastic pieces of shit. They also folded down nice and neat to store between the counter and wall. slag is online now Add Infraction for slag Report Post IP

We have the cloth bags you get at Walmart for a $1 a piece. They swallow A TON of groceries and appear to be largely indestructible. My problem is that I always forget to throw them in the car before going shopping. Doh!

 

[shortylickens]

Plastic grocery bags. They always seem to split down the center and dump the contents of your purchase on the ground with just the slightest poke of something sharp. Then you have over 9000 of them gathering at your house that you have to take somewhere to get recycled or use them for ghetto lunch boxes.

Bring back the paper bags. Those had tons of uses and were biodegradeable as well as functional as trash can liners. They rarely ripped, were able to stand open on their own, and held a ton more groceries than those flimsy plastic pieces of shit. They also folded down nice and neat to store between the counter and wall.

I hate plastic. It cant hold your stuff, lasts a million years, and kills babies.
Worst invention ever.

 

[Cogman]

Plastic grocery bags. They always seem to split down the center and dump the contents of your purchase on the ground with just the slightest poke of something sharp. Then you have over 9000 of them gathering at your house that you have to take somewhere to get recycled or use them for ghetto lunch boxes.

Bring back the paper bags. Those had tons of uses and were biodegradeable as well as functional as trash can liners. They rarely ripped, were able to stand open on their own, and held a ton more groceries than those flimsy plastic pieces of shit. They also folded down nice and neat to store between the counter and wall.

Paper bags were generally carried differently (from the bottom as opposed to the top.). I can carry several more bags worth of stuff with plastic bags. The ripping is generally just a problem of having too much stuff in the bag.

That being said, paper bags just seem more charming to me for some reason.

 

[slag]

We have the cloth bags you get at Walmart for a $1 a piece. They swallow A TON of groceries and appear to be largely indestructible. My problem is that I always forget to throw them in the car before going shopping. Doh!

Exactly! Then my wife gives me "the look" and I end up trudging out to get the bags from the explorer. I can't wait for my kids to get old enough to run those kinds of errands. I shouldn't be bothered when salivating over the different cuts of steak behind the glass.

 

[TraumaRN]

Motion sensing toilets that flush every time you so much as flinch. Yes...I love having the thing flush 4 times as I'm trying to wipe my ass and pull up my pants. And then I go over to the motion sensing sink and have to wave my hands around furiously trying to find the magical spot where it notices I'm trying to get it to turn on. Only to be faced with the same motion-retarded soap dispenser that doesn't know your hand is there until it's gone and then blows it's load on the counter. And once I have consumed 14x the amount of water that I normally would, taken 4.3 times longer to wash my fucking hands while leaving foaming piles of lightly scented antibacterial spooge on the counter I have to go over and spend another 45 seconds drying my hands under a motion sensing hand dryer consuming god knows how much electricity it requires to fire up, make heat, and blow it at 180 miles per hour across my hands when I could have just grabbed a paper towel and been on my merry way.

:biggrin::biggrin::biggrin::biggrin::biggrin:

On that note don't ever come to my hospital. They are installing motion sensor EVERYTHING in all the bathrooms. I dont mind the toilet or the sink but the fucking soap dispenser drives me into a Officespace "Damn it feels good to be a gangster" rage. Especially being a nurse and all I want is some fucking soap so I can get back to the ER and take care of patients and you saved one damn cent to buy the cheap-o motion sensor!!! Then have the balls to put up a sign on the mirror stating how environmentally friendly the new soap detectors are...who gives a shit I just want some soap...then when it works it gives enough soap to wash a pinky finger...of a newborn. W. T. F.

 

[vi edit]

Not only that, but try using a drill to drive a straight blade screw in. You'll probably end up with the drill bit going through your wall.

LOL! Been there....done that. Have the jar of spackle and putty knife to prove it.

As for stripping out phillips screws...I think that's more of a component of cheap Chinese shit metal than anything else. The screws on the dogear flaps of my Monoprice in-ceiling speakers had the tensile strength of room temperature butter. I want to crotch punch whatever idiot greenlighted that plan.

 

[Cogman]

LOL! Been there....done that. Have the jar of spackle and putty knife to prove it.

As for stripping out phillips screws...I think that's more of a component of cheap Chinese shit metal than anything else. The screws on the dogear flaps of my Monoprice in-ceiling speakers had the tensile strength of room temperature butter. I want to crotch punch whatever idiot greenlighted that plan.

Well, Philips screws were designed specifically to strip. At the time, power tools were stupid an couldn't sense how much torque they are exerting. Philips decided the best design choice was to make every screw cam out when they have too much (better the screw than the drill they figured.)

Unfortunately, the standard has stuck, even though screw drivers are smart enough not to hurt themselves.

 

[zoiks]

We have the cloth bags you get at Walmart for a $1 a piece. They swallow A TON of groceries and appear to be largely indestructible. My problem is that I always forget to throw them in the car before going shopping. Doh!

My problem too. I friggin even sometimes forget to take them into the store with me even if I have em in the trunk.