Gizmodo has a list of inventions that their inventor regretted making: http://gizmodo.com/5381696/regrettable-tech-inventions//gallery/1 Some of these aren't the worst things in the world, but some are pretty stupid inventions. Focus:What are inventions that you hate, or technology that you regretted buying? For me, there is no invention I hate more than the electric can opener. I don't see them too much anymore, but everyone used to have one when I was a kid. They fucking sucked, they couldn't hold the can, or get aligned with the blade, and half the time they stopped halfway through opening it. The old hand crank is dependable and can't be beat in my book.
Can we get the requisite cell phone mention out of the way now? Focus: I hate any guy who invented a type of screw drive when an existing one would have worked just as well. Flathead, phillips head, torx, etc. Wikipedia informs me that there are seventeen different types. WHY? WHY DO WE NEED THAT MANY? Every time I find out that among the screwdriver sets of various shapes and sizes that I own, I don't have one that fits a screw type, I silently wish flaming torture upon the inventor of that screw.
The water saving toilet. How exactly is it saving water if I need to flush it three times to clear the bowl after taking a Mexican food/beer induced shit?
Let me tell you, sometimes having the most random screw possible is a godsend for keeping inept people from trying to fix things themselves that are way over their heads. Especially with the precision stuff my company makes, and the red-necks that love to buy them and take them apart.
An odd thing to bitch about, but torsion springs. Those are the giant springs that run up either side of your garage door. I suppose the invention of them isn't so bad, but you should have to have a license before you're allowed to purchase the bastards. First, no one ever knows whether to buy a left or a right hand one. Inevitably the wrong one gets installed and it gets ruined. My real problem with them, though, is their torque. A layman installing one is quite litterally risking their life. You need a giant wrench, and as you tighten them down the tension gets so heavy that eventually you have to put most of your weight into turning the nut. One small slip and bang...the giant wrench has become a giant pinwheel and hopefully your jaw and/or skull wasn't in the path as it spun across the garage.
I don't own one myself, because I'm actually capable of reading a map and downloading directions from yahoo maps or an equivalent. I have, however, spent inordinate amounts of time in the car of folks who have purchased it - usually driving around in circles while the unit tries, and fails, to acquire satellites. Even more fun - when the voice and display instruct you to turn left into that brick wall up ahead, leaving you completely incapable of actually following said directions, and worse off than if you had just consulted a map to begin with.
I disagree with this. When I have to go see a client, I pop in the address and away I go. It's a huge saver of time and effort. And I'd rather have some of the idiots on the road paying what little attention they have on actually driving, not trying to read a fucking map. And having been a pilot in the "old-school", pre-GPS days, (ever even heard of LORAN-C?), I know how to dead-reckon and map-read with the best of them. Don't blame the tool, blame the carpenter.
I'll tell you, I have to disagree with the inclusion of leaded fuel on that list. I mean, really, if you can find me a better way to kill weeds and fire ants in your yard, or to wash your porch and/or dog, or as an additive to cat-hunting projectiles to make things more colorful, than I'd sure as hell like to hear it. Don't even get me started on it's fine qualities as a stink bait out in the ocean. Fish just seem to love it. I can't go fishing without having a few of them float up to the surface to see what kind of cool stink bait I'm using.
Yeah but don't you have to have teeny tiny fingers? I know, I know, "it's great...", "I love it...", "I use mine all the time..." I had one and found that it dried out whatever meat I was cooking. I tried less cooking time and still seemed dry. There is no temp dial so you rely on one little red light to cook a steak or a burger? I think not. If a nice cut of meat is going to be ruined, I had better be the one that did it. The only thing I liked it for was grilled cheese. Eventually it "fell" to the floor one day breaking one of the hinge thingiemabobs and I tossed it.
Fire. Nothing takes out weeds and a fire ant mound better then a good ol' fire. A 5 gallon propane tank with a weed burner attached can fix anything including Jehovah's Witnesses that knock on your door when you have a raging hangover.
Leaded fuel rocks. It's all I use in my race car, and I have about 150 gallons of 110 octane leaded fuel in my garage right now. It burns cooler, increases lubrication in the engine, etc., etc. And I don't have any oxygen sensors or anything I need to worry about getting all fouled up. Hell, the smell alone is intoxicating and worth the price of admission.
The smell of high octane gas exiting a motor is my favorite scent in the world. Perfume makers and women take note...if you want to attract a hillbilly dab on some high octane fuel. Or possum innards.
Gotta agree with Netdata on this. When I was in sales and traveled, it was so much easier with my Garmin than having to Mapquest all my appointments and print out before hand. Plus, when I'd be driving between cities for a few hours, it was nice to be able to punch up a list of food joints along the way. Focus: The electric blanket. Give me a down comforter any day. And clamshell packaging--don't even get me started.
Yeah but if you're using it for a "nice cut" of meat, you're doing it wrong. By no means should the George Foreman grill be used for serious cooking. But for a pedestrian hamburger, a bagel, a grilled cheese sandwich, etc.? It's quick and easy. Especially if you're cheap, lazy, a college student, or some combination of these.
I absolutely loathe drive-by-wire throttle controls on cars. If anyone doesn't know what I'm talking about, it is a system where the gas pedal on your car does not directly move the throttle plate on the engine; instead, the gas pedal is connected to an electronic switch that alters voltage, and from there it has an electric motor that opens the throttle blades for you! How stupid is this idea? I can understand how it might be useful on some sort of large off road vehicle, where the driver is a very long distance from engine, but on a regular production car, a $10 sealed cable is just as effective, and one million times more reliable and responsive, not to mention cheaper. What was going through the engineers' heads? "Let's try and see how many things we can control with a computer!" This is one of the reasons why I drive an old car. Here is more information for anyone who is interested: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drive_by_wire
HD porn. I saw back hair on one video and have never gone back. Trust me, you should prefer pixels to details sometimes. This is one of those times.
What? How else am I supposed to satisfy my fetish for gynecological exams? Focus: It's almost like someone said "My arm is getting huge from jerking off so much...if only I could market this!"
#1. Titanium tools. http://www.stilettotools.com/ "Why Titanium, you ask? Titanium hammer heads, at nearly half the weight of steel, have ten times less recoil shock than steel, significantly reducing the risk of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and other stress related injuries. With a common steel hammers, up to 30% of the kinetic energy created by the user's swing can be lost to recoil vibration, which can be transferred down the handle to the users arm. This energy that is normally lost to recoil with Steel is more efficiently transferred to the nail using a Titanium hammer. This is why the Stiletto Titanium will drive nails as well as the heavier hammers without the extra effort and weight. Research has shown that injury to shoulder, elbow, and wrist is caused by prolonged use of heavy hammers. Stiletto Titanium hammers can actually help alleviate repetitive motion injuries, and reduce muscle and joint soreness at the end of a workday, making these powerful yet lightweight tools well worth the price." This sounds like a good idea. I own a 12oz. stiletto that is supposed to strike like a 21oz. steel hammer. Which is complete bullshit. With a 21oz. steel hammer I can sink a 16d nail in two or three hits. Usually three. With my 12oz. stiletto it'll take me about five or six hits. As far as vibration goes, I can notice a slight difference. I prefer a hilti nail gun for my framing needs but, sometimes you gotta give something a little nudge. #2. The saw. http://www.lie-nielsen.com/catalog.php?sku=s-ps $225.00 for a hand powered 20inch long saw. Really? $2250? Is there some magic shit involved with this thing? People have been building shit for at least a couple of thousand years and we're at the point of a 200 dollar hand-saw? Shit. Where is the goddamn lightsaber already? Imagine how fast I could strip a concrete form with a lightsaber.