Useless Things That will Hasten the Demise of Civilisation

Wallace1492

The thread about the CO2 cartridges got me thinking.
What gadgets, things, inventions have we got that are useless or a waste of space or that we should really live without.

What should we uninvent, I dont mean the obvious things like bombs, guns etc. What modern gadgets are just pants.

I start with:

Travelators - escalators I get, but not on the flat!
Running machines - get outside (same with turbo trainers)
Patio heaters - just so wrong

suzyb

I have to disagree about travelators, you need them when you have a trolley otherwise you'd be waiting ages to get space on a lift.

I think we should un-invent mobile phones or make them only able to make emergency calls and calls to a few select numbers i.e.home.

prawny

TV's I'd get so much more sex if we didn't have one :x

deptfordmarmoset

prawny wrote:

TV's I'd get so much more sex if we didn't have one :x

:!: Which channel are you watching? :!:

greg66_tri_v2.0

The fecking internet. And specifically discussion forums.

Wallace1492

-null- wrote:

I have to disagree about travelators, you need them when you have a trolley otherwise you'd be waiting ages to get space on a lift.

I think we should un-invent mobile phones or make them only able to make emergency calls and calls to a few select numbers i.e.home.

Travelators - i mean the ones that do not go up - just along the flat, like at big airports - you can walk, even with a trolley.

Was thinking about mobile phones - I think they make you lazy.

soy_sauce

Wallace1492 wrote:

-null- wrote:

I have to disagree about travelators, you need them when you have a trolley otherwise you'd be waiting ages to get space on a lift.

I think we should un-invent mobile phones or make them only able to make emergency calls and calls to a few select numbers i.e.home.

Travelators - i mean the ones that do not go up - just along the flat, like at big airports - you can walk, even with a trolley.

Was thinking about mobile phones - I think they make you lazy.

they help those too overweight people or old people to get to the gate quicker and easier.

Sewinman

I saw a banana for sale in a shop a few years back. It was sat in a paper tray, with a plastic sealed box. :evil: :roll:

Monkeypump

Wallace1492 wrote:

Was thinking about mobile phones - I think they make you lazy.

Eh? How so?

itboffin

Life was so much better before mobile phones

Oh and when people starting drinking alone in the afternoon

Monkeypump

Sewinman wrote:

I saw a banana for sale in a shop a few years back. It was sat in a paper tray, with a plastic sealed box. :evil: :roll:

I've seen the same with apples and oranges, labelled as "fruit snacks". Wrong, so very wrong.

attica

electric can openers
most electric gadgets in a car (seat adjustment, wing mirrors, sunroof)
electric bicycles (so popular now in China that obesity is rapidly becoming a problem)
and of course
electric salt and pepper mills

soy_sauce

i don't understand the point of the vegetarian meats...

Christophe3967

My top 3 would be:
Twitter.
Regional Assemblies.
Local Authority Community Empowerment Network Enablers.

prawny

Attica wrote:

electric can openers
most electric gadgets in a car (seat adjustment, wing mirrors, sunroof)
electric bicycles (so popular now in China that obesity is rapidly becoming a problem)
and of course
electric salt and pepper mills

Have to disagree with the wing mirrors, it's good to be able to adjust the passenger side mirror if you don't notice it's wrong before you get in the car. Rather than either leaning across or just leaving it and not being able to see. Same with electric windows.

Agree with everything else though, my mates dad's car had electric headrests WTF.

suzyb

Got another one.

Molded plastic, you know the kind that is sealed along every side like the manufacturer doesn't actually want you using the product.

Coriander

Attica wrote:

electric can openers
most electric gadgets in a car (seat adjustment, wing mirrors, sunroof)
electric bicycles (so popular now in China that obesity is rapidly becoming a problem)
and of course
electric salt and pepper mills

I agree in theory with all the above - how can opening a can be too much work for some with functioning limbs and a pulse? However, my grandfather, who lost his right arm after getting caught in the rotary blades of a helicopter, wept with gratitude and relief when he opened his Christmas presents of electric S+P mills and an electric can opener.

Apparently, In the US there are now automatic gears on bikes. Coz flicking that lever is just SOOOOOOOOOOOO hard.

I'd also like to see the back of 24/7 news channels and news internet sites - I seriously think they're a danger to democracy and definitely to a functioning government.

MonkeyMonster

Electric grinders have their place if stirring at wanting to put stuff in at same time. I don't personally but know a few people (girls) who appreciate such devices.

24 hours news... some good reason's to have but more than a few to stop drivel instantly getting out and causing carnage that is then slowly hushed up when discovered to be mostly wank and merely shit stirring.

attica

prawny wrote:

Attica wrote:

electric can openers
most electric gadgets in a car (seat adjustment, wing mirrors, sunroof)
electric bicycles (so popular now in China that obesity is rapidly becoming a problem)
and of course
electric salt and pepper mills

Have to disagree with the wing mirrors, it's good to be able to adjust the passenger side mirror if you don't notice it's wrong before you get in the car. Rather than either leaning across or just leaving it and not being able to see. Same with electric windows.

Agree with everything else though, my mates dad's car had electric headrests WTF.

Notice I deliberately left electric windows off the list as (apart from the drivers window) they're a good idea in lieu of aircon 90% of the time in the UK, as for wing mirrors, you should always check they're set correctly before you set off, not checking is a driving test fail!

salsarider79

Gears?

Talking about useless gadgets in cars; what about the rain sensors that turn the wipers on for you, or the light sensors to turn the lights on? Are people so stupid that they can tell if it's raining or dark? They soon will be.
I read that mercedes built a top car with an electric interior mirror. Thats the one by your head. I mean, WTF?

Christophe3967

Attica wrote:

electric can openers
most electric gadgets in a car (seat adjustment, wing mirrors, sunroof)
electric bicycles (so popular now in China that obesity is rapidly becoming a problem)
and of course
electric salt and pepper mills

Never thought of that but OK, now I really want an electric pepper mill.

artaxerxes

electric can openers

For people with arthritis, electric can openers are useful.

How about hybrid cars?

Sewinman

Kevin Useless Bloody Saffa Pieterson. :roll: Come on Trott, you English Lion.

attica

artaxerxes wrote:

electric can openers

For people with arthritis, electric can openers are useful.

I agree completely, but they're far to often used as labour saving devices rather than for doing something you no longer can/could never do

prawny

Attica wrote:

prawny wrote:

Attica wrote:

electric can openers
most electric gadgets in a car (seat adjustment, wing mirrors, sunroof)
electric bicycles (so popular now in China that obesity is rapidly becoming a problem)
and of course
electric salt and pepper mills

Have to disagree with the wing mirrors, it's good to be able to adjust the passenger side mirror if you don't notice it's wrong before you get in the car. Rather than either leaning across or just leaving it and not being able to see. Same with electric windows.

Agree with everything else though, my mates dad's car had electric headrests WTF.

Notice I deliberately left electric windows off the list as (apart from the drivers window) they're a good idea in lieu of aircon 90% of the time in the UK, as for wing mirrors, you should always check they're set correctly before you set off, not checking is a driving test fail!

I know but I'm crap. Even then once I get going I settle into a different position and have to re adjust. Also what if you're giving someone a lift and you don't want to lean across them.

wgwarburton

Wallace1492 wrote:

...What should we uninvent, I dont mean the obvious things like bombs, guns etc. What modern gadgets are just pants. ...

Silly plastic wheels built into luggage.

If it's too heavy to carry, get a trolley: you packed too much, anyway. The main reason your carry-on is too heavy is the weight of the wheels and the frame+handle you need to use them.

Cheers,
W.

soy_sauce

TV remote control.

Why don't people just walk up to change the channel (from 3-4) while the TV is only 4 steps away but instead he/she would take 10mins search for the whole house for the remote control to do that!! :shock:

UndercoverElephant

salsarider79 wrote:

I read that mercedes built a top car with an electric interior mirror. Thats the one by your head. I mean, WTF?

My Audi has one of those, they are actually rather good. When a bright lorry comes up behind you, it dims the view so you don't get dazzled, yet you can still see perfectly as opposed to the manual ones where you see a triple view. It also has about 250 different levels, so it works much better than the full/can't see option of the manual one.

Shame it's always slightly too slow, but hey?

Christophe3967

salsarider79 wrote:

Gears?

Talking about useless gadgets in cars; what about the rain sensors that turn the wipers on for you, or the light sensors to turn the lights on? Are people so stupid that they can tell if it's raining or dark? They soon will be.
I read that mercedes built a top car with an electric interior mirror. Thats the one by your head. I mean, WTF?

Sorry, I do think gadgets on cars are helpful, as they allow you concentrate on driving. So I'm all for automatic dipping mirrors, heated seats, remote steering wheel controls - yes, even rain sensors, which are something I miss now that I don't have them... I just don't like the wipers going unnecessarily, and as rain rarely falls steadily, one is constantly adjusting the interval setting. Same goes for automatic lights, as it is possible to forget if you're driving in London and your instrument panel is always illuminated.

I used to think that cruise control was a waste of time, but that has also proved to be very helpful, given the amount of time spent in the 50 mph limits through motorway roadworks and the need to prevent more points going on my licence... :evil:

rolf_f

WGWarburton wrote:

Silly plastic wheels built into luggage.

If it's too heavy to carry, get a trolley: you packed too much, anyway. The main reason your carry-on is too heavy is the weight of the wheels and the frame+handle you need to use them.
Cheers,
W.

Eh?! Where do you find the trolley? Fine at an airport but what about when you are making your way from the bus station to the hotel etc etc. Not all of us take a taxi everywhere. I think they are a great idea

soy_sauce wrote:

Wallace1492 wrote:

-null- wrote:

I have to disagree about travelators, you need them when you have a trolley otherwise you'd be waiting ages to get space on a lift.

I think we should un-invent mobile phones or make them only able to make emergency calls and calls to a few select numbers i.e.home.

Travelators - i mean the ones that do not go up - just along the flat, like at big airports - you can walk, even with a trolley.

Was thinking about mobile phones - I think they make you lazy.

they help those too overweight people or old people to get to the gate quicker and easier.

If the overweight people spent less time on travelators and more time doing some exercise, they might not be overweight in the first place. I'm not a fan of escalators or lifts. A cold day in hell when I need either.

suzyb

Rolf F wrote:

If the overweight people spent less time on travelators and more time doing some exercise, they might not be overweight in the first place. I'm not a fan of escalators or lifts. A cold day in hell when I need either.

Lets change overweight to unfit shall we. Since you can be thin and so unfit you need to take the travelator or vise versa.