Badly designed products

[Jack]

Every bought something that had a design flaw that was just so obvious that you're amazed at the stupidity of it?  I bought this little digital clock the other day.  I notice it puts out a lot of heat, you can feel the warmth from six inches above it.  I notice the bottom of the thing (which sits flat on the shelf) is quite warm.  Heat + electronics = very short lifespan.  So I get three little pieces of metal and put them under the clock, holding it about 1/4" off the shelf and allowing some air to get under it.  Presto - problem solved.  I can't imagine that it would have cost them anything to put some little feet under this thing, it's just molded plastic and they could have easily added some bumps on the bottom for almost nothing.  In fact, it's got little bumps, but they're just 1/32" tall.

Any other examples?

[Saucerman]

[Doggett]

[ghouck]

We bought a carpet sweeper, pretty sure it was a Eureka brand and was pushing $300. The port that the debris went through to make it from the floor to the canister had a real tight 90 degree bend where anything bigger than a grain of sand would get hung up. Made the thing about useless and there was room for a nice wide sweeping 90 that would have worked much better.

[lester1/2jr]

doggett- I had one of those!

[Jack]

We bought a carpet sweeper, pretty sure it was a Eureka brand and was pushing $300. The port that the debris went through to make it from the floor to the canister had a real tight 90 degree bend where anything bigger than a grain of sand would get hung up. Made the thing about useless and there was room for a nice wide sweeping 90 that would have worked much better.

We've got a vacuum like that.  Cleaned up the Christmas tree needles with it.  It was plugged.  Took it apart, found the 90 degree bend where everything was stuck.  Put it back together, still plugged up.  took it farther apart, found another bend.  Still didn't work.  Took it farther apart, found the nifty little catch-all right before the bag.  Finally the damned thing worked.

Then there's our lawn mower.  It's got a belt drive, with a plastic guard enclosing it.  Mow the lawn a couple of times, take that plastic guard off, it's completely stuffed full of grass.  If the grass is the least bit damp, no more self-propelled action.  I guess their product testing procedure didn't include actually cutting any grass with this thing.

[lester1/2jr]

I've been through at least a half dozen things that hold soap and shampoo in the shower.  no, not girlfriends, I mean actual holder things that attack to the walls with suctions and so forth

[ghouck]

A little off-subject, but I think it's total failure that a can of PLEDGE can easily be mistaken for a can of LYSOL. Accidentally spraying your shower with pledge = almost certain death.

[MilkManPictures]

Ummmm... The first gen Xbox360...

[Doggett]

It just makes me laugh

3000th post

[Jack]

Ummmm... The first gen Xbox360...

Don't even get me started on those damned things.  My son's currently waiting for his fourth one to arrive from Microsoft.  I've heard enough bithin' about that POS to last me a lifetime.   

[Psycho Circus]

Ab "machines"



Basically, you're still doing a sit up all by yourself, except pulling some loose, plastic crap along with you. 

[Trevor]

[RCMerchant]

Hitler wine. This sh1t is real...sold in Italy. Thet also have Tito Franco wine,Mussolini,Goering,Stalin....

Not kosher.

[ghouck]

Not kosher.

That is the worst joke I've ever heard. . you deserve tons of virtual karma for it. I've not laughed that hard in quite some time.