Where Everybody Knows You're Numb

Psych Lit · Guru

RE: "Most Hated" Inventions? Really??

BoxDog · Guru

Nightowlhoot3 wrote:

From the Editors at Netscape.

We hate them. But we need them. They drive us nuts. But we can't live without them.
We are talking about the top three most hated inventions that we absolutely have to have, which are:
1. Cell phones
2. Alarm clocks
3. Television

That's the word from the annual Massachusetts Institute of Technology survey, known as the Lemelson-MIT Invention Index. Fully 30 percent of the 1,023 adults and 500 teenagers polled in this annual survey cited cell phones as the most hated, must-have invention, which placed it in the top spot. Alarm clocks followed closely at 25 percent, with television at 23 percent. (What? You don't like reality shows?)

Other hated, but must-have inventions:
Shaving razors
Microwave ovens
Coffee pots
Computers
Vacuum cleaners

So what is this love-hate relationship we have with our cell phones? "The interconnectedness you get from the cell phone is a very positive thing, and I think that's one of the most important things, the bringing together of people. The downside of that is that you sometimes want to be alone," said Lemelson Center Director Merton C. Flemings. The Lemelson-MIT Program is a non-profit organization that celebrates inventors and inventions.

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What a weird article. I don't hate any of the above! As a matter of fact, I like all of the above, (well, except the electric razor, about which I have no feeling one way or the other) and actually love, and am grateful for a great many of them. Just try and take away my coffee maker or microwave! And I would kill for a TV that worked after February. Now, a TV someone else has on, when I'm trying to work? Different story. My computer? Well, there's a big "duh." LOL. Shoot -- I like computers so much I seem to end up buying another every couple of years. I think this list might have better been called "Inventions we hate to see break down."

What inventions do you hate? Something that made the list, or not? For me, there wasn't a second's hesitation: Photo Radar. I'm trying, without much luck, to think of anything else. Coin op parking meters, I guess, although I rarely have contact with them. Hmm. I don't like those "automatic liquor dispensors" they have in some bars now, which measure the pouring instead of the bartender, and shut off after the exact number of ounces have been poured. For me, a good bartender has a sixth sense about when to pour heavy, and when to pour light, and I don't mind them pouring light when the situation calls for it. I don't consider that a consumer rip off so much as one of the understood rules of the game, I guess. Oh, and pagers. Specifically, company pagers. I had to wear one 7/24 once, and my ex has had one affixed to her body for years and years -- can't even take it off on vacation. If she's on official vacation, and two thousand miles away, and that damn pager goes off, she MUST call in within fifteen minutes. (Which means, of course, she must also have her cell phone with her at all times.) When I had a pager, it wasn't so easy, because it was before cell phones. I was on the road a lot, and if I got paged, I had to veer off course, on the way to an appointment, and go find a pay phone in the area, and call in, which oftentimes made me late for my appointment, and that irritated the hell out of me. And whereas my ex has a job where it could be literally a life or death issue, it was absolutely not that way for me. Even so, I had to wear that damn thing on my days off, and it seemed like a huge invasion of privacy to me, so "pagers" -- yeah. Not fond of 'em.

But seriously -- do people really "HATE" these above mentioned inventions?? If so, then I guess the solution is pretty readily available -- do without them!

(Is Latin disco music an invention?)

NO! Latin disco music is a prelude to a Santerian curse. Take it from me ;)

That said, the first three "hated gadgets" are now neatly packaged into one device known as the HTC Pro Touch, it is the mother of all "phones". Aside from being the phone, alarm and a television....it has Windows Mobile, a 3 pixel camera, GPS, music, full qwerty everything but the Java, well, technically it has Java too. Not the kind that comes with a donut. As for the vacuums, I am embarrassed to say I have Eureka and a Dirt Devil hepafilters, a traditional Hoover and now a small shopvac for the vehicle. There's alot of rug in that thing.

HTC Touch Phone, PDA Phone, Smartphone, Mobile Computer: Products HTC Touch Pro: Photo Gallery

Check this thing out. It beats the IPhone and even Samsungs Instinct, if you ask me. Sprint.

I just cant even imagine anyone from MIT HATING any gadget. There's a purpose to them all, really. I just recently realized that I didn't "need" MP3 players ( I couldn't resist the B.B. sale) because I could just as easily slide music SD Cards in my toshiba PDA and go that route. I swear if it weren't for bluetooth I could clear a middle eastern market out for all the gadget wires wrapped around me.

I guess I should add the three I really HATE. That's the cable box, the cable/internet modem and the wireless router. If they can put a tv, computer, gps and a phone in the palm of ones hand why cant they work on reducing the enormity of the gadgets that make the gadgets function?

-- Edited by BoxDog at 17:21, 2008-12-15

Nightowlhoot3 · Guru

From the Editors at Netscape.

We hate them. But we need them. They drive us nuts. But we can't live without them.

We are talking about the top three most hated inventions that we absolutely have to have, which are:
1. Cell phones
2. Alarm clocks
3. Television

That's the word from the annual Massachusetts Institute of Technology survey, known as the Lemelson-MIT Invention Index. Fully 30 percent of the 1,023 adults and 500 teenagers polled in this annual survey cited cell phones as the most hated, must-have invention, which placed it in the top spot. Alarm clocks followed closely at 25 percent, with television at 23 percent. (What? You don't like reality shows?)

Other hated, but must-have inventions:
Shaving razors
Microwave ovens
Coffee pots
Computers
Vacuum cleaners

So what is this love-hate relationship we have with our cell phones? "The interconnectedness you get from the cell phone is a very positive thing, and I think that's one of the most important things, the bringing together of people. The downside of that is that you sometimes want to be alone," said Lemelson Center Director Merton C. Flemings. The Lemelson-MIT Program is a non-profit organization that celebrates inventors and inventions.

-----------------------------------------------------

What a weird article. I don't hate any of the above! As a matter of fact, I like all of the above, (well, except the electric razor, about which I have no feeling one way or the other) and actually love, and am grateful for a great many of them. Just try and take away my coffee maker or microwave! And I would kill for a TV that worked after February. Now, a TV someone else has on, when I'm trying to work? Different story. My computer? Well, there's a big "duh." LOL. Shoot -- I like computers so much I seem to end up buying another every couple of years. I think this list might have better been called "Inventions we hate to see break down."

What inventions do you hate? Something that made the list, or not? For me, there wasn't a second's hesitation: Photo Radar. I'm trying, without much luck, to think of anything else. Coin op parking meters, I guess, although I rarely have contact with them. Hmm. I don't like those "automatic liquor dispensors" they have in some bars now, which measure the pouring instead of the bartender, and shut off after the exact number of ounces have been poured. For me, a good bartender has a sixth sense about when to pour heavy, and when to pour light, and I don't mind them pouring light when the situation calls for it. I don't consider that a consumer rip off so much as one of the understood rules of the game, I guess. Oh, and pagers. Specifically, company pagers. I had to wear one 7/24 once, and my ex has had one affixed to her body for years and years -- can't even take it off on vacation. If she's on official vacation, and two thousand miles away, and that damn pager goes off, she MUST call in within fifteen minutes. (Which means, of course, she must also have her cell phone with her at all times.) When I had a pager, it wasn't so easy, because it was before cell phones. I was on the road a lot, and if I got paged, I had to veer off course, on the way to an appointment, and go find a pay phone in the area, and call in, which oftentimes made me late for my appointment, and that irritated the hell out of me. And whereas my ex has a job where it could be literally a life or death issue, it was absolutely not that way for me. Even so, I had to wear that damn thing on my days off, and it seemed like a huge invasion of privacy to me, so "pagers" -- yeah. Not fond of 'em.

But seriously -- do people really "HATE" these above mentioned inventions?? If so, then I guess the solution is pretty readily available -- do without them!

(Is Latin disco music an invention?)