Useless Products

[Twolf]

This could be an ongoing thread about products we each consider a waste of our resources. My nominees are:

1. $20 Toothpaste dispenser
Really? Are you too damn lazy to squeeze your own?
OK, you are allowed to have one if you only have one arm, are a quadriplegic or your hands are just painted on.

2. Bumpit
This silly thing is piece of plastic that you embed in your head to lift hair higher than nature intended. It looks like a small bridge truss and gives you that sexy porpoise head look

3.Disposable Kitty Litter Box
I recently saw these, but apparently they have been around for a while.
It is a large plastic tray, pre-loaded with litter. You simply peel off cover and after a week throw the entire thing away. I'm sorry, but if you are too lazy to scoop poop, then you shouldn't be allowed to take care of an animal.
Or maybe you should get a cardboard cat; very easy to care for.
Consider that if there are 10,000 cat lovers in Fresno and they each use 50 of these a year, then we end up with 500,000 of these large plastic trays in the land fill each year. Yikes!

[kellieflan]

I saw this on TV and it drove me nuts!:

A device that you place around your tomato, so you can cut your tomato into perfect slices! This device does NOT actually cut the the tomatoe, just gives you a template so you can cut it evenly. Also bagel slicing machines bug me. Just learn to use a knife!

I do appreciate tomato knives, though.

[dorseygirl]

Originally Posted by Twolf

This could be an ongoing thread about products we each consider a waste of our resources. My nominees are:

1. $20 Toothpaste dispenser
Really? Are you too damn lazy to squeeze your own?
OK, you are allowed to have one if you only have one arm, are a quadriplegic or your hands are just painted on.

2. Bumpit
This silly thing is piece of plastic that you embed in your head to lift hair higher than nature intended. It looks like a small bridge truss and gives you that sexy porpoise head look

3.Disposable Kitty Litter Box
I recently saw these, but apparently they have been around for a while.
It is a large plastic tray, pre-loaded with litter. You simply peel off cover and after a week throw the entire thing away. I'm sorry, but if you are too lazy to scoop poop, then you shouldn't be allowed to take care of an animal.
Or maybe you should get a cardboard cat; very easy to care for.
Consider that if there are 10,000 cat lovers in Fresno and they each use 50 of these a year, then we end up with 500,000 of these large plastic trays in the land fill each year. Yikes!

I started laughing when I saw the first two things - I really want one of those toothpaste dispensers - have you seen my girls toothpaste tube lately?
My eldest daughter (11yrs) bought the bumpit with her allowance and gets ticked off when she can't get it in just right - but when she does it looks kinda cute.

[snowline]

The toothpaste dispenser is real handy for disabled folks who have two arms. I thought my autistic son would soon have it malfunctioning but it works perfectly. Also helps keep the sink clean and there is no dropped paste all over. My daughter is getting one for the little grandkids. Two thumbs up for this invention. Well worth the money.

[Nas]

I'll admit, I do have a toilet seat that features a bidet with a blow dryer (I don't make use of that second feature, actually) and a seat warmer, and I hate using any other toilet.

However: wireless controls for your toilet? Talking toilets -- what might your toilet have to say to you, I'm afraid to ask? Internet connection to your toilet?

From Wikipedia:

Other features may include a heated seat, which may be adjustable from 30°C to 40°C; an automatic lid equipped with a proximity sensor, which opens and closes based on the location of the user.^[5] Some play music to relax the user's sphincter (some Inax toilets, for example, play the first few tunes of Op. 62 Nr. 6 Frühlingslied by Felix Mendelssohn). Other features are automatic flushing, automatic air deodorizing, and a germ-resistant surface.^[5][21][38] Some models specially designed for the elderly may include armrests and devices that help the user to stand back up after use. A soft close feature slows the toilet lid down while closing so the lid does not slam onto the seat, or in some models, the toilet lid will close automatically a certain time after flushing. The most recent introduction is the ozone deodorant system that can quickly eliminate smells. Also, the latest models store the times when the toilet is used and have a power saving mode that warms the toilet seat only during times when the toilet is likely to be used based on historic usage patterns. Some toilets also glow in the dark or may even have air conditioning below the rim for hot summer days. Another recent innovation is intelligent sensors that detect someone standing in front of the toilet and initiate an automatic raising of the lid (if the person is facing away from the toilet) or the lid and seat together (for a man facing the toilet).^[5]

Text explaining the controls of these toilets tend to be in Japanese only. Although many of the buttons often have pictograms, the flush button is often written only in Kanji meaning that users who are not well versed in the Japanese writing system may be unable to flush the toilet except through random button pressing. Thus, despite the many advanced features, the toilet is unusable for some foreigners. <----- How would you flush this toilet?

[edit] Future developments

Recently, researchers have added medical sensors into these toilets, which can measure the blood sugar based on the urine, and also measure the pulse, blood pressure, and the body fat content of the user.^[5][4] Talking toilets that greet the user have also started being made.^[5] Other measurements are currently being researched. The data may automatically be sent to a doctor through a built-in internet-capable cellular telephone.^[38]

[only1alphafemale]

Since we are also one of those households that has to very frugal with out money, it can be really easy to get "fooled" into buying the things that have all the claims they make on TV! Thank goodness that its my Mom who will usually buy those things, and since you get two, she will give me the second one....lol

But there have been a few things that have tempted me, so I did some research on one of them.

The eye glass scratch repair kits- I didnt find one positive "it worked great" comment at any of the places I looked. I was very close to trying one of them, and was glad I didnt because they arent cheap! Most of the one's I found ran from $30 - $40 bucks or better.
I even read where something I had been told years ago, worked better and that was good old pledge.

Another one I have been really tempted to try is the mighty putty. Has anyone here tried that one yet?

[Nas]

These two aren't actually products, but they do make me 'tilt my head' so to speak, so perhaps they're in the same line.

You've been driving for 45 minutes on a winding mountain road when you come upon a sign warning that the road has curves.

Deer warning signs: How do the deer know to stay between them? Is that why they put a picture of a deer on them, because they know most deer can't read?

[FoothillMama]

Originally Posted by Nas

You've been driving for 45 minutes on a winding mountain road when you come upon a sign warning that the road has curves.

This is for the benefit of the people entering the roadway from the driveway located just before the road sign. Or those who just need a reminder.

Originally Posted by Nas

Deer warning signs: How do the deer know to stay between them? Is that why they put a picture of a deer on them, because they know most deer can't read?

You see deer; deer see people -- or sign of people. Afterall, does a deer really know what he or she looks like?



Either way, it's not always about us.

[Twolf]

Talking toilets -- what might your toilet have to say to you, I'm afraid to ask?

Maybe it encourages or motivates you. "Come on you can do it."

I visited some friends once who had a new padded toilet seat. Nice and cushy.

[kellieflan]

Originally Posted by Nas

Deer warning signs: How do the deer know to stay between them? Is that why they put a picture of a deer on them, because they know most deer can't read?

Ha, that cracks me up because I asked my husband that once when we were driving in the Eastern Sierras... "How do they know?" and he said that when roads, highways are in the planning stages, they locate the areas where the herds cross naturally... and put the signs there.

Still, I get your point, and I always smile when I see those deer signs.