cool gadgets...that you hate

[Halo299]

so while i was at work today i noticed, and not for the first time, that there are some things that seem really cool on papar but they just drive me crazy.

on the top of my list it cell phones. they are so cool. they help people stay in touch, they are great in emergencies, and some of them are just too cool for words...but i hate them one and all.

I hate the fact that i can't set down to a meal with my friends without someone's phone going off, or someone stoping to text someone. I can't stand the fact that i can't go to a theater and not expect to hear one of them ringing at what would have been a really cool part. I hate all those drivers who can't drive to save their lives because they are too busy chating w/ thier peeps to pay attention to the road.

yep, when i am king of the universe i am creating a whole new level of hell just for rabid cell phone users.

but this is not a thread about my hatred of cell phones. what i want to know is; is there any nifty little modern conviniace that is the bane of your existance?

share.

-halo

[Spiral Zer0]

I acctually don't mind cell unless unless idiots are holding them up to thier face while driving.

I really don't hate electronics at all, but sony fucking pisses me off for making cd players that break faster than pamela anderson's hymen.

[Indigo Violent]

PDAs. In theory, they're a great idea. In reality, they just make people look like such pretentious dorkwads.

[HireTheCatches]

Electric pencil sharpeners.

On paper, a wonderful idea: sharpen thy pencil without hassle.

In reality: Loud, hard to clean, always getting stuck, oversharpen/undersharpen/sharpen only one side, smell vaguely of smoke, disgustingly dirty and oily inside, etc. I abhor them with a maddening fury, even though I have one in case of pencil emergencies.

Also, their existence is reason #3454 about why I consider non-mechanical pencils to be the most horrid writing instrument on earth––ahead of quill pens, mind you. But that's a whole 'nother rant....

[WangyJohn]

I ike cel phones, here, the etiquette has evolved enough to prevent the most annoying situations.

But iPods. I don't really get it. Sure, it's neat and all, but I just prefer my music in physical form. And the iPods are so show-off. Maybe it's just my workingclass status and inabilty to afford one, but still. Shite <

[Kite-san]

disposeable electric lint shavers that come with batteries pre-installed.

nothing too complicated, just got more papercuts than i care to count on just about all exposed flesh when a display of them fell on me.

[Honor]

...but i hate them one and all.

Ah, see... Common mistake. What you hate isn't cell phones. What you hate is people with no sense of manners or etiquette...

And, really, if you see someone stopping to text or take a phone call during a social meal, during a conversation, a television show, etc (without offering a proper 'Excuse me, I'm sorry, but I really must take this.' and leaving the immediate area) or someone using a cell phone in a theater in any way, shape, or form, and you don't respond with something along the lines of

Excuse me, you tasteless scrap of ferret excrement, but if you could be so kind as to give me the name and address of the oaf or oafs who raised you, I could get on to providing them with the chainsaw ass-raping they so obviously deserve for their near-total failure in that task as has been made obvious by the appalling lack of common courtesy you've displayed here.

...then you're just helping to perpetuate it by making that behaviour seem "accepted".

The cool gadget I hate would have to be egg rolls. The concept seems so nifty at first glance... Should be really good, right...? But every one I've ever had has been dry, soggy, undercooked, overcooked, absolutely tasteless, or some combination of the above.

Bastard eggrolls.

[RavenxDrake]

Eggrolls hardly qualify as a 'Gadget'.... or maybe it's just my understanding of Gadget that make me seem not to count them as such, except insofar as it's a clever idea....

My personal dispised piece of electonic dohickery is the counter-top ATM/Credit Card machine. Not the machine themselves, as they're really useful in the hands of a competent and intelligent individual. I've just never SEEN a competent or intelligent individual outside of myself EVER fucking use one.

You read the instructions on the machine, follow those instructions, and finish the transaction.... it should be so simple, and yet people make it so, so, SO hard..

(And if I hear one more fucking person EVER say "They should make all these things the same." I will absolutely go insane and start killing people. I don't mean, like, Hanibal Lector insane either. I"m talking Higurashi "Scare the fuckers so bad they claw thier own throats out when they realize I'm comming for them" batshit crazy.)

[Lowky]

I have a few

one again being ettiquite related. IF YOUR IN THE BATHROOM YOU DON'T ANSWER THE FUCKING CELL PHONE

Two the self serve checkout lanes. Not that I don't love using them myself, but I always seem to get behind the moron that can't grasp the concept of put the item in the bag, etc. Has 3 items but takes them 30 minutes to check out.

Three Gas tank/car door handle locations. They need to be standardized. Tired of groping for door handles in the dark, and the cars going every which way at the gas station so you have to try to circle around to get to a useable pump.

[Aeridus]

The only gadget I ever have on me is an analog watch... and I'm a computer geek.

Okay, okay, sometimes I carry my TI-83 around with me too...

*hates cellphones*

[ManaUser]

self serve checkout lanes.

I hate those things. Way more trouble than they're worth (from the customer's perspective I mean, probably saves loads of money for the store). The Home De(s)pot near us switched to those, and now they usually have only one real checkout lane open, which is extra annoying since they sell all sorts of odd sized items (like pipes and lumber) that don't fit in the dreaded "bagging area". Though I'm tempted to try, just in the hopes I would actually break it.

[Spiral Zer0]

I have a few

one again being ettiquite related. IF YOUR IN THE BATHROOM YOU DON'T ANSWER THE FUCKING CELL PHONE

this I have to dissagree with, unless you mean not to do so when one is using the bathroom.

I could sit on the toilet with the seat down, would it be rude if I answered the phone?

be specific please, I have being confused.

*runs away from possible ass rape*

[Indigo Violent]

Two the self serve checkout lanes. Not that I don't love using them myself, but I always seem to get behind the moron that can't grasp the concept of put the item in the bag, etc.

Hear hear. Each Greater Victoria Public Library branch has an express automatic checkout machine, but some don't seem to grasp the idea that it's for those who have one or two books to run off quickly so they don't have to wait in line behind people with dozens of CDs, DVDs, ancient Byzantine manuscripts, etc. If you are having problems with the machine or don't know how to use it, don't stand there holding up the line trying to make it fucking well work.

[ManaUser]

this I have to dissagree with, unless you mean not to do so when one is using the bathroom.

I could sit on the toilet with the seat down, would it be rude if I answered the phone?

In your own bathroom, no. In a public restroom, yes.

And this isn't exactly a "gadget" but I always get annoyed with radios that have more than one FM band, accessed be pressing a button repeatadly. The difference, of course is which group of presets appley, but since I don't need 12 or more FM presets, it just complicates the interface, which is particularly bad for a car radio.

[Kite-san]

i disagree, if only slightly. answer it, fine, but only if you can be damn sure your signal is good enough that you can have the conversation at volume levels non-intrusive to other users of the bathroom.

[Lowky]

The building I work in has about 5 different tenants, and there is one entire office, and I don't know if it's cultural or what as most are from india. They make calls, answer calls, flush the toilet multiple times while peeing and talking on the phone. Better than the group of engineers that were asian and felt a need to bathe in the restroom. used to wash up in the morning, after lunch, in the afternoon. Also used to gargle with mouthwash at least 3 times a day, you'd walk in after them and get drunk on the fumes from the mouth wash. I don't even generally answer the phone when i am at home and in the bathroom.

[Indigo Violent]

I have a rule. I do not get out of the tub unless someone's life can be saved by my doing so, or Michaelle Jean has called to tell me I've won the GG. Anything else can wait.

[Gengar003]

PDAs. In theory, they're a great idea. In reality, they just make people look like such pretentious dorkwads.

Hee hee I'm a pretentious dorkwad. Though I'd like to think I've mastered the art of using my PDA while not broadcasting "LOOK EVERYWUN! A PDA! OOOO"

Electric pencil sharpeners.

On paper, a wonderful idea: sharpen thy pencil without hassle.

In reality: Loud, hard to clean, always getting stuck, oversharpen/undersharpen/sharpen only one side, smell vaguely of smoke, disgustingly dirty and oily inside, etc. I abhor them with a maddening fury, even though I have one in case of pencil emergencies.

I, too, have experienced this frustration, but good pencil sharpeners DO exist! My parents have one, must be from the 80s; that thing was around my entire life. It TEARS PENCILS TO SHREADS, ARRRGH!@ You know how most electric pencil shapreners nowadays will stop if you push the pencil in too hard? Not this one. Just keeps right on chewin'. It has a huge shavings-collection bin that slides out easily. They probably don't make them like that anymore. Heaven forbid we should sell a consumer-friendly product when we can sell crappy ones for less.

[Honor]

Eggrolls hardly qualify as a 'Gadget'....

*hangs her head*

I know.... it was all I could think of. I'm far too fond of technology.

Hey...! A can opener is a gadget! Why is it so effing hard to find a decent can opener that remains decent for more than a month?

Bastard can-openers...

[Gengar003]

Y'know, I have a nice can-opener, too... They exist!

I just don't eat stuff out of cans.