In January we published a list of the ten worst products ever – it proved to be extremely popular and thus paved the way for a second list of similarly bad products and concepts. Be sure to mention your own favorite hated products in the comments – but remember, check the original list first so we don’t get duplication and complaints.
This tragic idea was launched by Amstrad in 1993, its aim was to create a freakish amalgamation of a Sega MegaDrive (Genesis in the US) and a ridiculously low powered PC all for the low low price of £999.99 – at the time a 486 would cost about £850 and Amstrad decided that a 386 would do the trick. As you can imagine it was a giant flop.
While I do like the retroness of the CED, it was just a crazy idea – bear in mind the Laserdisc had launched 3 years prior. The idea was to use vinyl with a needle, a video record player if you will. Well this was their biggest issue really as we all know (or those of us old enough to own vinyl know) records wear out, with the CED this was reckoned to be 500 plays.
Somehow this one got past R&D and turned into a production car. I am not entirely sure what the concept behind this abomination was – maybe that they needed to design a car so utterly useless that people would prefer to either walk or use public transport. I guess that’s one way to save the environment.
Has anyone seen a good home movie? It seems to me that people use these devices to film holidays and never watch them, or better yet to capture wonderful family memories – only to embarrass you in later years with them. I know my extended family have many videos of me I wish never existed. [JFrater: I will vouch for that and may consider a top 10 list of them at a later date.]
Really why does the world need these, have we all gone mad? If your dog is so incapable of controlling its bodily functions there is another far simpler way – it’s called euthanasia.
Luckily this one never got into production, I can think of nothing less useful than a purpose designed beach car that’s made like a Lego set. Obviously Pontiac figured in the future we would all spend our days at the beach having barbeques.
While essentially a sound concept, the execution doesn’t quite work Wikipedia sums it up for me “The IBM 5100 Portable Computer was a desktop computer” I like how it’s both a portable and desktop computer all in one, oh and it weighed and impressive 55lb (24kg) making it a lot less portable than at first glance.
Some smart person decided to design a line of clothing that changed color with heat, this all sounds really neat until you start heating up and sweating. They had a great habit of showing up details of one’s body you wouldn’t really want people to notice.
While the cell phone is arguably a very important advance in technology the SMS text message is a huge leap backwards and the relative low cost of cell phones is making for a generation of kids that not only cannot spell but in fact cannot comprehend words that are over 5 characters or don’t have numbers in them. Taking things to an extreme, the Qualifications authority in New Zealand under the previous government mooted the idea of allowing TXT speak in exams.
Yes, that’s right 1170% RDI of Cholesterol, whoever thought this one up deserves either an award or to go to prison for manslaughter I’m not really sure which is more fitting. I can picture the product development meeting now CEO : “Right guys I want you to develop a product that will kill all of our customers before they are 30″.
Contributor: Geraint
You are an idiot. Doggie diapers are usued for female dogs in heat, so they don’t bleed everywhere. Just because you hate home movies doesn’t mean the rest of the world does, and CAN YOU IMAGINE not having cell phones? I think you belong in the dark ages, my friend. Maybe then you wouldn’t complain about random things in your house instead of making lists that are worthwhile and entertaining.
Me and my boyfriend used doggie diapers when our dog went into heat and was bleeding all over the place! They actually work really well. Its not like we can put a tampon in our puppies!
i can’t get past the idea that there was ever a consumer demand for pork brains.
Ha, I saw pork brains posted on Consumerist. That is NASTY.
omg…some people get really passionate with their comments! lighten up!
translations please for the jive talking hip cat jajdude
The worst thing about hypercolor shirts as I recal was that after the 3-4 washing they all discolored and stayed that way.
Pretty subjective list. Which are never good.
Uh, the Smart Car, ridiculous? I have a feeling you’ve never been to Germany. The Smart Car is extremely popular there even though some call it the Dumb Car.
Texting on the cell phone is not that much different from pager codes used back in the day or so called “leet” speak people started in internet games and chat rooms. It’s important that we educate our kids on how to speak and write properly, but there’s no way to stop this trend of writing on electronic devices. It’s human nature to find the easiest most efficient ways to communicate. It doesn’t necissarily mean our kids are dumber. think of it this way what’s more intelligent; the fact that adults can’t read what their kids write, or the fact that the kids created this sub language that makes perfect sense to them.
#4 is ridiculous, a 55lb laptop?!
#10 I’ve never even heard of.
#8 had to have been invented by a smurf. I mean seriously, I see people driving those cars sometimes, but I’ve never actually seen anyone get in or out of them which leads me to believe the only way to do so is to have the car built around you. Just a theory though.
And #1….vomit. Pork brains in milk. I hate milk by itself as it is, by why not make it even more delicious by putting pork brains in it, good idea!!
All the doggie diapers I have ever seen are for females in heat. I had a “dog diaper” for my dog before she was fixed so she wouldn’t bleed anywhere…
128. thisnamestaken – “Pretty subjective list. Which are never good.”
Actually depends on your perception. This list is less than a day old and it’s already received 131 comments (up to where I’m typing this up). There are some lists on LV that would be lucky to hit the double digits. Regardless of good or bad list status…it’s enticing people to comment and when is conversation ever bad?
Wow, lots of comments today. I agree with 116 in that some of these are really good ideas – the smart car, although quite basic now, helped start the whole redesign of the auto (you have to start somewhere), and those sales paved the way for the next gen cars such as the Tesla. [On a side note, if the Tesla was ACTUALLY a 'Tesla' product and not just a gimmick rip-off name, it would be powered using the energy already present all around us - or it would receive power remotely using Tesla wireless energy transfer towers.]
I also do a lot on youtube with my handycam – and it helps promote my business – but I do have to admit defeat on the home movie front. I once filmed a ‘year in the life’ of myself and my wife. We then split up, and by December all I could film to complete the year was the divorce.
I love the Smart Car! They’re so cute! I have an irrational fear of driving (I’m 24 and haven’t gotten my license yet =\) but that looks like something I’d be able to handle.
I also love the Pontiac Stinger! That’s a freaking awesome car! It’s got all those features and it’s lime green.
Smart cars are amusing. Great for urban and downtown, my father once saw one cut through traffic quicker than a bike, hit the on-ramp and disappeared, presumably into the front end of a semi. He couldn’t really tell since he was still stuck in traffic.
I considered getting one, until I realized that a Yamaha C3 got 115 mpg. Now I can’t dream of getting one, since my standards for efficiency are ungodly high now.
I want One of those Phones! As well as a pocket to keep it in. Are Jncos still around?
I’m not sure why the Smart Car is on this list. Why is it a bad idea to have a small energy efficient vehicle? A much better choice would have been the Hummer. I have the feeling the writer has some anti-environmentalist rightwing axe to grind. If so, he is completely “retarted”.
Doggy diapers could be useful because believe it or not female dogs get periods.
for anything else its ridiculous lol
Geraint must be a CEO for an American car company, he’s an idiot. Stupid because he doesn’t like mass transportation, stupid because he thinks a two hundred pound person needs a 5000 pound vehicle to get around in. Instead of making the roads wider, make the cars narrower.
I remember a time, when I was a kid. There was only ONE “phone for the whole village. And it was THE thing people used in emergenty. The telephone operator listened to it but it it wasn’t a big deal since mostly all communications were aboutt to call a doctor. It was a time, a little after, when people said “Well HOLLIDAY! Far from the telephone rings”
Today folk cannot sleep if their phone is not under their pillow. Why? because you told them.
I meant “without their phone under the pillow”
YogiBarrister;
Granted the Hummer is a terrible idea. So was the entire concept of the SUV, when you get right down to it. And a far worse one than the Smartcar.
I gather that the problem with the Smartcar (so I’ve been told anyway) is that it really doesn’t get that great gas mileage, for the size of it. But then this is also true for the Prius and the Mini Cooper. The thing is, about 15 years ago (or was it even longer?) Honda and Suzuki and other manufacturers (none of them American of course, unless you want to count the Geo Metro, which was really just a Suzuki with a GM tag slapped on it) were building cars that got upwards of 50mpg (!). I mean, these cars actually existed. I almost bought one at the time, but opted for a Toyota Camry instead, because I had kids.
So why, in all this time, have we not done better? You’d think we should be driving around in cars that get at least that, now, or better. Of course, you can only make an internal combustion engine so efficient—and the technology for electric vehicles has suffered notorious neglect until just lately. But STILL….
And so we get the Smartcar. Which someone told me gets in the 30s. Big whoop. My friend’s Toyota Corolla gets that. Same goes for a Prius.
The idea is, I gather, that people who drive Smartcars are thus seen as phony environmental types who really just want to LOOK like they’re being smart and efficient and green.
What Geraint’s problem with the Smartcar is, exactly, I don’t know. But yes, I’d agree with you and consider the Hummer to have been a more ridiculous product. Who needs a street vehicle that big? And given the way things have been going, why did we ever need these huge, gas guzzling SUVs? It was irresponsible and piggish. Which is the big problem with Americans. We think we can have whatever we want and our responsibility to the world, our fellow human beings, and posterity, be damned.
Interesting list! And I agree with most of the stuff on it. Camcorders, though…
My sister lives overseas with her husband and three young daughters, and we can only afford to see each other every 2-4 years. She makes videos of the children and sends them to me, and I make videos of myself telling stories or reading children’s books and send them to my nieces, who watch them over and over. Camcorders are rather useful for my family.
If you think the pork brains are gross check out thisiswhyyourefat.com they have pictures of all sorts of food creations with the slogan where dreams become heart attacks!
Doggie diapers are for female dogs in heat, you idiot!
#6 isn’t a bad idea, it’s just too ridiculous for me (and most people I know) to consider using.
Wow, so many idiots taking this list FAR too seriously.
I can’t believe how uptight some of you people are. Yes, it’s a subjective list of someone’s personal pet peeves. Any idiot can see that. Nowhere does the author claim this list to be definitive.
The camcorder and doggie diaper entries ought to make it clear that this was intended to be a fun, humorous list.
LIGHTEN UP PEOPLE. No one likes someone who gets uptight and *****y about something he or she read on the Internet.
I agree with Randall and Yogi, the Smart Car is actually a good idea. It has a small market, well not that small considering the majority of people live in cities. It is small, which is great in cities that have small streets, as do most cities established before the automobile. While it may not have the best mpg on the market it is in the top 4, so not much to complain about. Also when you compare this idea to that of Hummers, as has been stated, it pales in comparison. The Hummer and SUV are far worse concepts. Their only use is if you live in the country, yet millions of people try to drive them in cities. It seems like too many Americans are overcompensating. Bigger is not always better.
This list seems to have fallen into the trap the first one did: too much bias. While some of these concepts are truly ridiculous and serve no purpose some of them are really good products when used properly. It seems like the writer has an unjustified vendetta against some products. Camcorders for instance have made movie making cheaper, allowing for many great independent films to be made. A list of ridiculous products should include ideas that fail to work altogether, like products you can buy in info commercials.
I agree with Matt! Chillax people
Matt – you are right, however it was my understanding that ListVerse is not a place where people simply post lists of their pet peeves but rather a place where people can explore and learn new ideas and facts they did not know before. I feel that lists like this one, tarnish the name of listverse. This list serves no purpose other than letting the author vent about things he doesn’t like.
I love the Stinger…. the smart car is so tiny. I’ve only seen one on the streets in New Orleans and never again. I eat hog head cheese and thats as close to pork brains as I’ll ever get….and that ain’t too close!
The bit about euthanasia of pets is SO out of line for this list. I think it should be removed.
@ 149
10, 9, 5, 4, and 1 were all things I had not heard of before. While they inherently may not be very useful or meaningful to know about, it would still be false to imply that this list didn’t offer at least a little perspective on some obscure product-line endeavors.
@ 151
It’s called a joke.
Matt, fun and humor go out the window when some suggests killing a dog if they have a few accidents. Maybe I’M just being sujective, but as the owner of a previously terribly abused dog, who was almost put down simply because of her breed, that’s not even close to my kind of humor.
And, I’ll add that this list is the worst I’ve read on here – just a ranting list of pet peeves. It’s degrading to this site, which is usually very high quality.
Buc a few of my home movies have gone missing…you know anything about that?
Well, since people are asking for it:
JAJDUDE’S COMMENT TRANSLATION!
Jajdude likes to compare the quality of lists to the size and type of firearms. In this case, he considers the list to be the equivalent of firearms used by a mexican outlaw, as depicted by films starring Antonio Banderas and Salma Hayek. In other words, very nice and powerful guns.
Next, he praises the advent of camcorders based on its value as a tool for non-professional individuals to record adult films, such as those readily found in the “amateur” section of *****ographic torrent sites such as Em*****ium.us.
Furthermore, he expresses the joy of these type of films being available to him by considering a hypothetical situation where they wouldn’t be, describing such situation as ‘dull’, and adding poetic flair by masterfully rhyming ‘dull’ with ‘seagulls’.
Both the standalone “g”, and the final “yo”, are very common expressions from hip-hop culture. The “g” roughly translates to “old chap”, and “yo” roughly means “I certainly hope you agree with my appreciation of things as I have expressed them just now. Good day to you, sir.”
Wow have i stired up a hornets nest or what.
My point on the SMART seems entirely missed – my point was essentialy if you live in such a conjested city and parking is such an issue, and you dont want to carry a boot full of shopping then there are already some very good options available to you : walk, get a bike, get the bus. this is why i believe that the idea of the SMART is flawd as it is essentially still trying to encourage people to drive cars in cities with too many cars. We will reach an event horizon where everyone owns a smart and cities will have twice as many cars but still the same parking problems.
As for the doggie diaper lovers, it was meant as a bit of harmless fun, but on another note, when your dog is in heat – keep it in your garden then it can bleed to its hearts content.
Anyway yes this list is 100% my rantings about things I think are dumb, just like a list about the 10 greatest writers of the 20th century would be the list authors opinions on who THEY think are the 10 greats.
As always YMMV
128. thisnamestaken
retraction of 132. gabi319
um, yeah…remember when I said “when can a conversation ever be bad?” …I think this list is beginning to prove there can be situations like that… :-\
Such bitter and sharp criticism over a list that seemingly was presented as humorous, or at the least, light-hearted. I would agree that the sincere thought of putting down a pet as a result of a few accidents is indeed severe and any person who would consider it is either at his or her last strand of patience and should at the very least give up the pet, or is not deserving of a dog regardless. I do not believe that the author of this list was being serious about that, and for such hostile comments to stem from it seem to be unfair.
Specifically, Callie, I don’t believe the author was seriously suggesting it. I’ve worked with and fostered homeless and abused animals and I would never condone putting down an animal if there is any way by which to save it. I’m an avid dog lover and I wasn’t offended by the comment. I think that perhaps the more critical individuals are either reading too much into the list or are just looking for a rant.
So at what point does the ranting and raving really become a problem? I would say it starts in the comments.
The title of this list should be changed to Things I Hate
156. Kreachure – You have given new meaning and significance to both terms of “yo” and “g” and I appreciate the masterful comparisons and explanations. Between this and the “clearly marked for any bleeding ***** to see” comments, my day has become richer.
Also, I apologize for not including this in my last post as I hadn’t read 156 yet.
156. Kreachure
Thank you, kind Professor of Jajdudeology! I look forward to future lectures in the upcoming class sessions.
I soundly disagree with the camcorder. A friend of mine found his old video camera a few months ago and we and a few other friends spent the next day reenacting scenes out of Cloverfield. It was a lot of fun.
I just think it’s no one of those things you joke about, and it hits particularly hard because it’s something very close to my heart.
I also wouldn’t advocate keeping a dog outside while she’s in heat. Dogs typically are in heat twice a year, and it lasts anywhere from two to four weeks. I’d never leave my dog outside for 2-4 weeks in the extreme heat or cold of summer and winter. Maybe they could invent some sort of cloth to keep on her so I can bring my dog in and be a responsible owner? Something kind of like oh…I don’t know….a DIAPER?
Sure, I’m ranting, but this list is “100% rant” as well.
Hmm yes just sounds like a list of the author’s dislikes to me too. Not very impressed with it.
Smart cars are pretty popular here in the UK. And the sport versions are beautiful.
Why phone people when you can text them for a fraction of the cost of a phone call?
Also dog diapers are used for when *****es menstruate… makes sense to me.
#164 – Keeping a dog inside does not make someone a responsible dog owner, infact using anything to keep the dog from bleeding on carpet really shows you care about keeping blood off your carpet no more. We seem to have forgoten that dogs are essentially just the same as any other animal and as such animals didnt invent houses they are quite happy to live outside and if you live somewhere extremely hot or cold then you shouldnt own a dog that cannot handle the climate I dont think many eskimo’s take their huskies into their igloos so they dont get cold outside.
165. Nikki
Thank you! One of the few people who disagree with the list but don’t resort to childish namecalling!
As for texting, I do text frequently but it’s gotten to a point where people are afraid of more social interaction than that. I’ve gotten birthday greetings where people text me Happy Birthday rather than make an extra effort to use the vocal cords and SAY happy birthday. There are situations where a friend’s got only a quick second free during work but when a majority of them live less than a mile away just watching tv, then a text is simply inexcusable in my eyes.
Wht r u tlking bout??? I is a teen an I nvr use txt tlk.
Seriously though, if you took the time to actually talk to a teenager you’d find we consider the idea of doing an exam in text talk as laughable as any adult.
this list was soooo funny, i loved it.
@Wally #70
Touché, sir. I took it that the author meant something like “muted” or “prevented”. In my defense, I wasn’t positive about that, which is why Montoya’s qualified statement was apropos.
122. Samm
“Me and my boyfriend used doggie diapers when our dog went into heat and was bleeding all over the place! They actually work really well.”
Well, I’m glad they worked so well for you, but wouldn’t it have been more convenient to let your dog use them instead?
Camcorders were awesome on those boring, drunken college nights of long ago!
Hypercolor – agreed – those were hideous.
About the diapers bit – there’s a huge gap between people that are extremely attached to their fellow animals, and those who are indifferent. Therefore, sometimes the indifferent people don’t realise that, even when meant as a joke, some pet humor is very insensitive and hits too close to home.
Example – someone might have read this list today who, recently, lost their companion dog of, say, 8 years to cancer. Reading this list might be a little upsetting.
See my point?
First of all unless you’re specifically breeding, responsible owners should have their animal fixed as there is a huge overpopulation problem in the country. Secondly, any RESPONSIBLE breeder wouldn’t leave their means of income outside where they can be stolen, or again exposed to elements.
I’m about to get gross, so squeamish, look away. The color of a *****’s discharge can often signal when it is time for the stud to come do his thing. This is much easier to see if it’s on a diaper and not outside on your grass.
There are a number of other reasons not to leave a ***** in heat outside, which I can go into if you’d like, but I know we’ve gotten extremely off topic.
Also, humans are also essentially animals, so next time your wife or girlfriend has a period, go ahead and ask her to go live outside till its over. That’s about the arguement you’re making.
YogiBarrister:
That’s true. The Hummer was the apex of impractical vehicles and should be on this list. The smart car is not a bad idea really, I just hate it because I can’t fit in it plus if you have a famil. I can barely fit comfortably into a Honda S2000. (Plus I’ll admit I like horsepower)
The Sinclair C5 is also a completely pointless invention. Silly concept, unreliable, dangerous
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinclair_C5
@173 – I wont ask her to go outside once a month, I keep her in a kennel in the garden all the time
LOL at Pork brains in milk gravy. At the trivia night I attend, there are pysical challenges to earn more points and one of them is too eat a can of that nastiness in under 30 seconds! It is just foul!
*physical
Geraint; Don’t worry too much about it. I knew you were only teasing. Btw that particular comment rated an outright guffaw on the Davey-O-Meter.
Callie – 155 – Pretty sure they’re at my apartment. You left some other ‘stuff’ over here too.