In a spin off to my 'Missed Inventions' thread I thought I would create this one to concentrate on the worst/most pointless inventions ever created. Which modern invention do you detest?

Here are a few I'm not so keen on:

Personal Stereo's - Daily irritation. The only
good thing about them is that their users are going
deaf and will feel great pain later.

Car Alarms - Hardly anyone ever goes to investigate, so it's just a noise machine. Pointless, IMO.

Ready Meals - They have taken the fun out of the kitchen, where you can get messy make mistakes, and above all have a sense of achievement when you have finally cooked your own meal.

Microwave oven. Goes with the pet hate of Lickszz of ready made meals.

wi-fi

if only i had to get all uncomfortable at a desk, perhaps i'd spend less time here ;)

"Organic" food wiv no callories, fat, salt or taste.:x

Although mobile phones have proved a boon in comunications, I wish every time you have some prat speaking loudly into one in the street or on a bus when you can't get away from the dam thing, it would rate as the most annoying invention yet.

Originally posted by adaline
"Organic" food wiv no callories, fat, salt or taste.:x

Whether a food is "organic" or not has nothing to do with it's calorific content, it is to do with the way the food has been reared / grown. Furthermore, organic foods usually have more taste than their GM counterparts!

In my case, the Personal Hi Fi. Invariably, the owner has the volume at anti-social pitch on a train. It is never the strains of a spacious theme by Bruckner, the effortless beauty of Haydn or Mozart, that everyone can hear. It would not be so bad were it something modern and interesting, such as Radiohead. Usually, it is third rate Rap, or cretins like Basement Jax. Fortunately, the enthusiasts do not seem to be on the train for very long. Usually, they look furtively around them for a few stops, and then seem to get off the train just before the ticket-inspector enters the carriage.

It's cheap headphones that make personal stereos so annoying, if you buy good quality ones you can have it realy loud but very little sound "leaks" out, so Walkmans arn't a bad invention, but £3 headphones are.

I think cooking sauces in jars are the worse invention, they cost more than the ingrediants required to make the sauce and invariably take like crap.

I also have a deep hatred for wood laminate flooring, it always looks cheap and tacky (sorry to anyone who has got it), use real wood, it looks, feels and wears better.

I don`t think there is one inventions worse than others.

Technology is faster than ever, and that leads to inventions that have cut down, personel conversation, learning to cook, learning to use a dictionary (my daughter has not been taught this at school because they have computers).

Speed is increasing and life is being run by technology and not by us. Yes you need people to use machines that make the techniology, but how many want new mobiles, new dvd players, new televisions. If we took them all away how many of use could live without them successfully.

Originally posted by rosie
I don`t think there is one inventions worse than others.

Technology is faster than ever, and that leads to inventions that have cut down, personel conversation, learning to cook, learning to use a dictionary (my daughter has not been taught this at school because they have computers).

Speed is increasing and life is being run by technology and not by us. Yes you need people to use machines that make the techniology, but how many want new mobiles, new dvd players, new televisions. If we took them all away how many of use could live without them successfully.

of course we could live without tv, walkmans and mobile phones. If that's how you want to live, go right ahead.

Personally I like being able to have some entertainment in the evening, I like dvd's being higher quality and longer lasting than vhs, I like being able to listen to my music whilst on public transport or walking around, the alternative might be listening to technophobes ramble on about how the motorcar has destroyed the art of walking. Without a mobile i'd be stuck when having a change of plan and wanting to communicate it to someone, I wouldn't be able to arrange anything unless both parties happened to be at home.

What you all seem to dislike is actually antisocial use of these devices. Well a little suprise for you, the anti-social types could manage to be anti-social without the aid of technology.

Originally posted by Lickszz
In a spin off to my 'Missed Inventions' thread I thought I would create this one to concentrate on the worst/most pointless inventions ever created. Which modern invention do you detest?

Here are a few I'm not so keen on:

Personal Stereo's - Daily irritation. The only
good thing about them is that their users are going
deaf and will feel great pain later.

Car Alarms - Hardly anyone ever goes to investigate, so it's just a noise machine. Pointless, IMO.

Ready Meals - They have taken the fun out of the kitchen, where you can get messy make mistakes, and above all have a sense of achievement when you have finally cooked your own meal.

I like all of these.

MP3 players are great and you don't disturb anyone if you have a good pair of phones (preferably canal phones), which you don't have to have on loud;

car alarms - a deterrent to burglars, particularly sneak thieves. Modern alarms don't go off as easily as earlier versions.

Ready meals - you can have the world's culinary delicacies at your table within a few minutes, without the fag of cooking. Great for busy people. Cooking is a means to an end, not an end in itself

Originally posted by JonJParr
Whether a food is "organic" or not has nothing to do with it's calorific content, it is to do with the way the food has been reared / grown. Furthermore, organic foods usually have more taste than their GM counterparts!
Thank you Jon.

Originally posted by adaline
Thank you Jon.

Not a problem. :)

The minidisc player. I bought one a few years ago thinking they'd be the way forward in technology. I used it a bit and it now gathers dust. Overall the minidisc seems to have flopped. Or am I wrong?

Originally posted by Classic Rock
Overall the minidisc seems to have flopped. Or am I wrong?

I have got a minidisk walkman and I love it, it's a shame they never caught-on for normal stereos.

The worst invention in modern times is the Human being with a cell phone permanently attached to its ear, while driving a car 4 inches from my back fender. If they want to die violently good luck to them but don't take me or any of my family with them. What do they have to talk about so incessantly?

the motorised pencil sharpener

whats the point!

The worst modern invention has got to be the automated call centre, very frustrating and 99% useless. A well informed human being has no equal.