# Effing "MEEP" and the Effing Aholes who Designed IT! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [December 26, 2012, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/effing-meep-and-the-effing-aholes-who-designed-it/645182 "2012-12-26T13:55:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![BigAppleBucky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigapplebucky/32/178_2.png) [@BigAppleBucky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigAppleBucky)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2012, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/effing-meep-and-the-effing-aholes-who-designed-it/645182/21 "2012-12-26T16:39:48Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally Posted by Morgenstern > At least you didn’t have to put it together. I’m convinced “some assembly required” means you better have a machine shop in your basement. > [@DrFidelius](#): > > And they always add a random part, so it will be left over, just to fuck with your head. So true. I remember assembling toys at 3 AM one Christmas morning. After much effort and swearing under my breath for a couple of hours, I was near the finish when two of my sleepy eyed kids came down the stairs. Never has GET BACK TO BED! sounded worse. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2012, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/effing-meep-and-the-effing-aholes-who-designed-it/645182/22 "2012-12-26T17:26:17Z")
> [@gotpasswords](#): > > Sounds like they need to re-name this to \ That’s deep. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2012, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/effing-meep-and-the-effing-aholes-who-designed-it/645182/23 "2012-12-26T17:29:48Z")
Can someone 'splain, or sum up, why these toys cannot be made to work without some remote connection/setup/link? ---
**Author:** ![Strassia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e8c25b/32.png) [@Strassia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strassia)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2012, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/effing-meep-and-the-effing-aholes-who-designed-it/645182/24 "2012-12-26T18:45:30Z")
> [@NitroPress](#): > > Can someone 'splain, or sum up, why these toys cannot be made to work without some remote connection/setup/link? Because of it’s a kids version of an Android tablet. It needs to connect to the servers to access content. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2012, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/effing-meep-and-the-effing-aholes-who-designed-it/645182/25 "2012-12-26T18:53:30Z")
> [@akennett](#): > > Wait, so people are getting pissed off because they were too fucking stupid to realize that you have to set-up a tablet before it will work? Seriously? > > Damn, this country is getting dumber every damn day. 😕 But why would you have to? My cellphones get set up by the chicks from the Orange store, and my computers have all been “plug and play”: I could, and did, add or take off stuff, but I didn’t have to register them and download a bunch of stuff before being able to, oh, play the included games or write a document. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2012, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/effing-meep-and-the-effing-aholes-who-designed-it/645182/26 "2012-12-26T20:20:50Z")
> [@Strassia](#): > > Because of it’s a kids version of an Android tablet. It needs to connect to the servers to access content. I have yet to own any kind of online device that needs a specific server to operate, except for individual apps. Does it work only with a proprietary site or server? ---
**Author:** ![Stealth\_Potato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Stealth\_Potato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stealth_Potato)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2012, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/effing-meep-and-the-effing-aholes-who-designed-it/645182/27 "2012-12-26T20:34:03Z")
> [@akennett](#): > > Wait, so people are getting pissed off because they were too fucking stupid to realize that you have to set-up a tablet before it will work? Seriously? My Nexus 7 worked right out of the box, no setup required. (Though I had the option of connecting and syncing my Google account.) It also has twice the RAM, a 2.5x larger screen, a much faster quad-core processor, four times the storage space, and it only cost $50 more than the Meep’s $150. It sounds like this Meep is a very badly overpriced gimmick. ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2012, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/effing-meep-and-the-effing-aholes-who-designed-it/645182/28 "2012-12-26T20:52:32Z")
> [@akennett](#): > > Wait, so people are getting pissed off because they were too fucking stupid to realize that you have to set-up a tablet before it will work? Seriously? > > Damn, this country is getting dumber every damn day. May everything you buy from this day forward come packaged in that really tough clear plastic shit that requires a hammer and a chisel to open. May you break your hammer and chisel frequently. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2012, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/effing-meep-and-the-effing-aholes-who-designed-it/645182/29 "2012-12-26T20:56:41Z")
> [@Stealth\_Potato](#): > > It sounds like this Meep is a very badly overpriced gimmick. Without taking time to look, I’d bet the gimmick is that it can only get into a controlled, kid-safe space. Which is no doubt 75% ads and promotions for other products. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2012, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/effing-meep-and-the-effing-aholes-who-designed-it/645182/30 "2012-12-26T21:05:23Z")
Was the thing designed by Thomas Murray, high school principal? ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2012, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/effing-meep-and-the-effing-aholes-who-designed-it/645182/31 "2012-12-26T22:47:28Z")
Huh. DIL bought the younger grandkids a pair of 7 inch Coby Android tablets for sixty bucks each, plus the twenty dollar extended warranty that gives you a new one if this kids drop theirs in the toilet and they worked right outta the box–five minutes later we hit the app store, downloaded a few stupid free kid games and now they’re happy as pigs in a blanket. You mean we could have paid twice as much to be frustrated and annoyed instead? Such a deal! ---
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2012, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/effing-meep-and-the-effing-aholes-who-designed-it/645182/32 "2012-12-27T00:27:38Z")
🙂 Heh, if ex-DH was a Doper, he could’ve come here, asked the smart folk, gotten the down-low on a better product, and saved some $ while he was at it. Of course, if ex-DH was a Doper, he probably wouldn’t be ex-DH 😉 ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2012, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/effing-meep-and-the-effing-aholes-who-designed-it/645182/33 "2012-12-28T13:41:14Z")
[Meep](http://www.funtopia.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/friends/pics/largactilites.jpg) [tablets](http://www.4nrx.com/contents/Largactil-Chlorpromazine-Hydrochloride.jpg). 😉 ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2012, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/effing-meep-and-the-effing-aholes-who-designed-it/645182/34 "2012-12-28T14:49:27Z")
> [@gotpasswords](#): > > MEEP! is a line of techie toys from Oregon Scientific. There’s your problem right there. I bought some years ago an Oregon Scientific atomic clock radio that included a remote sensor for temp and humidity. The display shows the time (of course) temp and humidity inside and out, barometric pressure and a rising/falling indicator, a weather predictor based on said baro readings, and the moon’s phase. The thing works fine but for one difficulty: It refuses to acknowledge that some places don’t go on or off daylight savings but stick to the same time year 'round. Not only that, when I manually correct the time to where it belongs, it insists it knows what time it “really” is and puts it back. This November it kept it up for more than a month before it would stay where I wanted it. I haven’t seen anything else made by them, but if I do, I won’t be buying it. ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2012, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/effing-meep-and-the-effing-aholes-who-designed-it/645182/35 "2012-12-28T17:57:48Z")
Yeah, Oregon Scientific sells some crap. A friend gave me a compact digital camera from OS that ran on AAA batteries. Utterly useless, as a single use of the flash would drain fresh-charged rechargeables to the point where the camera would shut down, so that I couldn’t take pictures indoors. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2012, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/effing-meep-and-the-effing-aholes-who-designed-it/645182/36 "2012-12-28T21:15:50Z")
> [@Nametag](#): > > Yeah, Oregon Scientific sells some crap. A friend gave me a compact digital camera from OS that ran on AAA batteries. Utterly useless, as a single use of the flash would drain fresh-charged rechargeables to the point where the camera would shut down, so that I couldn’t take pictures indoors. Obviously you should have sprung for the portable generator accessory. ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2012, 10:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/effing-meep-and-the-effing-aholes-who-designed-it/645182/37 "2012-12-29T10:05:07Z")
> [@fessie](#): > > Wow, the fb page on this product is SCATHING. Oh holy fuck, hahaha. > [@](#): > > **12/29 - 12:05am UPDATE - We are happy to announce that Customer Support will have limited expanded support this weekend.** > [@](#): > > I already sent the story of this Hot Toy being a hot mess to HLN’s Robin Meade and Jennifer Westhoven. Hope they pickup the story of your flipping flapjack of product. How could you ruin Christmas /holidays for so many kids > [@](#): > > Id rather you were happy to announce that u have finally sorted out your problems absolute joke at this stage!!! Hours of valuable family Time at Christmas wasted and left frustrated. You try explain to kids why its still not workin??? We’ve been patient… Sort it Today or ours are going back too!!! > [@](#): > > The Meep is an absolute joke. we will be returning our daughters. Along with the accessaries we brought. Very unhappy customer, as for the unhelp desk don’t get me started on them… Every single post is just packed with comments like that. This is getting me right into the holiday spirit, if a few days too late. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2012, 11:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/effing-meep-and-the-effing-aholes-who-designed-it/645182/38 "2012-12-29T11:43:52Z")
“Limited Expanded”? That’s a hoot right there. Oh, and why is that one customer sending their daughters to the toy manufacturer? ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2012, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/effing-meep-and-the-effing-aholes-who-designed-it/645182/39 "2012-12-29T12:42:51Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > There’s your problem right there. I bought some years ago an Oregon Scientific atomic clock radio (snip) > > I haven’t seen anything else made by them, but if I do, I won’t be buying it. I have a weather station made by them. It has a feature which will pick up the time if I am close to Frankfurt. That is only about 10000 miles away. As for MEEP- it sounds a horror. ---
**Author:** ![gamerunknown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6bbea6/32.png) [@gamerunknown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gamerunknown)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2012, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/effing-meep-and-the-effing-aholes-who-designed-it/645182/40 "2012-12-29T13:07:14Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > Oh, and why is that one customer sending their daughters to the toy manufacturer? Maiden fans? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/effing-meep-and-the-effing-aholes-who-designed-it/645182.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/effing-meep-and-the-effing-aholes-who-designed-it/645182.md?page=3)