# Gadgets You SO Wanted, That Later Disappointed **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 15, 2010, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gadgets-you-so-wanted-that-later-disappointed/546765 "2010-07-15T12:56:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Nefarious\_Chipmunk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nefarious_chipmunk/32/1045_2.png) [@Nefarious\_Chipmunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nefarious_Chipmunk)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gadgets-you-so-wanted-that-later-disappointed/546765/81 "2010-07-22T05:48:54Z")
> [@rolandgunslinger](#): > > That robot arm thing from radio shack. I assume you mean [Armatron](http://www.retrojunk.com/img/art-images/armatron2.jpg). My brother had one. That thing was awesome…or so I thought at the time. I mean, it could pick things up…some of the time…if you positioned it just right. What’s not to love? ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 9:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gadgets-you-so-wanted-that-later-disappointed/546765/82 "2010-07-22T09:24:27Z")
I wanted one of those things that force hard-boiled eggs to be cubical-did’nt work for shite. I also wanted a short-wave radio-till I found out that SW listening was like calling your neighbor on a telephone (made by two cans connected by string). ---
**Author:** ![lorene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/65b543/32.png) [@lorene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lorene)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2010, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gadgets-you-so-wanted-that-later-disappointed/546765/83 "2010-07-22T13:16:58Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > I got that **Robot Arm** thing from the SDMB store. Terrible. Crappy job washing the dishes. Hardly cleaned the cat box. Wouldn’t wash windows. Finally gave up and exchanged it for one of those cool mugs. Maybe the quality control was off on the one you received. The **Robot Arm** I got says/writes really funny things and even gave me a hug last week. ---
**Author:** ![Nanoda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Nanoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanoda)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2010, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gadgets-you-so-wanted-that-later-disappointed/546765/84 "2010-07-24T01:45:36Z")
I desperately wanted a metal detector, until 15 minutes after I got one. I guess I imagined being able to find buried treasure anywhere, but in practice it was a lot of work, and even that young I felt dweeby bringing it anyplace public where you might reasonably expect coins to be lost. It required something like 6 C batteries \*and \*a 9V, and you needed to tune out the local magnetic field every time you used it or you’d get false positives (which I got despite studying the manual and practicing in the back yard. It got left behind in a closet when I moved out, but it can’t have been completely useless, since my mom says she used it to find the sewer drain so my dad could unblock it last spring. Thinking about it a bit more, I guess central europe would be a way better place to own one than Canada. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Caractacus\_Pott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@Caractacus\_Pott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caractacus_Pott)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2010, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gadgets-you-so-wanted-that-later-disappointed/546765/85 "2010-07-24T16:15:33Z")
> [@GameHat](#): > > I ended up buying a [Creative Nomad Jukebox](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creative_Nomad). I don’t remember the specific model. Too bad you didn’t know me when you sold yours. The case on mine was in pristine condition. I could barely keep mine running. I found out why it came with 2 sets of batteries: if you left the player plugged in all the time, the batteries overheated and died. Doornail dead, no resuscitation available. My first set bit the dust the first night. The software needed constant attention to keep running on Windows 98. I bought a few SmartMedia cards and went back to the PMP-500. So, yes, it was a major disappointment. ---
**Author:** ![Heracles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heracles/32/487_2.png) [@Heracles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heracles)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2015, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gadgets-you-so-wanted-that-later-disappointed/546765/86 "2015-03-29T04:13:45Z")
Those autonomous toy cars that were available in the 1970s. They had a way of dealing with obstacles so they could navigate the room all by themselves. Bump into a wall, back up a little bit and turn left, approach a descending staircase, back up a little bit and turn left, etc. This was done mechanically with some swiveling rubber wheel providing the propulsion. Problem was that this was a completely passive toy: you just started it and watched it do its thing until the D-size batteries ran out or the hole detector failed and it rolled down the stairs. Most likely, you switched it off out of boredom. * * * But the worst toy I got was a “remote controlled” car called the Max Machine, from around 1978 I think. The TV ads showed a nice big remote control unit that made an elegant “click” when activated, and the car would go left or right or straight ahead. In reality, when you got the car in person, you found out: (a) that it was smaller than expected, looking like a cheap yellow-plastic Chevy Van, without any lights, and with plastic tires; (b) that there was no stopping and no reverse, you only had steering; (c) that the antennas on the car and the remote control were plastic decorations: the car was sound-controlled! When it heard a loud sound, it would slowly steer left; on the next sound, it would slowly steer straight, then right, then straight, etc. The way to make the loud sound was by pressing the single button on the “remote control”, which made a very loud CLICK! like those clickers you use to train a dog. Better get clicking fast, because the Max Machine did not stop moving forward and the steering was dead slow! The CLICK! was so loud that the adults around you would ask you to stop using it after about 30 minutes. The CLICK! was barely loud enough to use outdoors, though, and the plastic tires didn’t like asphalt anyway. ETA: Found a colorful [Web page](http://www.inthe70s.com/toys/maxmachine0.shtml) showing that others were also disappointed by the Max Machine. ---
**Author:** ![Heracles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heracles/32/487_2.png) [@Heracles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heracles)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2015, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gadgets-you-so-wanted-that-later-disappointed/546765/87 "2015-03-29T11:06:29Z")
But the worst-worst were \*zombie \*remote-control cars. Sorry about that. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2015, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gadgets-you-so-wanted-that-later-disappointed/546765/88 "2015-03-29T14:03:51Z")
My telescope. I live in a perfect place for one. NO city light, high altitude the works. It’s, well just a pain in the ass to set up. And when the sun goes down around here, it gets cold very fast, even in the summer. To add to that, I’m an early to bed early to rise guy. I know I need to work with it more, but it’s general just a pain in the ass. ---
**Author:** ![FeAudrey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7feea3/32.png) [@FeAudrey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FeAudrey)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2015, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gadgets-you-so-wanted-that-later-disappointed/546765/89 "2015-03-29T22:54:14Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > … telescope … I’m an early to bed early to rise guy … Go to bed a little earlier and rise a little earlier, and see all the stuff that’s visible just before dawn. ---
**Author:** ![Master\_Wang-Ka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/master_wang-ka/32/3325_2.png) [@Master\_Wang-Ka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Master_Wang-Ka)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2015, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gadgets-you-so-wanted-that-later-disappointed/546765/90 "2015-03-29T23:05:06Z")
> [@Onomatopoeia](#): > > I may be a little older than some of you but, back in the early '70s, when I was 11 or 12 years old, I absolutely, positively had to have a General Electric Loudmouth 8 track player or I would keel over and die. My mom bought one for my birthday and I was in heaven…for about a week. I lost interest in it after playing the same five cartridges over and over. I remember seeing it on a shelf in my parent’s bedroom closet a few years later. For all I know, my mother still has the thing. I had one of those! I rather liked it. Even rigged up a holder for it in my first car. Of course, I had more than five tapes to play on it. Just thinking back on it reminds me of many pleasant road trips and Saturday afternoons at the park. The first digital camera I ever owned, though, was a disappointment. It worked okay, and it was a nice thing, not having to buy film any more, or pay to develop it! It took a little fiddling with to get it to work, but this was back when ANY durn thing you installed on your computer took a little fiddling with to get it to work… I must have dinked with more AUTOEXEC.BATs in my time… …until the cat chewed up the connector cable. Well, now I had a camera full of pictures that I couldn’t download to the computer. So I went to the store and looked for a replacement cable. There were no replacement cables whose connector jacks matched the one on the camera. I attempted to contact the company online. They’d been bought out by Polaroid, of all people, and were no longer selling their proprietary cables. And this is why I don’t do iProducts. Y’can’t use a standard jack design? Count me out. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2015, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gadgets-you-so-wanted-that-later-disappointed/546765/91 "2015-03-30T00:25:09Z")
An electric stapler/pencil sharpener combo. It looked so damn cool and made so much sense ------ and after about 2 weeks of tripping over the cord it went to the attic – I think. I may dig it out just so the kids I know can say “What the hell is that?” ---
**Author:** ![Marion\_Wormer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d07c76/32.png) [@Marion\_Wormer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marion_Wormer)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2015, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gadgets-you-so-wanted-that-later-disappointed/546765/92 "2015-03-30T01:11:17Z")
Any and every single purpose cooking utensil “Sold on TV!” My mother was fascinated by those things. Crepe makers, rotisseries, slicers, hamburger stuffers, whatever. I’ve sent it all to the Goodwill. The only thing that was really worth it was a vertical rotisserie. It did work but it was a pain to clean so I only used it once. (P.S. I except breadmakers from this list. Breadmakers are AMAZING!) ---
**Author:** ![funky\_little\_lee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e95f7d/32.png) [@funky\_little\_lee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/funky_little_lee)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2015, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gadgets-you-so-wanted-that-later-disappointed/546765/93 "2015-03-30T01:44:16Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > George Foreman Grill > > Burgers are just as good cooked in a skillet. Skillet is much easier to wash. ITA! And there’s no temp control so stuff ends up burnt on the outside, uncooked inside. I’d throw it out in a second except it was a gift from a close relative. Not sure what the time interval is, but I’m waiting at least a year to be sure. ---
**Author:** ![buddy431](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6a8cbe/32.png) [@buddy431](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddy431)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2015, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gadgets-you-so-wanted-that-later-disappointed/546765/94 "2015-03-30T07:38:53Z")
> [@funky\_little\_lee](#): > > ITA! And there’s no temp control so stuff ends up burnt on the outside, uncooked inside. > > I’d throw it out in a second except it was a gift from a close relative. Not sure what the time interval is, but I’m waiting at least a year to be sure. The George Foreman grill is optimized for chicken breasts. If you’re empty-nesters and want to cook a couple chicken breasts for dinner (my parents), it works pretty darn well. Otherwise, yeah, it _can_ be used for a burger, but that doesn’t mean it should be. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2015, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gadgets-you-so-wanted-that-later-disappointed/546765/95 "2015-03-30T14:10:39Z")
> [@Gymnopithys](#): > > The first ball-point pen that came to this country. And I was the first in my class to have one. It smeared my fingers, blotched the pages. > > And I paid a lot of money for it. I really got ripped off. Yes, I remember those old ball-point pens. The first one I saw cost $15 (think $150 today) and bled all over the place. Banks wouldn’t accept checks endorsed with them and schools banned them. Hell, my school banned fountain pens. Straight pens with inkwells built in to the desks. But I never bought one. We didn’t have $15 to throw away in 1948. Mine was an early transistor radio. In those days portable radios required a big heavy battery mainly to heat the vacuum tubes. A transistor radio needed only a small 6V battery. This one cost $25, a lot of money in 1958. But the radio never worked. I think the radio part was okay, but the real problem was the volume control a cheap variable pot that never made good contact. I took it back, got a replacement, same thing. Repeat…, finally gave up. My brother had exactly the same experience. I never went into that small appliance store again. ---
**Author:** ![Honey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honey/32/5074_2.png) [@Honey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honey)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2015, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gadgets-you-so-wanted-that-later-disappointed/546765/96 "2015-03-30T14:35:31Z")
I used to make my Christmas list by looking through the Sears Wish Book. One year I begged my mom for a [Spin Art Machine](http://i.imgur.com/rLM4Omu.jpg). Remember those? Even as a child I hated messes, I don’t what I was thinking. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2015, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gadgets-you-so-wanted-that-later-disappointed/546765/97 "2015-03-30T15:34:12Z")
My son was desperate for a Fushigi after seeing commercials like [this one.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=scw_psseXeY) After he realized that the ball did not, in fact, float, there was considerable disappointment in the Bricker household. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2015, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gadgets-you-so-wanted-that-later-disappointed/546765/98 "2015-03-30T15:46:23Z")
A cat fountain - an automatic device that kept water circulating for the cat to drink. Looked like an awesome idea, and maybe some types work very well, even with shedding cats. This one clogged with hair and cat spit in a day, and took an hour of cleaning to un-clog; this proved to be a regular occurance. It was soon in the garbage can. ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2015, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gadgets-you-so-wanted-that-later-disappointed/546765/99 "2015-03-30T15:57:37Z")
This is a well timed zombie, I heard on the radio this morning on the way to work that they’ve just completed a study and determined that the average person makes $4500 of purchases every year that they regret. I don’t have many really, I think I tend towards the low end of average but my husband makes up for it 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![stillownedbysetters](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/41988e/32.png) [@stillownedbysetters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stillownedbysetters)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2015, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gadgets-you-so-wanted-that-later-disappointed/546765/100 "2015-03-30T16:39:34Z")
I fell for the siren song of that magnetized ‘screen’ that you are supposed to be able to use on your patio door if your patio door isn’t one with a screen. It came with little tape-backed velcro pieces that you were supposed to install on the outside of the door, then press the screening sheet against them. We stuck the tape-backed velcro pieces to the outside of the door, pressed the screening up against it, turned our backs to walk back into the house and by the time we made it halfway through the kitchen, the screening had fallen off and its velcro pieces were full of yard dirt. Wasn’t even a windy day. I didn’t hesitate. I balled it up and tossed it out. $8 lesson learned. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gadgets-you-so-wanted-that-later-disappointed/546765.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gadgets-you-so-wanted-that-later-disappointed/546765.md?page=6)