# Stupidest product design you’ve experienced **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 25, 2023, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621 "2023-03-25T02:57:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 25
**Author:** ![Tzigone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Tzigone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tzigone)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2023, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/481 "2023-05-06T01:14:04Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Physical on/off buttons on _desktop_ PCs went out when ACPI was introduced in 1996. Ever since then the on/off switch was just a signal to part of the firmware running in the CPU or one of the support chips. laptops & later tablets are the same way. In no sense did it interrupt the flow of electricity. it simply instructed some software to issue a command to some other software inside the power supply to interrupt the flow of electricity. My desktop has a rocker switch next the power outlet on the back - I assumed it was physical on-off button given the symbols on it, but I’ll admit to having never used it and so I don’t know what it actually does. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2023, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/482 "2023-05-06T01:16:15Z")
That one on the PSU itself is probably, ref @Sam_Stone just above, a real physical electricity stopper. Any spring-loaded single-press buttons on the front face of the case are 99% certainly just software / firmware signaling advisory gizmos. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2023, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/483 "2023-05-06T01:21:56Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > I am surprised to hear that some of them apparently are soft switches It’s rare (IME), just not unheard of. Much more common is for there to be no switch at all. And to be clear, this isn’t quite the same type of “soft” power switch as on the front of the PC. It doesn’t signal a shutdown to the OS. It just doesn’t interrupt line power. Designed correctly, it should be as safe as a normal switch as long as you don’t open the PSU itself. ---
**Author:** ![Wolf333](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf333/32/3460_2.png) [@Wolf333](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wolf333)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2023, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/484 "2023-05-06T18:26:32Z")
Getting back to the car locks and alarms category: If I remote start my car, I can unlock and open any door with no issues. I can unlock the trunk, the trunk will pop open a little bit, but if I fully open the trunk the alarm will go off. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2023, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/485 "2023-05-06T20:51:07Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > I keep a functioning pump or two from old bottles around, so that when I come across one that refuses to work I toss it and replace with the old one that works. – I wash them out before storing, as they may be around for some time. Yes! I’ve done that with my body wash bottle. It doesn’t happen that often but when it does break, it’s nice to have an immediate replacement. ---
**Author:** ![MikeF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MikeF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeF)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2023, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/486 "2023-05-07T12:54:46Z")
Close and also appears to be fairly useless. but that’s not the 3 lb container. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2023, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/487 "2023-05-07T19:18:42Z")
Computer power buttons. Yeah, a lot of dumbness there. The latest example is a new laptop I’m setting up. The power button is unmarked(!) and right next to similar looking keys like “delete”. In addition, the lettering on the keys is very faint (white on grey), so that button is going to get hit a lot. (It took me a while after unboxing to figure out where the power button was. Geez.) I’ll probably get a bunch of those stick ons for keys that are bright yellow on black. I use them on black keyboards which are impossible to see easily if there’s a hint of reflection on them. (And of course black letters on white keyboards are surprisingly uncommon.) Oh, but if you want pukey “RGB” coloring coming out all around you keys, you’re set. Form wins over function again. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2023, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/488 "2023-05-07T19:28:35Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > Note to music player manufacturers: NO ONE wants to listen to music alphabetically. So why does my car player default to that? I assume that “alphabetically” means sorted in order of filename. If they’re sound files that you ripped from CDs (which may have been the most common source when the car was designed), there’s a good chance that you had the option to affix the album title and track number to the beginning of the file name, which would mean that the album would be played in the correct order. ---
**Author:** ![slicedalone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slicedalone/32/12515_2.png) [@slicedalone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slicedalone)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2023, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/489 "2023-05-07T19:37:45Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > the lettering on the keys is very faint (white on grey) Yeah, what’s up with that? I don’t touch-type, but I can type pretty fast if I check to see that my fingers are in the right place. With my new white-on-gray keyboard, though, I can’t see shit (except if it’s dark in the room–then I can see the keyboard!) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2023, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/490 "2023-05-07T19:57:33Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > Surprised no one has mentioned the USB connector. Unless you look very carefully, you have a 50/50 chance of correctly orienting it. (At least the first time. After that, you have to remember - for _that_ device - if the seam in the plug should be up or down.) Stupid. The USB symbol is almost always on top. As for playlist orders, I can understand that some people might like random but not album order, or vice-versa, but does anyone actually want alphabetical? The only person to defend that uses it as a “sort of like random”, but if that’s the goal, just make it random. If the controls on your device are so limited that you can only support one option, then make it either album order or random. If you can support two options, then make it random or album. If you have a full UI with lots of options, then sure, include alphabetical as an option if you want (maybe to make it easier to find one specific song? But an actual search would be better for that), but not until after you’ve done the two cases that people actually use. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 7, 2023, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/491 "2023-05-07T23:44:35Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > The USB symbol is almost always on top. Quite right. But is the orientation of the vertically-aligned receptacle top-left or top-right? Or is the horizontally-aligned receptacle top-on-top vs top-on-bottom? Enquiring minds want to know. The only thing I’m sure of with traditional USB is the joke presented in post 447: it only inserts successfully after _two_ failed tries. ---
**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2023, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/492 "2023-05-08T00:11:47Z")
A tangential bad product design in the media note: The just-released Marvel movie, _Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3_, has at least two comedic digs at bad product design embedded in tense action (including a hilarious take down on UX design with “intuitive” buttons). ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2023, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/493 "2023-05-08T00:38:30Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > The only thing I’m sure of with traditional USB is the joke presented in post 447: it only inserts successfully after _two_ failed tries. “Did you hear that the inventor of the USB plug died? Yeah, when they put him in the ground they realized the coffin was backwards, so they had to lift him out and turn the coffin around and put it back. Then they realized they had it right the first time and did it again.” I heard that one years ago. ---
**Author:** ![zbuzz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e19b73/32.png) [@zbuzz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zbuzz)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2023, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/494 "2023-05-08T01:32:21Z")
> [@Sam\_Stone](#): > > The preferences for playing music are well known, and the code for enabling this should be common and trivial. I’m guessing your car stereo does not support ID3 tags? ---
**Author:** ![pirviii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pirviii/32/3233_2.png) [@pirviii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pirviii)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2023, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/495 "2023-05-08T04:33:50Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > The USB symbol is almost always on top. My ports are sideways. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [May 8, 2023, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/496 "2023-05-08T21:31:02Z")
It supports ID3 tags. It displays all the info about a song. It just doesn’t play them in a reasonable order. Today I had a look at my steering wheel controls. I have track skip/go back on the top and bottom, and fast forward and backwards on the left and right (ff doesn’t work on all media types, for some reason). And in the center, the largest, most important button of all which you would expect to be play/pause, instead changes the _source_ for the thing (usb/AM radio/FM Radio/Phone). And of course if you change sources it resets everything… Which genius thought that people want to change sources for their audio so much that they need a shortcut on the steering wheel for it, but they don’t need to pause and play often enough that you can bury the function in a menu on the touchscreen? ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2023, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/497 "2023-05-09T00:04:19Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > It’s even more fun aboard an airplane at altitude where the inside of the pot is pressurized more than the plane’s atmosphere so the foil lid is straining and bulging upwards. The yogurt from one of those can easily hit the ceiling or somebody across the aisle if you aim ~~badly~~ carefully. 😉 Yeah. That’d be ungood but really it’s only an embarrassing little inconvenience that you might have to clean up a little. Just be glad you weren’t the pilot trying to fly the plane when this happened!! …what? ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2023, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/498 "2023-05-09T16:11:46Z")
And another thing … Band Aids\* After all these decades why aren’t these easier to open, esp. when you’re bleeding all over the place? The ones we use have to have the whole outer wrapping torn off in small chunks. I end up with a messed up, bloody band aid. So I put that one on my finger. Take out another one. Set it up. Remove the messy one and then put on the good one. Why do they want us to use two band aids just to put on one good one? Ooooooh. Profit before the health and safety of the consumer. Got it. \* Or the generic equivalent. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2023, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/499 "2023-05-09T18:03:25Z")
Yeah. They should come in a roll. Like tape. instead of opening the damn thing, peal it off a roll. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2023, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/500 "2023-05-09T18:19:05Z")
Hard to keep them sterile that way. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621.md?page=24) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621.md?page=26)