# 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:** 35
**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:** [June 8, 2023, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/681 "2023-06-08T22:52:28Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I just can’t imagine who, or what the supposed problem was. Or that it actually solved it. The problem of how to get £1,000 out of your account and into theirs, duh. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2023, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/682 "2023-06-11T04:23:48Z")
We have a GE dishwasher with the controls in the top edge of the door so they are not visible when the door is closed. There is a “Clean” light that comes on when the cycle finishes but like all the other controls it is not visible with the door closed. When you open the door, the light automatically turns off. So my dishwasher has a light that will never be seen by human eyes. The only reason I know it works is I got right up against the dishwasher and peered into the crack and could tell that a light was on. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2023, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/683 "2023-06-11T04:29:30Z")
I have the opposite problem. It has a button to increase the amount of water dispensed and if i hold the button down to set it for a 64 oz. pitcher, it stalls out at around 40 oz. That’s not a maximum; on occasion I’ve gotten it to 64. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2023, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/684 "2023-06-11T04:36:13Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Your phone makes a great flashlight and the phone’s camera makes a great magnifying glass. Sadly, at least on my phone it won’t do both at once. Try using video mode and turning on flash. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2023, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/685 "2023-06-11T06:39:19Z")
There is a light fixture on the kitchen ceiling that uses special bulbs that snap in and twist, not the normal type that are threaded and screw in. They have two connection points that have to be lined up just perfectly in order to snap in, however the socket is _so_ recessed into the fixture that it is _impossible_ to actually hold the bulb between your fingers to guide it in. Maybe if your fingers were the same thickness of a baby’s. And this is something made to be up on the ceiling, that you have to access standing on a tall ladder with your arms reaching up. I’ve lived here 3 years and one of the bulbs went out a few weeks ago for the first time and we still have not figured out how to actually get the new one in. 🤔 ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2023, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/686 "2023-06-11T10:10:13Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > and we still have not figured out how to actually get the new one in. I’ve got some of those. At least they are not on a vaulted ceiling. Try moistening your fingers just a little bit. Sort of like spiting on your hands to get better cohesion/traction. If the bulb has a flat surface like mine, that might be enough to push and turn. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2023, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/687 "2023-06-11T10:45:52Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > There is a light fixture on the kitchen ceiling that uses special bulbs that snap in and twist, not the normal type that are threaded and screw in. They have two connection points that have to be lined up just perfectly in order to snap in, however the socket is _so_ recessed into the fixture that it is _impossible_ to actually hold the bulb between your fingers to guide it in. Maybe if your fingers were the same thickness of a baby’s. And this is something made to be up on the ceiling, that you have to access standing on a tall ladder with your arms reaching up. I’ve lived here 3 years and one of the bulbs went out a few weeks ago for the first time and we still have not figured out how to actually get the new one in. 🤔 I have a similar fixture with LED bulbs in my bedroom. They came with a little tool with a suction cup on one end to disassemble the bulbs, but don’t ask me where I kept that little thingy. Given that LED bulbs can last for decades, I’m sure I won’t find or even remember it when I will finally have to change them. ---
**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:** [June 11, 2023, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/688 "2023-06-11T12:19:26Z")
For many of those fixtures, the entire can assembly can be _gently_ pulled down out of the ceiling so you can get your hands around it, push hard on the lamp, access the socket from the back, whatever. In other cases there’s an inner and outer sleeve, where the outer sleeve is installed into the ceiling effectively permanently, but the inner sleeve slides out fairly easily by design. If the ceiling is drywall, be _very_ ginger the first time your try this. In general these sorts of can fixtures have some kind of spring-loaded wings or bumps that expand into the sides of the hole or onto the back surface of the drywall to retain the can. But the intent is that they grip just strongly enough to support their own weight, but also weakly enough to be readily removable without damage. Like an exceedingly wimpy drywall anchor. That’s the sort of thing that can be attached / detached a half-dozen or maybe ten times over its lifetime before the drywall gets visibly damaged. The flange or decorative surround around the face of the can helps to hide the inevitable dings & tears in the drywall surface. Ten relampings ought to last the lifetime of the house, or at least of that kitchen remodel. Or so the thinking goes. I’ve had several kinds of these things in several residences. Easy enough once you figure the trick for each. But a PITA until you do. Good luck. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2023, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/689 "2023-06-11T13:41:08Z")
> [@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. Yes but normally holding that button down will send a signal to the motherboard to shut the system down, which apparently was not happening correctly in this case. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2023, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/690 "2023-06-11T13:42:14Z")
> [@divemaster](#): > > I took it to Geek Squad and they said I’d have to let the battery run out and then reboot. Took a couple of days. I’ve never seen a laptop where you couldn’t simply remove the battery. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2023, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/691 "2023-06-11T15:58:58Z")
> [@wguy123](#): > > Their SmartPrint, or whatever the crap is called, is what caused our company to stop buy HP I bought an HP printer and they have InstantInk. I thought it just automatically shipped you more ink when you got low, but it is much more insidious than that. You are not buying ink, you are buying a number of pages to print. They do ship you ink when you get low but the cost is based on the number of pages you print, not on the amount of ink you use. If you print a page with one sentence on it, that’s 1 page. This all depends, of course, on the printer communicating back to HP about what you are doing with your printer. Well, fuck that. I canceled my free trial subscription. And guess what. If you cancel, the installed ink cartridges stop working. I have full ink cartridges that are now worthless without an InstantInk paid subscription. Even though I canceled instant ink I still get email notices when ink is low, or warnings that I have installed non-HP ink cartridges. It’s the last HP printer I’ll ever buy. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2023, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/692 "2023-06-11T16:31:36Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > So my dishwasher has a light that will never be seen by human eyes. The oven in an apartment I used to live in had a switch that turned on the light inside the oven, which isn’t that unusual. Except this oven didn’t have a window in the door (I’m guessing the landlord bought the cheapest ovens available). The light came on automatically when you opened the oven door, exactly like a fridge light, so there was no need to use the switch to turn it on when the door was open. The only function of that switch was to turn on the light when it was impossible to actually see it. I’m sure the only reason it was there was because the manufacturer used the exact same control panel on ovens that did have windows, but I always thought it was silly on that particular oven. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2023, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/693 "2023-06-11T18:02:25Z")
Is it possible that is an aftermarket replacement door, not the original? ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2023, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/694 "2023-06-11T19:17:04Z")
Then you haven’t seen all the new, super-thin machines. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2023, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/695 "2023-06-11T19:27:59Z")
No, I have not. Are they like phone and tablets, where the battery is not intended to be user-replaceable? ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2023, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/696 "2023-06-11T22:13:01Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > There is a light fixture on the kitchen ceiling that uses special bulbs that snap in and twist, not the normal type that are threaded and screw in. You mean bayonet fittings? Interesting how you say the screw thread is normal, when for me in Aus/NZ it’s the opposite, and screw threads are unusual. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2023, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/697 "2023-06-11T22:50:04Z")
Well, we all know that down under, the water drains in the opposite direction in a sink, shower or toilet than in the Northern hemisphere (source: the Simpsons), why should it be different for light bulb fittings? ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2023, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/698 "2023-06-11T23:47:13Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > You mean bayonet fittings? Interesting how you say the screw thread is normal, when for me in Aus/NZ it’s the opposite, and screw threads are unusual. Most of us are in the US. Getting screwed is pretty standard procedure. ---
**Author:** ![echoreply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/echoreply/32/3641_2.png) [@echoreply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echoreply)\ **Post date:** [June 12, 2023, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/699 "2023-06-12T00:25:40Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > Are they like phone and tablets, where the battery is not intended to be user-replaceable? Usually laptops are much easier to get inside of than phones or tablets. Or, to qualify that, I’ve not yet seen a laptop where opening it requires a heat gun to melt the glue. I’ve also not seen one with battery leads soldered to the motherboard. There is always a connector that can be undone. Sometimes the battery itself is held in with double sided tape. So not as easy as those laptops where the battery just snaps into the back or side, but generally possible for a technically adept user without any special tools outside the appropriate size and shape of screwdriver. ---
**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:** [June 12, 2023, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/700 "2023-06-12T00:34:32Z")
The people who built our home put in a track light on the two story living room ceiling to feature a wall. The ceiling is 20 ft up, and the track light is right in the center of the room. We will have to build a freaking scaffold to change the bulbs, so we never turn it on. If you have pot lights in a high ceiling, or even bayonet mounts, you can get kits that come with or without a long pole and a bunch of heads for removing and replacing various bulbs. > **[Ettore, 48350 Bulb Changer Kit Without Pole, 1 Count : Amazon.ca: Tools &...](https://www.amazon.ca/Ettore-48350-Changer-Without-Count/dp/B002MUXF26)** > > Ettore, 48350 Bulb Changer Kit Without Pole, 1 Count : Amazon.ca: Tools & Home Improvement Can’t use them on tracklights, though. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621.md?page=34) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621.md?page=36)