# 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:** 57
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2024, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1121 "2024-02-26T15:57:03Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > My cable company remote control has a thirty-second skip forward button and another to go back fifteen seconds. My old cable remote did the same thing (Mediacom). I now have Directv Streaming, which I love except for the remote. When FFing through commercials during something I’ve recorded, I now have to really watch as the commercials stream by and try to hit play at the right time. I usually end up rewinding a bit. With the old cable remote, I had it down. 8 presses of the 30 sec FF would bring me right back to the show. There were certain shows where the timing was a bit different, but I had them memorized. As far as I can tell, I only have the one FF button on the Directv remote. 🤨 ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2024, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1122 "2024-02-26T16:14:22Z")
The Comcast/Xfinity DVR has a “smart resume” feature that automatically resumes regular play at the end of the commercial break. This only works on some recorded shows (basically, only those from the big broadcast networks) and relies on markers at the beginning and ends of the commercial breaks. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2024, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1123 "2024-02-26T17:10:57Z")
What bugs me the most about Amazon Prime’s UI is when you pause, it shows you a line of screenshots from future episodes along the bottom of the screen. On several occasions this has been a spoiler for me. Like a character is apparently killed in one episode, and then sometime later I pause a show and see a screenshot containing that character in a future episode. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2024, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1124 "2024-02-26T17:57:46Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Most annoying is the fact that you are forced to read or zip through the credits. If you close Netflix once the credits roll, and come back to see the next episode of the show, it will show the next episode. Disney takes you back to the credits you skipped before. This is especially annoying with the _Star Wars_ shows, which have five minutes or more of credits. We recently “cut the cord” and got rid of cable TV. I got Sling, which offers many of the channels we were interested in. When a commercial plays, you CANNOT PAUSE IT. I understand not being able to fast forward past it - any commercial-supported streaming service won’t allow that. But if, say, you want to go to the bathroom, your option is to do the potty dance until the commercials are over, then pause it… or let it play and have to rewind back to the beginning of the content - meaning you haven’t seen the commercial they’re so insistent on not letting you skip. ---
**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:** [February 26, 2024, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1125 "2024-02-26T19:49:20Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Most annoying is the fact that you are forced to read or zip through the credits. If you close Netflix once the credits roll, and come back to see the next episode of the show, it will show the next episode. Disney takes you back to the credits you skipped before. I brought up that exact problem in the “Stupidest software design” thread a few months ago. I’ve never used Disney+, but I’ve had the same problem with Hulu, and Paramount+, and I think HBO Max. In fact Netflix seems to be one of the few streaming services that _doesn’t_ have that problem. > [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > When a commercial plays, you CANNOT PAUSE IT. Wow, that is a bad. I bet it was just less work for the software engineers to disable _all_ the controls during the ads than to only disable fast forward but leave pause available. One feature I like about most ad supported streaming services is that they’ll show a timer counting down how much time is left until the show resumes. I can use that to judge whether or not I have time to go to the bathroom while the ads play, or if I should pause it. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2024, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1126 "2024-02-26T20:31:19Z")
Yes. Tubi and Freevee have that feature. Disney+ does not. ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2024, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1127 "2024-02-27T15:11:09Z")
Why aren’t comforters and duvets made big enough to actually fit a bed? We have king, queen and full beds. I have to buy one size up in order for the comforter/duvet to hang at a nice length. Queen comforter for the full bed and a king for the queen bed. The poor king sized bed has a skimpy “king sized” comforter that barely hangs over the mattress on the sides. Our mattresses aren’t overly thick either. They’re pretty basic. I thought a California king comforter would be the answer. Nope, that’s even worse. A Cal king is narrower than a regular king. ---
**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:** [February 27, 2024, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1128 "2024-02-27T15:28:59Z")
IIR they’re suppose to sit on top of a bed, not sit on top and also hang over the sides. Now _why_ that dumb convention exists is a mystery to me. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2024, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1129 "2024-02-27T15:48:46Z")
Comforters and duvets are supposed to hang over the sides a bit - if it was just exactly the size of the mattress , it wouldn’t cover a person in the bed. They are not supposed to reach the floor like a bedspread But how much “a bit” is will depend on the depth of the mattress and the height of the bed and possibly the dimensions of the mattress- I know Ikea mattresses used to be a little off from US standard sizes. ---
**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:** [February 27, 2024, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1130 "2024-02-27T18:44:06Z")
Agree that’s how it _is_. What I wonder, like @TRC4941, is why comforters and duvets aren’t sized to hang at least 1 foot off the foot of the bed, at least 18" off each side, and still have enough length to go all the way up to the head of the bed, plus about 6-10 more inches. To me that is the minimum functional size where it stays in place and has enough to cover me up. Of course I know why it’s not that way. My way is about 20% larger and so would cost 20% more. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2024, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1131 "2024-02-27T19:24:40Z")
Maybe - or maybe people just have different tastes. My queen sized duvet is 90" by 90" and a queen sized mattress is usually 60" x 80". I won’t say it’s exactly the perfect size for me, but I will say I’d rather have 10 inches hanging over the foot instead of the 2.5 feet that would be hanging over with your measurements because I don’t bring the duvet all the way to the top. Oh, and “queen” or “king: or “twin” is best thought of as a range. Bedding isn’t like men’s clothes where 36W 34L will be roughly the same regardless of brand or style. It’s more like women’s clothing where I need a size 10 in some brands/styles and a 12 in others - a queen comforter can be anything from 88” x 88" to 92" by 96" (that I know of- the range might be bigger) ---
**Author:** ![Dogginit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dogginit/32/16920_2.png) [@Dogginit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogginit)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2024, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1132 "2024-02-27T19:28:45Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > men’s clothes where 36W 34L will be roughly the same regardless of brand or style So not true. In bargain store (price point) Dickies jeans I wear a 34-32. In the Dickies jeans a bit higher up on the price scale, I take a 36-30 in the denim, and 38-30 in the black. All the relaxed fit carpenters jeans. Even the cashier at the store was surprised after my second return to get something that fit. ---
**Author:** ![Orville\_mogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/aeb1de/32.png) [@Orville\_mogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orville_mogul)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2024, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1133 "2024-02-27T22:00:54Z")
> [@garygnu](#): > > Those black “plastic” knobs are phenolic resin, like Bakelite, and oven-safe to 390°. That’s fine. I don’t think my oven can even heat up beyond 250°. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2024, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1134 "2024-02-27T22:08:45Z")
Celsius or Fahrenheit? 250F would be stunningly low (as most recipes tend to call for something between 325 and 400). 250C wouldn’t be crazy at all - that’s just under 500F; I’ve never had a recipe that called for that high a temp. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2024, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1135 "2024-02-27T22:11:55Z")
Or 250 degrees Kelvin would be really pathetic. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2024, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1136 "2024-02-27T22:17:42Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > a queen sized mattress is usually 60" x 80". I won’t say it’s exactly the perfect size for me, but I will say I’d rather have 10 inches hanging over the foot instead of the 2.5 feet that would be hanging over with your measurements because I don’t bring the duvet all the way to the top. > > Oh, and “queen” or “king: or “twin” is best thought of as a range. Someone decided that bedding that will fit a double bed will also fit a queen bed - for blankets, at least. Double beds are roughly 54" by 80", queens are 60X80. OK, not that HUGE a difference, but if you like the blanket wide enough to hang over the edge by more than an inch or two, it does NOT work as well. Blankets have also not evolved along with thicker mattresses, as far as I can tell. I was taught to make a bed by having the blanket go up to a bit beyond the pillow’s bottom edge, the top sheet goes a few inches beyond that, and folds over the edge of the blanket. But with the thicker mattress, the blanket doesn’t really reach that high. And when I want to pull the covers up to my neck in colder weather, that doesn’t work. We wound up buying a king-sized blanket recently - and we put it on the bed “crossways” (the long side goes top-to-bottom, as opposed to side-to-side as we would put it on a king-sized bed). Problem solved! Well, the side overhang isn’t much better, but at least I can pull the covers all the way up. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2024, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1137 "2024-02-27T22:18:31Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Or 250 degrees Kelvin would be really pathetic. “Why yes, as a matter of fact, I DO keep my ice cream in the oven. Why do you ask?” ---
**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:** [February 27, 2024, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1138 "2024-02-27T23:30:14Z")
I was gonna say: 250K would be a damn nice deep freezer though. ---
**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:** [February 27, 2024, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1139 "2024-02-27T23:45:36Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > We wound up buying a king-sized blanket recently - and we put it on the bed “crossways” (the long side goes top-to-bottom, as opposed to side-to-side as we would put it on a king-sized bed). Problem solved! Well, the side overhang isn’t much better, but at least I can pull the covers all the way up. Yeah. Shame they don’t make emperor-sized blankets 😁 to use on a king bed that same way. IMO … the top of the blanket should be about 2" max below the head of the bed, the head edge of the top sheet should fold over the head edge of the blanket by about 8", and there should be enough blanket (and top sheet) left around the other edges to go down the height of the tallest mattress, then have 12" remaining to tuck in on each of the two sides & foot. So for a nominal 60x80 queen sized mattress that’s 18" deep, the sheet should be 8 + 78 + 18 + 12 = 116" long and 60 + 18 + 18 + 12 + 12 = 120" wide. The blanket can be 8 inches shorter = 108" since it doesn’t need the fold-over at the top. That is far larger than actual queen sheets which are roughly 84" wide x 92" long. So 36" too narrow and 28" too short. I really think it was 1960s Hollywood’s technique for shooting bedroom scenes that have the blanket end at the man’s waist that set all this off. The blanket (and sheets) are supposed to cover your body, not just everything from navel down! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Al128](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/al128/32/16541_2.png) [@Al128](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al128)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2024, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1140 "2024-02-28T01:57:06Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Or 250 degrees Kelvin would be really pathetic. any SD’er worth their salt, knows that there is a nitpick in your phrase … [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621.md?page=56) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621.md?page=58)