# 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:** 62
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2024, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1221 "2024-03-13T17:02:18Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Which happens to me, usually inadvertently / unknowingly, when I hop out of the car for a quick stop and fail to tap the “lock” control quite hard enough. So the whole time I’m in the store the car is unlocked, computers live, but engine off. Meanwhile I’ve wandered out of BT range and they’ve disconnected from each other. Huh. I did not know about this scenario. Ignorance fought. As I recall, this has happened to me on at least two occasions with my 2017 Ford Edge. Got back in the (probably unlocked) car, and the phone failed to connect. I had to do as you suggested: tell both phone and car to forget about each other, and then pair from scratch. Annoying, but doable. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2024, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1222 "2024-03-13T18:36:01Z")
Live. Live band Live music Dammit. ---
**Author:** ![GESancMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gesancman/32/2923_2.png) [@GESancMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GESancMan)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2024, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1223 "2024-03-13T20:06:44Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > > [@GESancMan](#): > > > > And of course, these things tie together! > > Yeah, I don’t think those are two separate phenomena. I think the reason it plays the radio is that it tries to start up in Bluetooth mode, doesn’t find a Bluetooth signal, and so switches to radio mode. > > I don’t know how to fix it, though; nor do I blame you for finding it annoying. But just as often, I’ll start the car and the radio doesn’t come on, nor can the stupid thing find my phone. The display just says “Bluetooth Audio,” but nothing happens until I go through the ritual of pressing buttons to make it search again. Once it connects, the display says “GESancMan’s Phone.” ---
**Author:** ![GESancMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gesancman/32/2923_2.png) [@GESancMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GESancMan)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2024, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1224 "2024-03-13T20:11:23Z")
Interesting thoughts! I’m going to experiment with this - unlock the car just before I get in, and see if it makes a difference. ---
**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:** [March 13, 2024, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1225 "2024-03-13T20:26:00Z")
Speaking of car infotainment systems, my phone pairs with my car every time I start it up. The car will display information like my phone’s battery level and signal strength. But it can’t set its clock based on my phone’s clock. Which means it doesn’t automatically adjust for DST. I have to go into the infotainment system menus and manually change it twice a year. It’s not that hard; there literally just a “daylight savings time” box that you select in the spring and unselect in the fall. But I wish it did that automatically, like every other computing device I own. I understand that the infotainment system’s designers didn’t want to be burdened with keeping track of when DST starts in different places. But why not just sync the car’s clock with my phone’s clock, which does automatically adjust for DST? ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2024, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1226 "2024-03-13T20:53:27Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > But why not just sync the car’s clock with my phone’s clock, which does automatically adjust for DST? That would be another $1000. I’m _sort_ of kidding. ---
**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:** [March 13, 2024, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1227 "2024-03-13T21:22:50Z")
Just so we’re all clear, “pairing” and “connecting” are two totally different processes with Bluetooth. _Pairing_ is like an initial introduction: “Bob, this is Sue. Sue, this is Bob. Please to meet you. Charmed I’m sure.” Which introduction both parties will remember forever or until one is told to forget the other. _Connecting_ is the process of the two devices coming into proximity and saying to each other “Hi, I recognize you Bob. Hey, I recognize you too Sue. Let’s stop and yak awhile”. You should _not_ need to delete and re-pair the devices just because they did not connect. You should be able to force a re-scan (terms vary), which tells one or both devices to broadcast their names “Hi, I’m Bob and I’m here” while also listening for names they recognise: “Hmm, I’m Sue and now that I’m listening I can hear Bob hailing anyone who knows him. Hi Bob, Sue’s here!. Great Sue, let’s yak”. If you have devices that seem reluctant to connect for no apparent reason, a re-pairing is about the only user-serviceable part inside. But at the same time, if you’re deleting and re-pairing when all you need is to re-scan for known nearby devices, you’re making this far harder on yourself than necessary. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2024, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1228 "2024-03-13T21:23:45Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > But why not just sync the car’s clock with my phone’s clock, which does automatically adjust for DST? My car has satellite radio. It also has a GPS. I’m _pretty_ sure that it can figure out what time it is based on where I’m at or by querying a time source somewhere in the world, even if it wasn’t synced with a phone. ---
**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:** [March 13, 2024, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1229 "2024-03-13T21:53:24Z")
I hear you. Copper, lightning, and crashes are not much better. Kowalczyk works though 😉 (Sympathies from a lifetime Yes fan) ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2024, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1230 "2024-03-14T19:27:03Z")
I discovered that the back of my computer chair was leaning back a bit on one side. Upon inspection, I discovered the problem – apparently, the faux-leather casing is actually a load-bearing element in that regard. An application of Gorilla Tape has fixed it, at least for the time being. I’m guessing that the designer is not a cat person. ---
**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:** [March 18, 2024, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1231 "2024-03-18T01:00:52Z")
We stayed at a hotel this weekend where the TP holder was the typical “inset into a cutout in the wall” sort. Only the inset part was deep enough that this meant they could store a whole spare role behiind the one currently in use. Naturally, this meant that it was nearly impossible to roll the paper off the current roll. Yeesh. ---
**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:** [March 18, 2024, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1232 "2024-03-18T02:49:28Z")
It was probably the right size for traditional TP rolls. I recall the heyday of those deep holders back in the 1960s. It was the advent of the double roll, the mega roll, and later the ultra-gargantuan roll, that killed those deep holders. Not bad design, just misuse by modern housekeeping staff. ---
**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:** [March 18, 2024, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1233 "2024-03-18T12:00:14Z")
> [@Railer13](#): > > Huh. I did not know about this scenario. Ignorance fought. > > As I recall, this has happened to me on at least two occasions with my 2017 Ford Edge. Got back in the (probably unlocked) car, and the phone failed to connect. I had to do as you suggested: tell both phone and car to forget about each other, and then pair from scratch. Annoying, but doable. while we are on the subject of Bluetooth … (a mayor source of frustration in my life) … I do serve music from 2 sources (notebook for YT and cel for my music collection) … and i stream to 3 sources (alternatively, not simultaniously) … 1.) my stereo set 2.) a small but nice BT speaker 3.) IEM (in ear monitors - headphones) … and we have 3 teenagers who also stream (ocasionally) to 1.) and 2.) I can tell you the number of times where I cannot connect to 1, 2 or 3 - b/c the connection is still “taken” from another source is hugely frustrating. I also sometimes step on my own feet, when trying to stream my cel to the stereo but the BT-connaction is taken by my notebook - just to “off” the BT on the comp to be able to connect with my cel (or vice versa). … or chasing the girls with a holler: _"who is listening to Taylor Swift?_" when I turn on the stereo set to start connecting and TS comes on instantly A thing that should be so easy - it is simply not… edit to add: and the BT speaker is capable of handling 2 BT connection … so I often listen to my music on the porch, then my daughter turns on here computer to netflix and I instantly get netflix dialogues instead of music. I can override this by pressing stop-play (it gives the last one starting a stream priority, it seems) … just to be “one-upped” by daughter again trying to figure out why no sound is coming out of her laptop (she doesnt hear the dialogue on the other side of the house). … Sometimes we had this game going one for 2-3 “_I up you one_” cycles before we understood the whole mechanics of BT … ARGGG ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2024, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1234 "2024-03-18T12:34:18Z")
I have generic airpods for my iPhone. The sound is great, but if I’m watching YouTube and I have to take them out of my ears to listen to anyone, frequently it will randomly skip to another video or summon Siri. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2024, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1235 "2024-03-18T13:36:06Z")
> [@Al128](#): > > (it gives the last one starting a stream priority, it seems) Really? In my (somewhat limited) experience, I found that once a device is paired with a bluetooth speaker, no other device could connect to that speaker. ---
**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:** [March 18, 2024, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1236 "2024-03-18T14:36:21Z")
it seems that many a “mobile BT” device have this function of 2 parallel (albeit exclusive) connections (mine is a Soundcore Motion+ with BT5.0 IIRC) … and we def. can trump each other with my daughter … incl. standing next to each other and goofing around … Same for a Harman Kardan (Onyx 6?) speaker, where at a friend’s BBQ we had a couple of people (who were all already paired to it) started to goof around with playing different music … and we were gussing whose music (playlist) it was. Given that BT is just a protocol, I assume a lot of it depends on the implementation of it … on who gets priority, etc… → maybe a tech-head can enlighten us 😉 ---
**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:** [March 18, 2024, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1237 "2024-03-18T17:56:39Z")
I was in a mall yesterday and needed to find a certain store. I walked up to the directory kiosk which was a large electronic screen with a map of the mall on it. I started scanning the map when suddenly the map disappeared and the display switched to an advertisement. There were no buttons or touch input to switch back to the map. After about 15 seconds the map reappeared, so I again began scanning for the store I wanted. About 15 seconds later it switched to another ad. And back and forth, you get a map for 15 seconds and then an ad for 15 seconds. After about 5 cycles I just gave up. The 15 seconds of map display was not long enough for me to find what I wanted. ---
**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:** [March 18, 2024, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1238 "2024-03-18T23:00:12Z")
Our supermarkets have pre-sliced cold cuts with a slider to close the bag they’re sold in. They seem to love pasting the price information over the folded top of the bag, so it’s impossible to open it without making a hole. I did notice now they aren’t doing that to seal it in one supermarket. There’s just a small sticker that is easy to remove without tearing. ---
**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:** [March 18, 2024, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1239 "2024-03-18T23:10:53Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > They seem to love pasting the price information over the folded top of the bag, so it’s impossible to open it without making a hole. That’s probably deliberate to prevent people from stealing “samples” out of package and putting it back on the shelf. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2024, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1240 "2024-03-19T02:32:53Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Our supermarkets have pre-sliced cold cuts with a slider to close the bag they’re sold in. They seem to love pasting the price information over the folded top of the bag, so it’s impossible to open it without making a hole. I almost posted this in the mini-rants thread. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621.md?page=61) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621.md?page=63)