# 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:** 87
**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:** [June 3, 2025, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1721 "2025-06-03T19:50:28Z")
I think I can maybe understand that, for very old sinks. If you understand the purpose of a sink as being a basin that you fill up, and then wash whatever in the water in the basin, then it doesn’t matter how long the faucet is. Only problem is, that isn’t how anyone’s used a sink for the past century. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2025, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1722 "2025-06-03T21:49:37Z")
Some have a tiny little lever at the base that controls the heat differential. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2025, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1723 "2025-06-04T01:41:29Z")
I have owned 20+ cars over the years. I have to chime in on the gas cap thing. While most of the cars had the cap on the left or the right side, I had two Chevrolets and a Cadillac with the cap hidden behind the rear license plate, a Ford Maverick and a Studebaker Lark with the cap centered above the rear bumper, and a '66 VW with the cap in the trunk. A side note to mention that cars used to have the fuel caps hidden in various ways, such as under chrome on a tailfin (Studebaker Hawk) or behind a fold-up tailight ('56 Chevy). I think manufacturers should return to such whimsical details. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2025, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1724 "2025-06-04T03:32:23Z")
> [@california\_jobcase](#): > > A side note to mention that cars used to have the fuel caps hidden in various ways, such as under chrome on a tailfin (Studebaker Hawk) or behind a fold-up tailight ('56 Chevy). I think manufacturers should return to such whimsical details Wasn’t that before you had to pull a lever inside the car to get a fuel cap cover to open? I suspect it wasn’t so much a whimsical detail as a practical attempt to confuse potential gas thieves. ---
**Author:** ![sunacres](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@sunacres](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sunacres)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2025, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1725 "2025-06-04T14:33:39Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > I suspect it wasn’t so much a whimsical detail as a practical attempt to confuse potential gas thieves. Extremely naive and ignorant gas thieves, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2025, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1726 "2025-06-04T14:36:40Z")
> [@california\_jobcase](#): > > A side note to mention that cars used to have the fuel caps hidden in various ways, such as under chrome on a tailfin (Studebaker Hawk) or behind a fold-up tailight ('56 Chevy). I think manufacturers should return to such whimsical details. That would likely risk losing the rental fleet market. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2025, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1727 "2025-06-04T15:44:44Z")
> [@sunacres](#): > > Extremely naive and ignorant gas thieves, anyway. A lot of gas thieves probably are. Some car thieves are professionals; but there’s not a huge market most of the time for stolen gas – especially when if it’s not entirely clean it can ruin your car. Plus which, it’s the sort of thing you want to do fast. If there are multiple cars on the street, the ones that didn’t hide the cap would be faster to steal from. ETA: However, I expect the inside gas cap latches work better. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2025, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1728 "2025-06-04T15:55:22Z")
I’d imagine putting some baffles in the filler neck is probably cheaper and easier than hiding it behind some trim. IIRC, many modern cars have baffles or some other obstruction in the filler neck specifically so you can’t stick a hose in it. ---
**Author:** ![Topologist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/topologist/32/3208_2.png) [@Topologist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Topologist)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2025, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1729 "2025-06-04T19:40:07Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > I suspect it wasn’t so much a whimsical detail as a practical attempt to confuse potential gas thieves. My recollection (strictly that, I haven’t done the research) is that gas theft wasn’t really a thing until the oil crisis of the 70s. That’s when cars started having locking gas caps, earlier cars didn’t. Hiding the gas cap before that was an aesthetic issue, not one of discouraging theft. ---
**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 4, 2025, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1730 "2025-06-04T19:53:56Z")
Agreed. Gas theft exploded when a) prices quadrupled in just a couple weeks, and b) gasoline often could not be had at any price. Locking gas caps appeared as mass market items soon thereafter. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2025, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1731 "2025-06-04T21:27:59Z")
That would make sense. I remember being in a carful of clueless barely-twenties headed on a long drive to our various homes for holidays, none of us having been keeping up on the news. About halfway there someone noticed the gas gauge and said we’d better stop soon for gas. We did so, around 7:30 at night, on a holiday weekend, in what we hadn’t realized was the middle of the gas shortage. The people at the station just laughed at us. We looked at each other, looked at the gas gauge, and, not knowing what else to do, got back on the road and kept on driving. The gauge eventually dropped to zero but that VW Beetle kept right on going. It took us all the way to the first stop, which was my parents’ house. (The rest of the crew had another hour or more drive to go.) My parents put all of us up for the night, and my father followed the Beetle to his usual gas station the next morning, in case it gave out part way (which it didn’t); and also to talk them into filling up the tank, as some places were only giving gas to regular customers. I loved those old Beetles. (They were also one of the very few cars of the time that my mother, sisters, or I could really see out of properly in order to drive.) ---
**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:** [June 4, 2025, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1732 "2025-06-04T21:31:10Z")
I remember those gas shortages. At one point, only some were allowed to fill their gas tanks each day. (One day it was those with even-numbered license plates, the next day, those with odd-numbered license plates.) And the lines to get into the gas stations stretched into the roads leading to them. ---
**Author:** ![Topologist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/topologist/32/3208_2.png) [@Topologist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Topologist)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2025, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1733 "2025-06-05T00:03:42Z")
And, as people later realized, rules like the even/odd restriction contributed to those lines. If people were worried about when they could next get a fill-up, they would hoard gas, going to the station more often than they otherwise would, not letting their gas gauge get as low as normal. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2025, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1734 "2025-06-05T00:37:18Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > (One day it was those with even-numbered license plates, the next day, those with odd-numbered license plates.) No doubt this was the inspiration for Laszlo Toth’s suggestion that all Americans should drink one glass of water more on even-numbered days and one glass less on odd-numbered days, thereby cumulatively generating a nationwide current that could transport ships up and down the St. Lawrence Seaway. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2025, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1735 "2025-06-05T01:09:27Z")
I’ve heard that, but I don’t know if it’s accurate. I remember after Hurricane Sandy the gas lines improved after odd/even days came into effect. Before that,people with almost full tanks were getting in line whenever they found an station with gas. After the alternating days started , people still did that - but the lines were shorter since only half the cars could line up on any given day. ---
**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:** [June 5, 2025, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1736 "2025-06-05T01:52:11Z")
This isn’t so much bad design, as a surprising (to me) lack of inclusion of a feature: A grommet, or keyring loop, or other attachment mechanism on wallets. Yes, you might stuff your wallet in your pocket and that wouldn’t necessarily be helpful. But if you carry a purse or other bag, it’s a great way to make the wallet easier to fish out as needed - many bags have keyring attachments. Virtually none I’ve looked for have anything like that. I got in the habit of keeping mine in my pocket, a few years ago when I had wrist surgery, and I did manage to find one with a key loop - which I attached a plastic coil clip to, and I hook it to a belt look. It’s saved me losing my wallet on a number of occasions. It’s useful when I’m carrying a purse too. Is this really that strange a concept? (I’m familiar with “trucker wallets” which have a long chain that does much the same). ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2025, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1737 "2025-06-05T10:40:21Z")
Is there any more info on this ? A quick google doesn’t find anything likely looking. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2025, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1738 "2025-06-05T11:40:04Z")
It’s from Don Novello’s _The Lazlo Letters_. > **[The Lazlo letters : the amazing, real-life, actual correspondence of Lazlo...](https://archive.org/details/lazlolettersamaz00nove)** ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2025, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1739 "2025-06-05T12:30:06Z")
Thanks ! Looks fun, i’ll read it later. ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2025, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621/1740 "2025-06-05T16:18:15Z")
Reading it now .. it _is_ fun ! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621.md?page=86) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stupidest-product-design-you-ve-experienced/981621.md?page=88)