# The world's most useless machine

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worlds-most-useless-machine/693098>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [July 14, 2014, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worlds-most-useless-machine/693098 "2014-07-14T20:17:41Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 2

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Shark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/73ab20/32.png) [@Shark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shark)\
**Post date:** [July 16, 2014, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worlds-most-useless-machine/693098/21 "2014-07-16T18:10:36Z")

</div>

Build your own with a kit from Thinkgeek.

[Thinkgeek](http://www.thinkgeek.com/product/ef0b/?pfm=Search&t=useless%20box%20kit)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\
**Post date:** [July 16, 2014, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worlds-most-useless-machine/693098/22 "2014-07-16T22:41:27Z")

</div>

I always figured the most useless machine was a touchless soap dispenser.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\
**Post date:** [July 16, 2014, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worlds-most-useless-machine/693098/23 "2014-07-16T22:49:42Z")

</div>

> [@Robot\_Arm](#):
>
> I always figured the most useless machine was a touchless soap dispenser.

Only because they marketed it wrong.

If it had been targeted at people who don’t want to make the soap dispenser filthy when they come in to wash their dirty hands, that would make sense.

Instead, it was “OMG! There are GERMS on your SOAP DISPENSER!!!1one - you’ll get fucking GERMS on your hands (right before you wash them)”

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\
**Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worlds-most-useless-machine/693098/24 "2014-07-17T19:16:06Z")

</div>

I remember an L.E.D tester device you could buy from electronic hobby shops.

It was a box with a plug socket arrangement, you plugged in your l.e.d that you wanted to test, closed the box and pressed a button, a current went through the l.e.d in the box, and the light output was picked up by a LDR, this in turn drove a small transistor, which then lit up an l.e.d on the outside of the box, thus proving that the mystery l.e.d. was working.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\
**Post date:** [July 17, 2014, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worlds-most-useless-machine/693098/25 "2014-07-17T19:29:45Z")

</div>

[quote=“Mangetout, post:4, topic:693098”]

I’m still awfully fond of this one:

[/QUOTE]

I have one of those that doubles as a belt sander.

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worlds-most-useless-machine/693098.md?page=1)