# What does this do? Useless unused features on things that you own. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 30, 2011, 10:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-do-useless-unused-features-on-things-that-you-own/583744 "2011-05-30T10:55:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2011, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-do-useless-unused-features-on-things-that-you-own/583744/161 "2011-06-08T19:31:25Z")
> [@Gedd](#): > > Has anyone ever had a reason to turn OFF Num Lock? Vidya games. Various activities involving interfacing with AS/400s and other things. Various spreadsheet works. Business side applications. ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-do-useless-unused-features-on-things-that-you-own/583744/162 "2011-06-09T00:05:38Z")
I’ve never had a need to turn it ON on a laptop. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-do-useless-unused-features-on-things-that-you-own/583744/163 "2011-06-09T03:26:30Z")
> [@phreesh](#): > > Microwaves - anything other than time, defrost, start and stop. I never use less than 100% power and my cooking life is seemingly unaffected. > > My iPhone has a gazillion features I never look at. > > Clocks on things that aren’t clocks. I hate setting the time on my coffee maker, but I hate seeing 12:00 blinking all the time even more. I have maybe a dozen digital clocks in my house that I never consult, but have to set everytime we have a power outage - stove, microwave, coffee maker, etc. > > I don’t even know what most of the options on my dishwasher mean. Regular wash? Sure. Maybe 6 times a year I’ll run a ‘delicate’ load after using the fancy glasses, but that’s it. Same here for most of them. I’m sitting next to my microwave right now, and I can understand why they have the ‘vegetable, fish, pizza, soup,’ etc selections because they’re positioned right above the numbers, and I imagine some people just use the numbers. I have only ever used the ‘start’ button. Press once for 30 seconds, twice for 60 seconds, etc. > [@cmyk](#): > > Sleep function on an alarm clock. > > I know what it’s for, but I’ve never been one to fall asleep to music. Most times, I just find I accidentally hit it while reaching for the snooze button, then I can’t get the damn music to shut off. > > Now I just use my iPhone for an alarm. Took care of that. OH! Is that what it’s for? It plays music for a while and then stops? I’ve only ever hit it by accident and never known what it’s actually for. But then, I have used a mobile phone as my alarm for about 13 years now. > [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > My friend works on truck engines for Cummins. On all of the engine blocks he works on, there is a drilled hole. It is drilled, reamed, machined, everything. It’s obviously there for a reason. But no one at his company knew what it was for. There was no optional equipment that could be attached there. It was not usable for lifting or manipulating the block. It was really driving my friend crazy and he couldn’t find out why it’s there. Then he took a company trip up to the factory in Ohio, I think. He asked the exec giving the tour about the hole and the exec didn’t know either. They asked all around the factory and NOBODY knew what it was there for. The Blocks arrived premade with the hole already in them. Finally, they found this ancient line worker and he told them what it was for. The hole itself had no function in the operation of the engine. But it was the first hole drilled in the block and served as a guide for all the other holes that are drilled in the machining process. When he heard this, my friend said it was like fulfilling a quest. For a story about holes in motor vehicle construction apparatus, this was actually quite good. Um, that was not meant to be snarky - I would feel the same way if I ever found out what the random extra holes on many flatpack furniture items were actually there for. > [@Gedd](#): > > Has anyone ever had a reason to turn OFF Num Lock? 😕 I’ve not only never found a use for it, but it’s what I came in to nominate. On many of my wireless keyboards, there’s a numberpad on the touchpad next to the regular keypad, and there’s a button that switches the regular keypad off so you can use the mousepad as a numberpad. There is also, however, a numlock key, which disables the entire keyboard, except for a few letter keys which become numbers. You can’t use the mousepad then. It’s right next to the delete key, meaning you hit it by accident often. And it comes on automatically at start-up. My computer refuses all attempts to switch off the ‘numlock at start-up’ default (believe me, I’ve searched all the websites anyone might suggest with solutions to this) so you have to switch the numlock off every time. This wouldn’t be so bad except that, every so often, the numlock gets stuck to ‘on.’ Ta-da! No computer for you! It’s not just this computer or keyboard, though - I’ve never seen a use for a numlock key on any keyboard which already has a separate numberpad. ---
**Author:** ![Kejad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a5b964/32.png) [@Kejad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kejad)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2011, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-do-useless-unused-features-on-things-that-you-own/583744/164 "2011-06-09T18:18:46Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > My AR-15 has a forward assist. I’ve never used it. Not really sure why it is even there. Just saw this, and I used it all the time on M-16s and M-16A1s back in the '90s. The bolt tended to jam up a lot and not seat well, especially when it was a little gunked up after lots of firing. (Happened a lot with blanks. They’re really messy.) Can’t remember if the A2s had problems, but the M4 had some slight fixes on it, so it never jammed. ---
**Author:** ![JMLVT68](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a9a28c/32.png) [@JMLVT68](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JMLVT68)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2011, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-do-useless-unused-features-on-things-that-you-own/583744/165 "2011-06-10T18:41:31Z")
> [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](#): > > Yup. I’ve also used the lower gears in my previous car (automatic) when driving on unplowed backroads. Wrong. You do not want to be in lower gears when you have less traction. Lower gears means higher torque, which means a higher chance for skids. You want to be in a higher gear in those situations. In an automatic, that usually means doing nothing. I realize that most sources suggest lower gears in adverse conditions, but I believe that’s in an effort to encourage folks to slow down overall. ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2011, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-do-useless-unused-features-on-things-that-you-own/583744/166 "2011-06-10T18:53:44Z")
Well if lower gears = 2nd instead of OD, You may be saying the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2011, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-do-useless-unused-features-on-things-that-you-own/583744/167 "2011-06-10T19:32:30Z")
Which reminds me – that little “overdrive” button on my gear shifter. I have no idea what it’s for. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2011, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-do-useless-unused-features-on-things-that-you-own/583744/168 "2011-06-10T21:10:51Z")
> [@newcomer](#): > > There’s an iPod in my iPad but there is no single song on it so I never played it… (does anyone?) I got my wife an iPad for Christmas and threw some songs on it that I knew she’d like that I had handy. I don’t think she’s ever listened to them, though her music listening mostly comes from the radio. I haven’t listened to any of the songs either. What I find completely useless is the self destruct button on my doomsday device. It’s just sitting there all shiny and candy-like, just daring someone to come over and push it. Why this thing was built with this button is beyond me. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2011, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-do-useless-unused-features-on-things-that-you-own/583744/169 "2011-06-10T21:16:55Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > Which reminds me – that little “overdrive” button on my gear shifter. I have no idea what it’s for. You can take the vehicle out of OD when going down long hills. It’ll drop to a lower gear and help you slow down. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2011, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-do-useless-unused-features-on-things-that-you-own/583744/170 "2011-06-10T22:45:29Z")
> [@Philster](#): > > Does anyone ever press the red button on the GFCI outlet as part of a regular test? not regularly but occasionally. it is an important safety feature that is good to know it still works. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-this-do-useless-unused-features-on-things-that-you-own/583744.md?page=8)