# What is the WORST advice you have received or would like to give? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 13, 2004, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-advice-you-have-received-or-would-like-to-give/239812 "2004-04-13T16:51:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2004, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-advice-you-have-received-or-would-like-to-give/239812/21 "2004-04-14T20:47:53Z")
As someone who owns many Betamaxes, buys them, cleans them up and sells them on eBay, I don’t see why you should consider Betamax a dead format in any way shape or form. I get hundreds of dollars for some machines. Hardly likely to be able to do that with VHS. And VHS _is_ dead, many stores no longer carry VHS vcrs or tapes. There will be no VHS nostalgia groups in existence a decade from now. Choosing Betamax over VHS was and is _great_ advice. The fact that others stupidly failed to follow it does not make it less great. As to “winning=better”, that’s sheer nonsense. Many watchers of the tech scene over the last couple decades have noticed a perverse mentality among American shoppers is consistently picking the _worst_ possible tech option. A lot of people making a poor choice doesn’t make any of them right. ---
**Author:** ![flamingbananas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f4b2a3/32.png) [@flamingbananas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flamingbananas)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2004, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-advice-you-have-received-or-would-like-to-give/239812/22 "2004-04-14T21:11:16Z")
Rap is good. Sourcrout tastes good. Of course you aren’t allergic to that! ---
**Author:** ![FatBaldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2004, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-advice-you-have-received-or-would-like-to-give/239812/23 "2004-04-14T21:34:52Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > As someone who owns many Betamaxes, buys them, cleans them up and sells them on eBay, I don’t see why you should consider Betamax a dead format in any way shape or form. I get hundreds of dollars for some machines. Hardly likely to be able to do that with VHS. Yes, but what was the last major motion picture released on BetaMax? ---
**Author:** ![Ross](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@Ross](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ross)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2004, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-advice-you-have-received-or-would-like-to-give/239812/24 "2004-04-14T21:42:52Z")
See that tall kid over by the water fountain? He’s a total pushover. Go and tell him to tie your shoelaces for you, he’ll do it! ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2004, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-advice-you-have-received-or-would-like-to-give/239812/25 "2004-04-14T21:43:32Z")
> [@TaxGuy](#): > > I’m _this_ close to pitting you betamax people–so watch it! 🙂 Pit away. You’ll promptly be smacked down by cinephiles and folks with degrees in business, economics, and marketing > [@](#): > > Seriously, the fact that betamax is dead and VHS is alive and well shows that betamax was not “better” all around, at least for any non-retarded definition of “better.” See, folks tend to keep buying those products that are better than other products and the inferior product eventually falls by the wayside. No, folks tend to buy products which are cheaper and supported by more companies. Every objective assessment I’ve seen, agrees that Betamax was superior, better sound and picture quality, among other things. But more companies made VHS tapes and machines. This made them easier to find and led to competitive pricing. VHS was inferior, but it was cheaper and more available. Similar things happened with the console put out by various video game companies. **Flamingbananas** My Dad loves sauerkraut. To some people, it is not a condiment but a side dish to be eaten out of a small bowl. He’s also rather fond of cold borscht with chunks of sourcream, and pickled herring- also in sourcream. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2004, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-advice-you-have-received-or-would-like-to-give/239812/26 "2004-04-14T21:49:58Z")
come overs look good ---
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2004, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-advice-you-have-received-or-would-like-to-give/239812/27 "2004-04-14T21:58:41Z")
Worst advie ever received (from my father): Move from Massachusetts to Texas to increase my chances of getting a job in computer software (early 1980s). ---
**Author:** ![butterflygoddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecae2f/32.png) [@butterflygoddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butterflygoddess)\ **Post date:** [April 14, 2004, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-advice-you-have-received-or-would-like-to-give/239812/28 "2004-04-14T23:49:29Z")
I heard that the reason VHS became popular was that porn producers were not allowed to make videos for betamax so they did it for VHS instead. Evidently vcrs were very expensive and the only people who were willing to drop the five hundred were porn watchers. ---
**Author:** ![vl\_mungo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc8723/32.png) [@vl\_mungo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vl_mungo)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2004, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-advice-you-have-received-or-would-like-to-give/239812/29 "2004-04-15T00:07:14Z")
Never trust a woman. Talk about a self-defeating philosophy. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2004, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-advice-you-have-received-or-would-like-to-give/239812/30 "2004-04-15T02:10:59Z")
Back in 7th grade, we were offered a foreign language class. We could pick either Spanish or French. I signed up for Spanish to be with a friend of mine. My mom was horrified and insisted I change it to French, as that was the language of culture, diplomacy, and international intrigue. So I took 6 years of it. I have **never** had a patient who spoke only French. I’ve had literally _thousands_ of them who spoke only Spanish, and still do, on a weekly basis. I wish I’d taken Spanish. ---
**Author:** ![Doomtrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/0ea827/32.png) [@Doomtrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doomtrain)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2004, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-advice-you-have-received-or-would-like-to-give/239812/31 "2004-04-15T04:32:04Z")
I took French because I figured it was a great way to get girls. 😃 And I’ve still found no use for it. ---
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2004, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-advice-you-have-received-or-would-like-to-give/239812/32 "2004-04-15T05:09:21Z")
> [@butterflygoddess](#): > > I heard that the reason VHS became popular was that porn producers were not allowed to make videos for betamax so they did it for VHS instead. Evidently vcrs were very expensive and the only people who were willing to drop the five hundred were porn watchers. Not true at all. I’ve seen plenty of porn on Betamax. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2004, 10:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-advice-you-have-received-or-would-like-to-give/239812/33 "2004-04-15T10:27:00Z")
[The Urban Legend Archive’s take on Betamax vs. VHS](http://www.urbanlegends.com/products/beta_vs_vhs.html) > [@](#): > > Technologically, the two formats were each other’s equal. True, except for the recording length, Sony pioneered most of the improvements over the years, but the VHS manufacturers caught up to each improvement, usually in less than a year. > > …Comparisons between VCRs with similar features showed no significant differences in performance. In fact, most of the differences could only be seen with sensitive instruments, and likely would never show up on most consumer grade television sets. In particular, the qualitative differences between the two formats were less than the differences between any two samples from the same manufacturer. > > …Sony did not refuse to license Betamax. […] While Sony was decidedly behind in the licensing of its technology, it tried from the very beginning to sign on other manufacturers to the Beta standard. > > …Even Sony today agrees that the difference in recording length was the difference that layed Beta low. ---
**Author:** ![Starguard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Starguard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starguard)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2004, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-advice-you-have-received-or-would-like-to-give/239812/34 "2004-04-15T11:55:43Z")
> [@bleach](#): > > Ask the [Terrible Advice Fairy](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=163688). I just read through this and man I gatta tell you, I haven’t had a a laugh like this is years 😃😃🆒 ``` Thanks!!! ``` ---
**Author:** ![Engineer\_Dude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9fc29f/32.png) [@Engineer\_Dude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Engineer_Dude)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2004, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-advice-you-have-received-or-would-like-to-give/239812/35 "2004-04-15T17:58:47Z")
> [@MaryEFoo](#): > > If a little’s good, more’s better. [slight hijack] Idiotic Simpsons creators need to learn that! Just because it’s funny when Homer is kind of stupid (toward the beginning of the series), doesn’t mean it’s going to be uproarious when he’s extremely stupid. [/slight hijack] ---
**Author:** ![gobear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8dc957/32.png) [@gobear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gobear)\ **Post date:** [April 15, 2004, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-advice-you-have-received-or-would-like-to-give/239812/36 "2004-04-15T18:16:29Z")
[QUOTE=Sampiro] You’re going to Mardi Gras in New Orleans? Listen, the tourist books don’t tell you this, but the best steaks in town are served in the back room of this club called _Rawhide_… it’s owned and operated by Quakers. [QUOTE] I don’t know about being owned by Quakers, but meat is definitely on the menu there \. Ah, memories. Other bad advice: Don’t wear condoms because they ruin the sensation. You can quit smoking anytime so enjoy it for now. Put your passport and money in your checked baggage so it will be extra safe. ---
**Author:** ![DKW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dkw/32/3118_2.png) [@DKW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DKW)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2004, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-advice-you-have-received-or-would-like-to-give/239812/37 "2004-04-16T00:56:50Z")
Me: So, uh, all this Japanese “hentai” stuff I’m about to buy…is it censored or anything? J-list rep: Well… [hem, haw, hem, haw] Me: Okay. (Little tip for anyone thinking of buying adult material produced in Japan…if the site does not _explicitly_ say, point blank, smoking gun, scouts honor and may Orochi bite my head off if I’m lying that it’s uncensored, it’s been censored to death.) “I can’t _believe_ you’re thinking of getting a cheat device! They _take all the fun out of the game!_” (In my experience, at least 99.999% of the time, it’s the game designers who take all the fun out of the game. I usually need the device to have any fun at all.) “Swallow!” (Trust me…it never helps. BTW, the way to eliminate pressure in your ears when you’re in an airplane and it’s descending is to hold your nose and blow through it at the same time.) And a bit of advice I’d like to give any arcade owner: “Say, you know what would be even better than those ugly square stickers you’re thinking of slapping on everything? A complete description of every bit of objectionable material in the games taped to the side of the machine. And since accuracy is so important, you shouldn’t put anything up until you’ve made sure it’s all correct.” The best kind of bad advice…it’s bad, but it leads to a good thing. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Runs\_With\_Scissors](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/278dde/32.png) [@Runs\_With\_Scissors](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Runs_With_Scissors)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2004, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-advice-you-have-received-or-would-like-to-give/239812/38 "2004-04-16T01:06:33Z")
I once contacted a rash from English ivy. The rash was similar in looks and level of irritation as poison oak. Several people told me to keep the rash out of warm/hot water. I did. For several days I was miserable. Then, once while doing dishes by hand, my hands got in the warm water (gasp!). It felt WONDERFUL. I cranked up the heat to where I could barely stand it and ran all the infected areas under it. It was as intense as any orgasm and felt 100 times better than scratching. Best of all, it didn’t irritate the rash, scratch my skin, or do any harm. In fact, the itching stopped, and the effect lasted for hours. Sometimes in the summer I’ll have about 20 HUGE mosquito bites on my legs–itching so bad I can’t sleep. I get up, run to the tub, run hot water over the bumps…voila, no more itch for the rest of the night. (Obviously the hot water I’m using is not enough to cause burns.) ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2004, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-advice-you-have-received-or-would-like-to-give/239812/39 "2004-04-16T02:56:30Z")
Every time a guy has given me advice about women and romance/sex, it has been to steer me away from the woman he wanted and towards the woman he was trying to get rid of. A guy I work with is giving me advice on office politics, specifically how to get a troublesome co-worker fired. As he was saying it, I realized that I was the one who stood to get fired, which may have been the first guy’s intention. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [April 16, 2004, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-advice-you-have-received-or-would-like-to-give/239812/40 "2004-04-16T03:25:08Z")
> [@TaxGuy](#): > > I’m _this_ close to pitting you betamax people–so watch it! 🙂 > > Seriously, the fact that betamax is dead and VHS is alive and well shows that betamax was not “better” all around, at least for any non-retarded definition of “better.” See, folks tend to keep buying those products that are better than other products and the inferior product eventually falls by the wayside. Clearly, you never _had_ a Betamax. The picture quality relative to VHS was like night and day. Hell, my DVD copy of _Clash of the Titans_ actually looks _worse_ than it used to on the family Beta. (No, my memory is not playing tricks on me- I watched that film on Betamax every day for over a year- over four hundred times- no, I’m not kidding). Folks do not tend to buy those products that are better than other products. They buy those products that are cheaper, which is why Mercedes sells a third of the cars that General Motors does. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-worst-advice-you-have-received-or-would-like-to-give/239812.md?page=1)