# What products should be more popular than they are? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 4, 2012, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-products-should-be-more-popular-than-they-are/614707 "2012-03-04T05:31:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2012, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-products-should-be-more-popular-than-they-are/614707/21 "2012-03-04T16:49:01Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > - LED flashlights. There’s an astounding difference in battery life and droppability between an incandescent or fluorescent and LED flashlight. > > - Rechargeable low-discharge NiMH batteries. They have more capacity than alkalines and can be used over and over. Why do disposables still even exist? > > - Solar hot water systems - Modern ones are very effective, capable of heating water to shower temperatures on their own even on cloudy days. You’re not wasting natural gas just to keep the water tank warm for most of day. LED lights in the headlamp version especially. anything other feels like walking around with a lit candle now. NiMH batteries are great for frequently used devices. disposable alkalines are good for battery backup in clocks and smoke detectors and remote controls due to the long lifetime. Solar hot water for your domestic hot water will pay for itself in maybe 5 years, give or take a year. ---
**Author:** ![Antigen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/848f3c/32.png) [@Antigen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antigen)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2012, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-products-should-be-more-popular-than-they-are/614707/22 "2012-03-04T16:52:24Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > I don’t get preferring to shave legs when epilators are so much easier, more efficient, and less bother. Shaving is such a pain. Epilating is simple, and gives far better results: you get soft, thin regrowth weeks later instead of coarse regrowth in days. A good epilator runs about $50 and considering how much you continually spend on shaving supplies, the epilator is a one-time investment that pays for itself in a short time. Not a chance. Tried this a couple of times and the ingrown hairs were a nightmare. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2012, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-products-should-be-more-popular-than-they-are/614707/23 "2012-03-04T17:21:37Z")
Yeah, conventional sporks are okay, but if you’re really looking to [up your game](http://www.amazon.com/Snow-Peak-SCT-004-Titanium-Spork/dp/B000AR2N76). Also, [deodorant rocks](http://www.amazon.com/Crystal-Stick-Body-Deodorant-sticks/dp/B000L978FU/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1330881566&sr=1-1-catcorr) are cool. I don’t know why they aren’t in greater usage. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2012, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-products-should-be-more-popular-than-they-are/614707/24 "2012-03-04T18:49:04Z")
All nubile young gals ought to wear them! ---
**Author:** ![Docta\_G](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/2bfe46/32.png) [@Docta\_G](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Docta_G)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2012, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-products-should-be-more-popular-than-they-are/614707/25 "2012-03-04T19:34:36Z")
Birth control ---
**Author:** ![thelabdude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dc4da7/32.png) [@thelabdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelabdude)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2012, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-products-should-be-more-popular-than-they-are/614707/26 "2012-03-04T20:08:40Z")
LED flashlight are relatively new and growing. I don’t bike, but had my wife check my visibility walking at night. If I don’t improve it, she may be a widow. Moisture cure urethane paint and varnish. You apply it straight out of the can like anything else, no mixing or anything, it quickly dries to a tough, hard finish, matched only by 2 package systems and factory backed enamels. Yes the solvents stink, you do need good ventilation. Linux Voltage detectors. I came across the niftiest gadget for trouble shooting, a voltage detector. They work through the insulation of wires. There are several brands. I have a GB Instruments GVD-505A, less than $15 at Home Depot. Touch it to a hot wire, and the end glows red. Find the doodad that lights it on one side, and not the other, and you have the culprit. You do not have to open up housings and expose electrical contacts. You are looking at where your hand is, not where the meter is. Cotton poly blends. All the comfort of cotton with much longer wear. The cotton industry has sold us a bill of goods. Wine in boxes. Could use higher quality product. Dog crates Anti seize Fiberglass tool handles Circuit breaker box interlocks [http://www.interlockkit.com/](http://www.interlockkit.com/) Torx heads Tap-Cons ---
**Author:** ![qubed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f07891/32.png) [@qubed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/qubed)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2012, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-products-should-be-more-popular-than-they-are/614707/27 "2012-03-04T20:18:56Z")
> [@Tibby or Not Tibby](#): > > **Stylish hats** for men (and women). The ubiquitous baseball cap has run its retched course and now it’s time for men to go back to the days of classic headgear. I believe men in general stopped wearing classic hats about the time hair styles went long in the ‘60’s. Well, most men wear their hair short these days, so it’s time for stylish hats to re-appear on the headed masses, as once they did. > > So, guy’s, eschew the lowly baseball cap and embrace the fashion forward fedora—it makes you look spiffy and who doesn’t want to look spiffy? More importantly, it makes you look sexy in the eyes of the ladies (and gay men). Ladies, would you rather your man look like [this](http://www.yuppiepunk.org/images/hats-dimebag.jpg), or like [this](http://imgc.allpostersimages.com/images/P-473-488-90/56/5637/54ZMG00Z/posters/george-marks-man-with-wallet-and-cash-wearing-fedora.jpg)?..I rest my case. I wear my fedora or Stetson when I’m in a modish mood and my [porkpie](http://workbench.cadenhead.org/media/popeye-doyle-gene-hackman.jpg) when I’m in a Popeye Doyle kind of mood. And ladies you too look sexier wearing headgear like [this](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ZWeCed-Fu_A/S7ob9qrTyYI/AAAAAAAAAUA/NOkYjVjaP6c/s1600/faye-dunaway.jpg), rather than [this](http://www.hollywoodgrind.com/images/2009/11/penny-marshall-has-brain-cancer.jpg). The problem with hats, is all too often [this happens.](http://i.imgur.com/Os1JU.jpg) It’s very hard to pull off hats without dressing up. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_the\_Immortal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2012, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-products-should-be-more-popular-than-they-are/614707/28 "2012-03-04T21:10:01Z")
> [@qubed](#): > > The problem with hats, is all too often [this happens.](http://i.imgur.com/Os1JU.jpg) It’s very hard to pull off hats without dressing up. Aye. Fedoras are good in theory, but they’re currently stuck in a douche ghetto. We need to find a way to get all the douches to stop wearing fedoras, and to not resume wearing them as they become more popular with non-douches. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2012, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-products-should-be-more-popular-than-they-are/614707/29 "2012-03-04T21:33:50Z")
> [@](#): > > Cotton poly blends. All the comfort of cotton with much longer wear. The cotton industry has sold us a bill of goods. I strongly disagree. Most polycotton does not absorb perspiration nearly as well, plus a lot of it stinks, no matter how much you wash it. I always wash my clothes before I wear them, and I’ve had enough items that retain the stink even though I put them through the wash several times that I won’t buy anything that’s less than 80% cotton. That seems to be the cutoff point. Also, polycotton usually pills terribly. Oh, sure, the garment is still intact, but either I have to resign it to gardening/housecleaning status, or spend half an hour defuzzing it before it will be suitable to be worn in public. I have several items that pilled badly on the first washing. A pity, because they are attractive in cut and and color/print, but I don’t like spending that much time defuzzing clothes. ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2012, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-products-should-be-more-popular-than-they-are/614707/30 "2012-03-04T21:36:42Z")
[ul] [li]**[ISO 216](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_216)** paper. It’s so easy to reduce or enlarge by a factor of two when your sheet has an aspect ratio of 1:√2.[/li][li]**[Free software](https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html)**. To quote one prominent proponent, asking about the practical advantages of free software is like asking about the practical advantages of not being handcuffed.[/li][li] **Ferrets**. The ideal pet—all the best features of both dogs and cats.[/li][/ul] ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2012, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-products-should-be-more-popular-than-they-are/614707/31 "2012-03-04T22:22:27Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > Then why don’t you tell us what it is? […] (As a last.fm user who’s never tried anything else, I’m sincerely curious.) Got you to look, didn’t I? 😉 Pandora is unique among recommendation services (as far as I know) because it’s tied to the [Music Genome Project](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_Genome_Project), which breaks each song into ~400 constituent [attributes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Music_Genome_Project_attributes) and ranks them accordingly. Then it uses your feedback to determine which attributes you like the most and makes recommendations that way. In my own experience, it’s been more precise than other recommendation services, but maybe only because I’ve been using it longer than the other ones. Pandora’s been around longer than Last.fm and iTunes, and before it, all we had were imprecise things like Billboard and friends. I would argue Pandora’s success pretty much jumpstarted the music recommendation industry and spawned copycats, most of which use “people who liked this song also liked…” rating systems as opposed to identifying the components of music that you liked. Intuitively, Pandora’s method seems like a better and more precise way to do it, but I haven’t seen any studies comparing the actual subjective effectiveness. Pandora works better for me, personally. > [@psychonaut](#): > > [ul] > [li]**[ISO 216](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_216)** paper. It’s so easy to reduce or enlarge by a factor of two when your sheet has an aspect ratio of 1:√2.[/li][/ul] Yes!!! Along with metric rulers and all that. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2012, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-products-should-be-more-popular-than-they-are/614707/32 "2012-03-04T22:32:33Z")
I don’t think this has been answered yet: Can pressure cookers only cook soupy things or anything? I make predominantly sauteed veggies, stir-fry dishes, etc. Would a pressure cooker even be appropriate? ---
**Author:** ![thelabdude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dc4da7/32.png) [@thelabdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelabdude)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2012, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-products-should-be-more-popular-than-they-are/614707/33 "2012-03-05T01:40:49Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > I don’t think this has been answered yet: Can pressure cookers only cook soupy things or anything? I make predominantly sauteed veggies, stir-fry dishes, etc. Would a pressure cooker even be appropriate? Yes they can. Back in the 60’s my wife’s grandfather gave us beets out of his garden so big they took for ever to cook. She would do one of them in the pressure cooker. That was all that fit. Today, likely the microwave. Anything you would cook in a sauce pan should work in a pressure cooker. Large ones can be used for canning. See if your cookbook gives pressure cooker directions. If not, your library should have older editions that do. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2012, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-products-should-be-more-popular-than-they-are/614707/34 "2012-03-05T01:54:11Z")
> [@thelabdude](#): > > Yes they can. Back in the 60’s my wife’s grandfather gave us beets out of his garden so big they took for ever to cook. She would do one of them in the pressure cooker. That was all that fit. Today, likely the microwave. Anything you would cook in a sauce pan should work in a pressure cooker. Large ones can be used for canning. > > See if your cookbook gives pressure cooker directions. If not, your library should have older editions that do. But they would come out with a steamed-like texture, right? ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2012, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-products-should-be-more-popular-than-they-are/614707/35 "2012-03-05T02:06:41Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > I don’t think this has been answered yet: Can pressure cookers only cook soupy things or anything? I make predominantly sauteed veggies, stir-fry dishes, etc. Would a pressure cooker even be appropriate? you can brown the outside of things in the pressure cooker and then seal and pressure cook. though small amount of material would cook fast. the amount you might put in a fry pan would cook very quickly. you can cook whole veggies and if they will stay whole if you don’t overcook. things cook surrounded by heat and cook on all sides. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2012, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-products-should-be-more-popular-than-they-are/614707/36 "2012-03-05T02:29:13Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > **[ISO 216](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_216)** paper File this under “should be more popular than they are _in the USA_”. Most of the rest of the world has already been on board with this for years. It’s unbelievably handy. (I believe in Germany, even the toilet paper conforms to this standard, which is perhaps a bit excessive.) ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2012, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-products-should-be-more-popular-than-they-are/614707/37 "2012-03-05T03:54:03Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > File this under “should be more popular than they are _in the USA_”. Most of the rest of the world has already been on board with this for years. It’s unbelievably handy. (I believe in Germany, even the toilet paper conforms to this standard, which is perhaps a bit excessive.) Now if only they had ISO 216 shredder-softeners that turn last year’s budget into luxuriously decorated toilet paper 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2012, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-products-should-be-more-popular-than-they-are/614707/38 "2012-03-05T05:54:20Z")
I think Happy Straps should be a lot more popular. Got narrow shoulders so your bra straps constantly wander? Happy Straps cures that problem. You have to learn to put your bra on over your head, but it’s so worth it not to have to push the damn straps back into place constantly. > [@Johanna](#): > > I don’t get preferring to shave legs when epilators are so much easier, more efficient, and less bother. Shaving is such a pain. Epilating is simple, and gives far better results: you get soft, thin regrowth weeks later instead of coarse regrowth in days. A good epilator runs about $50 and considering how much you continually spend on shaving supplies, the epilator is a one-time investment that pays for itself in a short time. They’re great. Until you get a shitload of ingrown hairs (for me that took a year of consistent use. YMMV). I wish I’d stuck to razors, frankly, considering that removing some of those ingrown hairs led to tiny scars. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2012, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-products-should-be-more-popular-than-they-are/614707/39 "2012-03-05T07:22:30Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > - Pandora - Every human on the planet needs to know and love Pandora. Why should every human on the planet know about something that’s only available in the USA? I think I’ll buy a pressure cooker today. * * * I am here: [Google Maps](http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=13.891691,100.615521) ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2012, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-products-should-be-more-popular-than-they-are/614707/40 "2012-03-05T07:41:49Z")
> [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](#): > > Why should every human on the planet know about something that’s only available in the USA? So they can lobby our citizens to lobby our politicians to allow global Pandora coverage, naturally. It’s a basic human right. That, or I simply didn’t realize that requirement :smack: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-products-should-be-more-popular-than-they-are/614707.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-products-should-be-more-popular-than-they-are/614707.md?page=3)