Silly Products

[Buttercup]

Zebra Travel Mug: "Has a mirror built right in! Check your lipstick after you drink..."

It's a square mirror surrounded by fake diamonds.

Yeah -- people won't think you're the least bit vain, constantly rechecking your lipstick in that mirror. And what a way to constantly disrupt conversation.

[LookingSkyward]

At first I thought you made that up - then I thought, naahhh... and looked it up on line. That's pretty sad.

[Swift]

Zebra Travel Mug: "Has a mirror built right in! Check your lipstick after you drink..."

Who knew zebras wore lipstick...

[Trebuchet]

Silly Putty, Silly String, etc. are much less silly than that mug!

ETA: Besides, everyone knows that you don't need a mirror on your mug to check your lipstick. That's what the rearview mirror is for!

[NEOWatcher]

... and looked it up on line. That's pretty sad.

And didn't give us a link (like this)?

What's even more silly is that it isn't lighted. Without a light, how are you really going to see how your lips look.

[swampyankee]

Zebra Travel Mug: "Has a mirror built right in! Check your lipstick after you drink..."

Probably start a lot of talk if I started wearing lipstick so I could use that mug...

Of course, for sheer, utter, silliness: costumes for pets.

[Solfe]

Personally I find prunes wrapped up like little candies to be a silly product. Its a prune, not chocolate.

[Buttercup]

Personally I find prunes wrapped up like little candies to be a silly product. Its a prune, not chocolate.

True.

Another is the Quesadilla Maker. Quesadillas are just a toasted cheese sandwich made with tortillas instead of bread. You don't need a special maker; just a large pan and large spatula. Duh.

[R.A.F.]

And didn't give us a link (like this)?

That helps....and here I thought the mirror was at the bottom of the mug....ie. as you finished your drink, you'd see the mirror in the mug.

Silly me.

[Swift]

Personally I find prunes wrapped up like little candies to be a silly product. Its a prune, not chocolate.

Even silier than wrapping prunes were the individually plastic-wrapped bananas.

[Romanus]

Remote-controlled car stereos. They do exist.

[swampyankee]

Local grocery store has individually wrapped potatoes "ready for baking." This is, I guess, as opposed to the complex process of preparing a potato for baking, which consists of a) washing off the dirt and b) punching some holes in it with a fork.

Of course, I also find pre-sliced fruits and vegetables rather pointless.

[Ara Pacis]

Local grocery store has individually wrapped potatoes "ready for baking." This is, I guess, as opposed to the complex process of preparing a potato for baking, which consists of a) washing off the dirt and b) punching some holes in it with a fork.

Of course, I also find pre-sliced fruits and vegetables rather pointless.

I wonder if the shelf life is improved by it or not.

I see lots of pointless products, but I can't think of any at the moment as I try to block them out. I wonder how much of this junk doesn't get bought and ends up in landfills or warehouses wasting resources that might have been used better elsewhere such as medical implements, safety devices or just not made which means less petroleum needed for feedstock or transportation, etc.

[TJMac]

Our local supermarket offers small watermelons. They are marketed as "Personal Watermelons." You know, for those times when you JUST DONT WANT TO SHARE your fruit!

We had a chap come into the shop a few years ago with an invention he dubbed as the "Next hottest fitness craze." This was actually a bar threaded on each end so that different weights could be attached, and he had worked up a variety of movements one was supposed to do while holding this device. I know what you are thinking, but no, you would be wrong, it is not a simple barbell. He had spent a lot of effort designing it, and was trying to get a patent, and wanted us to produce a few in return for a percentage of the later (HUGE) profits.

TJ

[Buttercup]

Of course, I also find pre-sliced fruits and vegetables rather pointless.

Have to disagree with you on this. I find those items very convenient. But of course convenience is expensive, so I tend to chop/slice whole fruits/vegetables myself.

But in a pinch for time, or for stir-fry or to take to potluck? Yeah -- nice option.

[NEOWatcher]

Have to disagree with you on this. I find those items very convenient. But of course convenience is expensive, so I tend to chop/slice whole fruits/vegetables myself.

Ditto;
Also; some of those pre-sliced vegetables/fruits seem to last a bit longer (after slicing) than if I did it myself. I'm sure it's a matter of preservatives, but it does happen.

I usually freeze frozen vegetables from fresh. (I think frozen veggies are over-blanched). But there are some, like peppers where the preparation just seems to overcome the extra price for fresh pre-cut.

I'm also guilty of the wrapped potato. It's easy to clean and cook a potato, but sometimes cleaning it farther in advance is needed and having it neatly wrapped keeps it clean.

[danscope]

Hi, Remote stereos: When you install one of these in a sailboat (just inside the cabin) they are really handy when steering your vessel. You don't have the luxury of running back and forth, skip songs, next cd etc plus FM/ marine weather .
But in the car? Not so much.

Dan

[NEOWatcher]

Hi, Remote stereos: [...] But in the car? Not so much.

Would you want to be in the car fiddling with the radio at the volume that some people play it?

[swampyankee]

Would you want to be in the car fiddling with the radio at the volume that some people play it?

This is why I'm investing money in hearing aid companies. I figure by thirty, some of these guys will need them.

[Jens]

Remote-controlled car stereos. They do exist.

It would be OK, IMHO, if it allowed you to turn down the stereo in the car in the next lane blasting rap at volume 11.

[primummobile]

I like the remotes for the passenger to use. Car stereos now have so many tiny buttons with indecipherable symbols that unless you use the unit daily you will have no idea how to do anything with it. I thought the remotes were a waste too until I saw my wife using it while she was riding with me in my truck.

[primummobile]

I think that this is one of the more ridiculous products I have seen:

http://www.mnn.com/lifestyle/arts-cu...es-now-on-sale

I would think that quality control in something like this would be very lax. Even if you could package the "smell" of a city, how would you keep it fresh? He could just be selling cans of smelly air for $10 a pop while laughing about how gullible people are.

[Buttercup]

I think that this is one of the more ridiculous products I have seen:

http://www.mnn.com/lifestyle/arts-cu...es-now-on-sale

I would think that quality control in something like this would be very lax. Even if you could package the "smell" of a city, how would you keep it fresh? He could just be selling cans of smelly air for $10 a pop while laughing about how gullible people are.

Good grief. And that's from a "Mother Nature" type of store? Which is supposed to be contrary to cities?

I've smelled parts of Houston (chemicals and refineries). I wouldn't want THAT canned.

Or how about the scent of Omaha cattle pens? Mmmm! Not.

[Paul Beardsley]

I can think of a really sensible product: pencils with an eraser in the end. Then, if you make a mistake while writing, you don't have to seek out an eraser, you simply turn the pencil around and rub out your mistake.

Instead, we have pencils with something that looks a little bit like an eraser, but when you try to rub something out, it leaves a smeary mark and your mistake is still visible.

We can put a man on the moon, and we can put another 11 men on the moon, but we can't have decent eraserheads unless we're characters in a David Lynch film.

[HenrikOlsen]

I think that this is one of the more ridiculous products I have seen:

http://www.mnn.com/lifestyle/arts-cu...es-now-on-sale

I would think that quality control in something like this would be very lax. Even if you could package the "smell" of a city, how would you keep it fresh? He could just be selling cans of smelly air for $10 a pop while laughing about how gullible people are.

Someone's been reading too much Pratchett.

[NEOWatcher]

He could just be selling cans of smelly air for $10 a pop while laughing about how gullible people are.

Pet rock with a birth certificate to show where it was born?

It also shows how gullible the news is to print something like this (ok, maybe it is a paid advertisement)

But does the air inside these cans really smell like where it's from?
You'll probably have to purchase a can from Rudenko's page on Etsy to know for sure.

Cop out. it probably doesn't even smell like any city.

[Solfe]

Someone's been reading too much Pratchett.

Or they saw The Lorax.

[mike alexander]

For a little extra you can get a pet rock with a long-form birth certificate.

[Luckmeister]

This app converts an incoming text to speech and then converts your spoken answer to text.

Why not just make a voice call to the other person, or does anyone know how to do that any more?

[Paul Beardsley]

This app converts an incoming text to speech and then converts your spoken answer to text.

Why not just make a voice call to the other person, or does anyone know how to do that any more?

A blind person might want to communicate with a deaf person.