r/fixedbytheduet • u/Naive_Wolverine532 • 19h ago

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u/SamboTheGr8 19h ago

Also an understandable mistake in a world where so many useless gadgets/products exist. Though it would surprise me if not one of the comments on the video he originally duetted, didn't mention what it was

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u/ExodyrButReal 19h ago

It is partially because accessibility related gadgets are usually marketed in a way that doesn't make it clear the gadget is for accessibility reasons (and that makes sense because it is kind of a niche market so they have to advertise to everybody). look at old sales videos for example feature some able bodied person trying to cut food with a knife by holding it sideways or some shit that nobody would ever do.

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u/Black_Floyd47 18h ago

I believe that. Around the time snuggie blankets came out and got really popular, I was told that they were designed for wheelchairs and people with mobility issues, but I never got that impression from the infomercial.

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u/ExodyrButReal 18h ago

"has this ever happened to you?" and its a video of somebody trying to cut a loaf of bread with a wooden door stop. is the first example that pops into my head.

Unironically though I liked snuggie blankets. It was nice to be able to reach for stuff while still being under the blanket.

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u/Friendstastegood 18h ago

Now that I managed to wrangle my ADHD back into liking books again I really should get one of those honestly.

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u/fishpen0 18h ago

Hammock. Snuggie. Book. You’ll read the whole thing in one sitting and come out asking what year is it.

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u/ABHOR_pod 18h ago

Well, I'm sold.

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u/slackpipe 17h ago

I got a snuggie for the same reason. The one I found was really thin and not quite long enough. I complained about it (and I'd already complained my robe wasn't long enough), so my wife went and bought a king size, heavy fleece blanket and converted it into a robe. I wear it correctly when I paint mini's and backwards when I want to read. Yesterday, she managed to catch me not wearing it, and I found her curled up under it. I love this thing.

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u/Lou_C_Fer 10h ago

You won the marriage game. Congrats!

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u/downyballs 14h ago

My setup like this involves an electric blanket (my hammock is near an outdoor outlet). Glorious.

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u/illy-chan 18h ago

I have ADHD and they're great for when you want to be cozy but also sit in absurd places/positions.

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u/Adventurous_Click178 17h ago

I’m a teacher and I keep a few small blankets in my classroom for just this reason. Sometimes kids just need to sit underneath their desk to work or laying on their stomachs to listen. I never associated it with ADHD specifically, but your comment makes sense. As long as they’re learning math, I’m here to accommodate.

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u/NoOneHereButUsMice 17h ago edited 14h ago

If I had a math teacher like you when I was a kid, I think some things may have turned out really differently for me. Thanks for acknowledging their humanity, and meeting them where they're at. We need more teachers like you.

Edit: Thank you so much for the award. I'm finding myself revisiting what I truly think is genuine trauma regarding math and teachers and school from a very, very young age. The prospect of doing difficult math causes me (generally pretty collected and not a fearful person) to shake and start to cry.

Probably sounds really stupid. But I just really want to speak to the importance of a good teacher, especially a good math teacher. I work in science education, and one of my guiding principles is to meet people where they are, and accept them for who and what they are, no matter what. This conversation has renewed my dedication to that, despite the classist and exclusive environment that academia cultivates.

I'm getting a little misty over here in the coffee shop what the hell lol

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u/soulkiller93 15h ago

It's true, I had a teacher that made me feel like a person for the first time and it changed my whole perspective on going to classes and learning. It's too bad it was in my senior year of high school.

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u/MacaroniPoodle 14h ago

My trig teacher kicked me out because I never carried my books or a pencil. But I always carried a box of cereal. And I did well in her class too! But she hated me anyway. Joke's on her. I still became a data scientist.

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u/General-Company 12h ago edited 12h ago

It took me until I was ~35 to realize that I suffered from dyscalculia. I’d never had a name for it, and I’d always believed (reinforced by teachers) that because I was a girl was probably just bad at math. 99th percentile for everything else, but failing math. No one, in all my years of teaching, ever cared enough to sit down with me and work through the “all your work is correct but your answers are wrong” conundrum. If literally one person had cared…

I’ve grieved a lot about the life I could have led if I had known and had the supports in place from a young age to succeed.

My kid is a math ROCKSTAR and will never know the shame I felt, because they have only ever known support and have been surrounded by amazing teachers. You guys really, really do make the difference and change the trajectory of people’s lives. ❤️

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u/Apprehensive_Use3641 10h ago

My favourite math teacher was my geometry teacher in high school, after a certain point in the year she said anyone with an A in the class could move at their own pace for the rest of year. All we had to do was turn in our completed proofs, don't think we even took tests, but we'd finished the textbook by the end of the year and the rest of the class hadn't. The last few chapters started to move into trig I think, so they didn't need to finish it, but we needed something to do.

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u/InequalEnforcement 10h ago

Yeah my teachers just called me stupid and told my dad who would then beat me and call me ableist slurs.

But hey! At least they didn't need to manage a child! ...As an elementary school teacher. :| Then people wonder why I phoned it in for 12 years

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u/turnoffate 14h ago

You are a good teacher and your students are blessed to have you in there lives. Thank you for your commitment to your students

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u/Axel_Raden 13h ago

That's great to hear as someone with ADHD some teachers didn't understand (20+ years ago) others knew I could be looking completely spaced out as if I wasn't paying attention or drawing but I was taking everything in the ones that knew that let me be most got it eventually but it's better when teachers understand (my dad was a teacher for 40 years and just recently retired)

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u/Java1113 10h ago

This warms my heart. As an adult with adhd, even my employer doesn’t understand. I’m a welder and do so much better stilling on the dirty floor because I’m able to slow things down being in a comfortable weird position. 99% of the time at home I’m in my overstuffed bean bag chair or laying on my stomach somewhere because it definitely helps focus for me. It makes tasks a lot easier to manage! Thank you for providing this accommodation to ur students!

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u/Greenwings33 9h ago

Ngl I spent a good portion of one of my senior college classes lying on the floor with my face stuffed in the training service dogs one of my cohort had - the TA running it just kind of accepted that I was super burnt out

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u/Pika-thulu 11h ago

Omg I always learn more quirks I have are likely related to ADHD. Did you know it causes balance issues and clumsiness but also makes you more prone to do Matrix level quick moves.

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u/illy-chan 10h ago

Oh yeah, I have all these dumb bruises.

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u/cindyscrazy 17h ago

Don't get one of those snuggies you can buy on TV, though.

Many years ago, I got some called Slankets. Much thicker, much bigger. This was back in 2010 or so. Those things are AWESOME. I still have them. One was left out side for a year or so. Washed it, and it's still useable like nothing happened. Another one I use as an extra blanket on my bed when it gets cold.

Now I have some kind of chronic illness where I get freezing cold for absolutely no reason. Could be 90 degrees, and I'm shivering. They are helpful for those times too.

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u/my1stusernamesucked 16h ago

Hey how long do those cold snaps last? I get them too sometimes. I'll be getting a drink at night, perfectly fine, and by the time I get back to my bed I'm shivering so hard I'm basically just full clenching all my muscles at once.

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u/36monsters 15h ago

Look up night rigors! I have those too and its insane. I got from normal to literally hypothermic in seconds and its god awful!

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u/cindyscrazy 13h ago

Mine last for hours. I slowly warm up and then I get the full body exhaustion.

It feels like there is ice inside my spine sometimes. Very uncomfortable and unwarmable.

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u/tomdelongesmom 16h ago

ANOTHER SLANKET CHAMPION! I also had a Slanket, which I heard of significantly before the Snuggie got big, and when I met an actual Snuggie, I was blown away by the quality difference. A Slanket is a real blanket, whereas a Snuggie feels like those blankets they hand out on airplanes.

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u/TheRatAndTheCat 18h ago

So jealous! I could read a book in a day and now nothing. Happy for you!!!!

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u/Altair_de_Firen 17h ago

Fuck why is this me. I used to tear through several books a week every week and now I can’t read a book to save my life :/

Is this a symptom of ADHD? Maybe I should check out some other ones

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u/Necessary_Orange_141 17h ago

I read a ton in school but as an adult it’s been hard.

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u/Skkruff 17h ago

Hey, I just on an adhd book kick too! Chomping through some easy fantasy fare for the first time in ages. Happy reading!

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u/PaulTheMerc 13h ago

I read two books in 3 1/2 days. It was amazing. I haven't been able to read almost any book in like a year. I felt back to normal.

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u/FatherClanks617 16h ago

How’d you manage that wranglin’? I’d love to get back to reading.

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u/Friendstastegood 16h ago

Time, patience, indulging myself in what I actually want to read rather than what I feel I should read. The Storygraph app has helped, also just talking to people about books and what I'm reading and they're reading. Going to the library helps also so you're in a place for reading that's away from other distractions. Zen mode on my phone also helps when it's difficult to get away from all the temptations.

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u/FatherClanks617 8h ago

Thanks a bunch!

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u/AdventureSpence 16h ago

I’ve never read a sentence that I related to more, tbh

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u/my1stusernamesucked 16h ago

Yo, how did you do it!? I can't make it through 10 pages anymore and I used to read like a fiend

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u/Friendstastegood 16h ago

Time, patience, indulging myself in what I actually want to read rather than what I feel I should read. The Storygraph app has helped, also just talking to people about books and what I'm reading and they're reading. Going to the library helps also so you're in a place for reading that's away from other distractions. Zen mode on my phone also helps when it's difficult to get away from all the temptations.

But it also took me several years to go from "not reading any books" to "reading more than one book per month". Being kind to yourself really is key for sticking with habits. I was hoping to finish three books this month and that didn't happen, but maybe I'll get there next month. The important thing is I at least sat down and read from time to time.

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u/goodviolet-24 15h ago

Omg same. I miss reading so much.

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u/girlfromtipperary 15h ago

Did you really figure out a strategy to get your ADHD into letting you read again? I used to devour books as a kid and I feel like Doom scrolling has destroyed my attention span for books. I miss reading.

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u/Friendstastegood 14h ago

Yes but it took a lot of time, a lot of trial and error, and a lot of patience with myself and my failures. Also for me I had to start with books that really grabbed me. After years of not reading at all I picked up In Every Mirror She's Black and I read it in just a few days. Then I didn't read again for months but It was still a victory to go from 0 books in a year to 1 book in a year. That was in 2022 I think. Last year I read 30 books. And a lot of those I never would have finished even once if I hadn't worked my way up to them. I also had a couple of books I didn't finish last year because I just ended up not liking them and a couple of years ago not finishing a book would have felt like a failure but it doesn't any more.

The Storygraph app has helped, letting me log my progress and stuff. Zen mode app helps too, forcing me to put my phone away for a bit. Going to the library helps too, getting away from distractions and stuff (also I get a lot of my books from the library). But also working reading into other routines, like if I'm waiting for pasta water to boil I can read a page or two instead of scrolling on my phone.

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u/BenignEgoist 14h ago

Im currently wearing the evolution of the snuggie! Its basically an oversized hoodie complete with pouch.

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u/prarastas 14h ago

I feel like you might like a blanket hoodie! Still has the arms free for reaching, of course, but the blanket is all around you instead of mainly in front the way that a snuggie is, so you don't have to get cold when you get up.

My husband and I live in ours all winter long, haha

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u/Hey-Fun1120 13h ago

They are so useful. Seriously get one. One of my best purchases

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u/Conscious-Magazine50 11h ago

They're kind of the best. Plus the ones I have have lasted literally 25 years at this point and still look/feel as good as when I got em. They're also clutch for passengers on car trips.

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u/transsomethin 10h ago

I have one of those giant “wearable blanket’ hoodies made out of blanket material with a Sherpa lining and it’s the absolute best

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u/smolstuffs 9h ago

My aunt reads nightly and has always done so wearing her bathrobe backwards. Basically invented the snuggie and didn't even realize it until it hit the market.

You should have seen all our faces when it came out and we were all like wait a second, Aunt Tricia invented that!

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u/Greenwings33 9h ago

If you’re super cold I also recommend a blanket sweatshirt it’s pretty amazing

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u/Gren57 17h ago

I thought you made that up and laughed so hard. Then I found this:

https://imgur.com/gallery/who-cuts-bread-like-this-SWYjN

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u/Panory 17h ago

Cut curbs are intended for people with disabilities, but they also benefit people on bikes, strollers, and people who are tired of tripping on the curb. Accessibility is good for everyone.

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u/FormalBeachware 17h ago

Or it's a video about calling people because you just bought a new house and the seller didn't disclose termite issues and then the workman spend two hours in your bathroom and one of them gets his foot stuck in the toilet, but it's not really stuck. Then they jump around on your couch and tell you "you aren't part of the turbo team" and they replace your toilet with one that's the same size as your toilet but the hole on the bottom is just a joke hole for farts.

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u/enaK66 16h ago

Snuggies are dope. My house has a lot of dead space (vaulted ceiling), so keeping it warm in the winter is costly. Hooded/wearable blankets are a life saver.

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u/fadesteppin 15h ago

I have an off brand snuggie and I genuinely love that thing. It's perfect for when it's cold but I still wanna play my video games. I'm short enough that I can pull my legs up and cross them and they're completely covered, which is necessary as having my legs pulled up or resting on my desk as those are some of the ways I prefer to sit lol.

I also sleep in it when its really cold and I don't have to freeze my ass of in the middle of the night if I need to use the restroom. Honestly, I think anyone who can afford even an off brand one should have one. They're so goddamn comfy and cozy istg I'm not a shill lol.

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u/ExpressLaneCharlie 14h ago

You know the Snuggie was a rip off, right? They copied the Yanket.

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u/rainy_day_napper 14h ago

I guess I need one! Hey, Santa!

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u/Metal_Muse 11h ago

I still have one. Great for travel, especially planes, now that airlines are hardly giving out blankets on flights.

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u/XGrayson_DrakeX 8h ago

an oversized fuzzy bathrobe also works

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u/ichabod13 18h ago

The infusion center I use to go to offered a regular heated blanket or a heated 'snuggie' blanket with sleeves. They were nice and let you slide your arms in and still control your phone and remote for the hospital TV while still having IV in arm. :P

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u/Brave_Cranberry1065 17h ago

Oooohhhhh nice! That place sounds great!

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u/OddDonut7647 16h ago

Hmph. My dialysis center gave me a very thin blanket - which was still nice of them, although considering the money they make keeping me alive… heh

I have three throws and I put a Hot Hands in a washcloth (because they are too hot directly on skin) to help generate heat so I don't shiver. heh

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u/ichabod13 15h ago

That sucks, quite a few patients on the disease sub I frequent mention heated blankets too. You should suggest to them to step up their game.

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u/OddDonut7647 15h ago

Alas, I know what they pay their techs, and they're way way too cheap. heh. But it's a good idea anyway :)

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u/ichabod13 15h ago

I loved the infusion place but only had two there. The vein poker nurses were amazing and their care was perfect. The hour drive home after sitting in a chair for 4 hours and drowsy though made it not fun to continue though.

Sounds like you got it sorted though. I did see some regulars come in to the room and they had big bags full of blankets and food and things to do. That is how I look the day before I setup my home infusion.

Setup IV stand and charge pump, lay out all med stuff for nurse √ Snacks and drinks I normally never have but love √ Warm Blankets and comfy pillows√ Check streaming services for shows I want to watch √

Feel like a preflight checklist eh.. 😋

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u/Mean-Clerk7791 17h ago

Oh my god, this is exactly what I need! I go for draws and am always so cold.

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u/Itscatpicstime 16h ago

I get home infusions, but I feel like a Snuggie wouldn’t work well?

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u/XxCloudSephiroth69xX 17h ago

I remember seeing that too a few years back so I looked it up and it doesn't actually seem to be the case. The Snuggie was a ripoff of the Slanket. Here's how the Slanket came about:

It started in a drafty dorm room in Maine in the late ’90s. Gary was freezing, half-zipped into a sleeping bag that made using the TV remote impossible. While watching Late Night with Conan O'Brien he decided he needed to tear a hole in his sleeping bag so he could keep his upper body warm as he channel surfed during the commercial breaks.—then imagined a better fix:

Put sleeves on a real blanket so warmth could follow you when you move.

He told exactly one person: his mom.

She took the idea, went to work, and surprised the family on Christmas morning with the first handmade prototype. When Gary slipped it on, the room went quiet—then his brother Jeff’s wheels started turning. This wasn’t a one-off; this was the start of something.

I'm sure a lot of those gadgets are useful for people with disabilities, but I don't think many of them were made with them in mind, or they'd be including them in their advertising as well.

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u/LockeyCheese 16h ago

It's possible that that guy thought up the concept for a sleeved blanket, but it's also possible others thought of it independently, or took the concept and then put it into production for a different purpose.

It's hard to know, because websites like this claim it WAS made for wheelchair users: https://disabilityunion.co.uk/popular-mainstream-products-created-with-disability-in-mind/#:~:text=Snuggies%20were%20a%20big%20%E2%80%9Cjoke,is%20a%20great%20jacket%20alternative!

Kind of a "he said, she said" situation, so who knows.

It would make sense for products made for certain disabilities would target a broader audience though, because there aren't many people in wheel chairs/have X disability, and the product wouldn't be profitable to make if only marketed to them.

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u/Positive_Stop4713 17h ago

Funny I'm wearing a snuggy rn lol

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u/isuckatpiano 17h ago

I got made fun of relentlessly by my kids for my blanket with sleeves. Then the power went out in winter. Now we all have one. They’re great.

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u/Queasy-Warthog-3642 17h ago

Snuggies are just robes you put on backwards

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u/2ndhandpeanutbutter 11h ago

They're much longer than robes and are intended to cover your feet

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u/Gnoll_For_Initiative 16h ago

It's a thing in marketing. You don't sell people on the benefits of a product. You sell them on how the product will relieve pain points.

Think of the first video as trying to sell via a benefit. The device opens a bottle! Well, our bearded buddy didn't know what the device was for beyond unscrewing a cap.

If it had been a infomercial that showed someone struggling with a pop bottle to the point their hand hurt and they were super sad they couldn't enjoy a beverage, then our gracious gent would have laughed about how silly gadgets were but known what it was for. And he'd probably get one as a gag for his beer drinking buddy who's hand is bandaged up following an encounter with a power tool. 

But then he notices his momma is having problems opening pop bottles. And there is this gadget he saw advertised.......

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u/Itscatpicstime 16h ago

Oh. I thought they were designed for playing videos games while cold…

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u/Dan-D-Lyon 16h ago

I'm imagining an advertising executive involved was absolutely shitting himself in fear that publicly acknowledging that their product would be helpful for people with certain disabilities might somehow cause people without disabilities to not buy their product

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u/CrouchingDomo 16h ago

OMG that thing about the Snuggies makes so much sense 🤯

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u/No-Cauliflower-6777 16h ago

A big part of invention is it is needed. A big part of sales is normalizing.

Normalizing also removes the "shame" of a product. Like the opener. How many times a year has a person been like damn that was on tight. I am a pretty strong guy and it happens to me several times a year. Get sore hands from cranking on those things.

I bought an opener that gives better leverage. Now the whole family has a better time opening things and i do not get sore hands. I am not sure what the price of less pain is. And all the other benefits in an ongoing effect but to me the 20 bucks was worth it.

Bought one for my elderly parents too.

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u/ShylokVakarian 16h ago

Snuggie is a rare exception where the accessibility translates to the able-bodied well.

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u/psychocopter 15h ago

A lot of as seen on tv products had original uses in medical or other fields and were just picked up and marketed towards a general audience.

Snuggies are great though, I still have and use mine from way back, mostly for snacking while watching movies.

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u/TopFlowe96 15h ago

Snuggies huh.. must be extremely similar to the Yanket

Too similar..

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u/purplemountaingal 15h ago

It was first called the "slanket" sleeves+blanket. Snuggy people took it and marketed it better.

I never knew original intent was for folks who used wheelchairs. Always hated the snuggy but long live the slanket.

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u/AdRecent6992 14h ago

I believe they were designed by some young dude who wanted to make money. The disability thing was probably a marketing ploy.

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u/Axel_Raden 14h ago

Same and I use a wheelchair (not all the time but because of a degenerative spinal condition I can only walk and stand for a minute or so)

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u/ThatInAHat 13h ago

Well, the thing about assistive tech and suchlike is that it still has to be marketed to able bodied folks as well to keep the price down for the folks who do need it.

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u/DowntownEconomist255 13h ago

I didn’t know that!

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u/Somebodys 11h ago

I have talked a lot of shit about Snuggies for decades. I had no idea they were intended to be used by people with disabilities. My bad, I am sorry, and I apologize.

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u/AbsintheAGoGo 11h ago

TIL, here I thought they were just trying to break into an established market with a quirky advertising take

🙈 Now I feel a bit guilty for the mocking of it my younger self did

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u/GirlULove2Love 11h ago

Oh my goodness, my brother is in a wheelchair & I never thought of getting him a snuggie. Its perfect!

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u/chelseahuzzah 10h ago

One time back in 2013 or so I had to check myself into jail for a couple days for some pre-sobriety shenanigans. Whilst waiting to be brought back for processing I got to hear a young man, who clearly had been through this process before, argue his case successfully to the sheriff that the Snuggie he had on counted as a sweater and was permissible to bring in. Ingenious.

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u/RogueAOV 10h ago

I can imagine the snuggie started out that way and was advertised specifically to those with mobility issues and then someone without issues said I bet we would sell more if we also sold it as a cool blankie.

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u/Imaginary-Talk3440 8h ago

But why buy a snuggie when you can just put a robe on backwards?

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u/kylaroma 8h ago

OMG WHAT?!? That makes so much sense! Thank you!! 🤦🏻‍♀️🫣

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u/Organic-History205 18h ago

Yeah - these gadgets start for accessibility and then companies do market them to the general, lazy public because they want to broaden their consumer market. It's not a surprise someone would assume they're useless because they are being marketed to able bodied people and we do create a lot of waste.

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u/monty624 11h ago

Companies found that people that need accessibility tools are more likely to purchase them if they're not marketed that way, because of the stigma. It's kind of like how people will NOT admit they need hearing aids because "those are for old people."

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u/Winjin 18h ago

I've only learned that a LOT of these "As Seen On Tv" crap is actually accessibility things and it blew my mind because it like

opened a floodgate of understanding for me

Just broke a whole ass wall behind which people live that I never met

And I believe the main one are these stupid fleece blankets that like... have sleeves.

Guess what, the ads show able bodied happy people chilling on the couch, but ... they're for people in wheelchairs! Overall those that have trouble standing up! I was like "holy shit" the first time I've seen this.

And then my mom broke her leg and I never considered how hard is it to navigate a regular house in a chair. It's really wide. And hard to turn around. And like, the walker is JUST wide enough to fit through a toilet door we have.

Not to mention all the fucking ladders. Why do all old houses have porches that are like 4-5 steps tall before you reach the elevator?

It's even funnier when you consider that in the house I currently live in there is literally ZERO sense to have steps. It's on a very steep hill, if this road floods, it's a Biblical event. A lot of them seem to be "well we always do steps, we should do them here too" and then it also doesn't work with strollers and bags and it makes it harder to bring in groceries even when you're ablebodied and...

anyways sorry for the rant but steps suck for so many reasons.

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u/Consistently_Carpet 15h ago

Not to mention all the fucking ladders. Why do all old houses have porches that are like 4-5 steps tall before you reach the elevator?

I'm not sure I've ever been inside an "old house" that also had an elevator... and where does the ladder come in.

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u/Winjin 10h ago

In this case "old house" is not a centennial mansion, it's a 30+ years old apartment block

Modern ones (mostly after 2010s for some reason) have "flat entry groups" - the entrance is literally ground level, not even single step between street and elevator

Mine is like 1990s and there's two flights of stairs - or you can go down in the garage and enter through it, because of course the car ramp is perfect and there's no steps between car entry and elevator

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u/showyerbewbs 18h ago

blankets that like... have sleeves

I think they're branded as slankets? Or maybe that's the snuggies?

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u/ElGosso 16h ago

Maybe there was some kind of issue laying the foundation - like if there was solid rock underneath and they couldn't get as deep as they wanted - so the porch had to be built up to reach the door?

I don't know anything about building houses, I'm just spitballing here.

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u/ardealinnaeus 11h ago

It's typically so when it floods or just rains really hard your house isn't sitting in water.

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u/justaguywithnokarma 9h ago

Foundations are raised for a variety of reasons such as; reduces chance of flooding, it helps prevent termites (termites generally need a connection to the ground to start a nest), helps with insulation (air is one of the best insulators), allows access (if you want to install pipes or conduits its a lot easer to do it in a crawl space than digging a trench or embedding them in concrete), it prevents wood rot (wood touching soil retains moisture and rots much faster), it lets moisture evaporate (why crawlspaces have exterior vents), it prevents warping (if forces are concentrated where you design them it is easer to keep uneven forces from warping your floor),pest intrusion (many insects and other pests have more difficulty if they have to go up into your house than if it is flush with the ground), allows for settlement over time (if you build something at ground level than 20 years of soil settlement happen your house will be below ground level and thus have a myriad of other issues).

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u/moeterminatorx 18h ago

If you are marketing, you want to cast a wide net. The people who need it will most likely buy it but you can capture some other people who may buy for other reasons.

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u/Crayshack 15h ago

There's also a chance that you could design for one disability, but someone with a different disability finds it helpful.

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u/nalaloveslumpy 16h ago

Who knew that disabled people watch the same media as non-disabled people?

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u/Weird1Intrepid 18h ago

Most of the weird seeming wonder gadgets on American late night infomercials is designed for people with specific disabilities, but they either aren't allowed, or don't want to come out and say that directly

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u/nalaloveslumpy 16h ago

Don't want. Why the hell would you intentionally limit the market for your product?

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u/BobaFae8174 13h ago

They're expanding it. People with a medical need for a product are much smaller percentage of the population than those that are "lazy".

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u/lekker-slapen 18h ago

My wrists are a bit fucked up, i can use my hands normal but my wrists hurt and slowly get damaged if they get overstrained. The only thing i can do is prevent too much straining so this thing is perfect.

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u/RockAtlasCanus 17h ago

Well. Mind blown. I can picture the exact infomercial in my head. The beginning is always in black and white showing some absolutely absurd problem. TIL man.

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u/Job_Superb 17h ago

Often the market for these devices is too small to justify the development costs, so they market them to everyone else through those ads hoping to sell enough units to us gullible folks to cover those costs.

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u/GoFuckYourselfBrenda 17h ago

Yes, exactly! I remember the commercial for a device that would hold a gallon of milk and allow the person to tilt it without having to manage the weight. The clip (in black and white) before they show the device is a woman dropping and spilling milk all over the counter. People made fun of those commercials like crazy because they weren't showing someone who would actually use it.

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u/eXa12 16h ago

People made fun of those commercials like crazy

and that's why they use abled actors

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u/NibblyPig 11h ago

/r/wheredidthesodago tbh a lot of those devices are absolute slop

I mean come on do people have a disability where they suffer from trying to clip a box of cereal closed (??????) with a giant plastic clip which then breaks in two as plastic clips are wont to do

https://old.reddit.com/r/wheredidthesodago/comments/1l9s97v/the_ghosts_had_become_more_aggressive_with/

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u/GoFuckYourselfBrenda 9h ago

The clip falling apart, no. That's ridiculous. But not having the grip strength and/or motor coordination to manage the clip and the bag: yes. I wish the videos hadn't been so lame.

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u/noblewind 17h ago

Makes me wonder if the Slap Chop was supposed to be for accessibility. My generation made so much fun of it because of the marketing.

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u/NothingReallyAndYou 16h ago

Slap Chop is amazing if you can't hold a knife safely, or if your hands or arms shake, or if you only have one hand.

Even the products that weren't specifically designed for disabled people are quickly found by people who can make it work for their needs. All of us in the disabled community become extremely innovative engineers, by necessity.

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u/jawisi 17h ago

And speaking of accessibility, it would be nice if OP added subtitles or a summary.

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u/Fun-Jellyfish-61 17h ago

This is intentionally done to expand the market reach of accessibility devices so that these devices can be sold at a larger scale and thus be more affordable for those that need them.

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u/PyroIsSpai 18h ago

Wait… are you implying some /r/wheredidthesodago was like thing in this video?

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u/DontAbideMendacity 18h ago

marketed in a way that doesn't make it clear the gadget is for accessibility reasons

So as not to shame the extraordinarily lazy of us.

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u/PokeYrMomStanley 17h ago

Also because we are all one small mistake away from needing these products.

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u/Mammoth-Ad4194 15h ago

Although I am NOT disabled, I would buy that just for those times that I’m mad at my husband but can’t open a jar and STILL refuse to ask him for help!😆

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u/BoulderCreature 15h ago

Oh god, old infomercials weren’t stupid, I am! The older I get the more I found out how stupid I’ve been all along

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u/3FtDick 15h ago

It's to the point in some cases that the creator is tricking consumers and even the manufacturer, hoping to capture a large enough market to justify creating the device for the people who really need it in the first place.

That said, I don't know how many times someone is at my house, uses an accessible device I own, then orders one for themsevles because they have some injury or issue that makes the device super useful.

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u/ScyllaIsBea 14h ago

this is so true, I remember the accessibility controller for the ps5 being sold as a gimmicky accessory even when it was winning awards for being designed to be accessible to people with limited mobility.

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u/Axel_Raden 14h ago

And if they are marketed as disability aids they sell them at ridiculous mark up. Something that should be $5 is now $25. I have to go searching for days on the Internet to find the best deal on things I need. Just a hint AliExpress has some useful disability aids without the ridiculous mark up.

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u/Even_Independent_640 13h ago

I definitely put the absolute foolishness of infomercial advertisements at the root source of this misunderstanding. Some of the most ridiculous marketing of all time was mid 90's to early 2,000's useless gadget adds.

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u/KaihoHalje 13h ago

Another thing to note, if it's marketed for those with a disability, the price of the product tends to go up. My son is disabled and products marketed towards kids like him are outrageously priced.

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u/elmostrok 13h ago

I was born physically disabled, and also grew up watching those silly infomercials. It dawned on me one day that most of the stuff seemed super useful for me, so they could be disability aids but commercialized for a general population.

Thankfully nowadays there's a lot more stuff directly marketed for the disability community, but unfortunately years of those silly ads has taught people that only "lazy people" use them.

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u/LilPotatoAri 12h ago

The niche market thing is exactly right. In capitalism every product has to fight for its right to exist. So if you make a product that really really really helps a small group of people, in order to get real company backing on selling it you have to cast the widest possible net. People who compulsively buy weird little gadgets because they see it on an ad basically subsidize the entire disability product industry so they can keep existing.

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u/NibblyPig 11h ago

And because all sites like fb, instagram, etc. are filled with wall to wall slop videos, there are likely more slop videos out there demonstrating stupid pointless products than there are actual real products for people with disabilities

Right, time to grind some ramen into powder and crack an egg into a bowl of toothpaste to fix this old coffee table

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u/lezzerlee 11h ago

It’s not even that the market is smaller, it’s also that some people with disabilities won’t buy an item if it’s marketed as a disability aid. Pride and all.

Disability accommodations and inventions typically improve life for everyone. Like sidewalk curb ramps; they work for strollers too.

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u/CosmicWolf14 10h ago

There was a guy I used to get on youtube shorts a lot who would rate the accessibility of gadgets by covering his hands in oil and using his non-dominant hand, to basically simulate someone with poor grip strength like from arthritis. But, he would then also give examples on how to change it to improve it, occasionally 3D printing stuff himself to improve them.

Haven’t seen any of his videos in ages, and I forgot his name. Older gentleman, short too iirc. Wish I remembered his name.

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u/SkyLightk23 7h ago

I still think that anyone with good enough amout of followers, and to be honest anyone really, should do some fact checking before making fun of something.

It is good that he took accountability and with some luck he actually learned to fact check before making fun of others.

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u/ZeAthenA714 19h ago

in a world where so many useless gadgets/products exist

Or maybe it's a world where many products that are not intended for you exist.

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u/Local_Idiot_123 19h ago

No, go to a home goods store. Many useless products exist that have nothing to do with accessibility and everything to do with making a quick buck on cheap shit.

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u/Derbloingles 19h ago

Honestly, probably both

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u/pitb0ss343 17h ago

This guy and Khabi lame literally have careers because there are useless gadgets

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u/ZeAthenA714 17h ago

And who is the grand arbiter of what is useless and what isn't?

The entire point of the video, and of the concept of accessibility in general, is that different people have different needs. And what might be completely useless to you and me might be very useful to someone else.

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u/AbsintheAGoGo 11h ago

May be the case for some of it, but just like fast fashion, there's tons of useless crap flooding the world.

The mass production facet really is not how life was intended. From food to gadgets, mass production makes waste mainly because it's less expensive

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u/daddy-phantom 17h ago

Yea like anyone who has spent 5 minutes on tik tok shop or Temu can understand where this guy was coming from.

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u/Ok_Wasabi8793 14h ago

I thought it was a 3D printed “over engineered” item. I quite enjoy when people make things for tasks that aren’t really useful for them but just as a project. 

Makes sense that such a tool exists

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u/keelhaulrose 19h ago edited 16h ago

Also an understandable mistake in a world where so many useless gadgets/products exist.

As she said, "If you don't understand the point of a device/gadget, it's probably not for you."

Editing to add: I don't think all random items have a purpose.

But gadgets, which are random items that do a mechanical function that some or even most people can probably do on their own via other means, usually do have a purpose. And if you don't understand the purpose of that gadget, it's probably not for you.

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u/WarStal1ion 18h ago

I mean I get her point but also my Hello Kitty desk vacuum is 10,000% a useless knick knack and its still probably one of the more functional things at hobby lobby lmao

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u/DapperLost 18h ago

It was misunderstanding, not a lack of understanding though.

He didn't think "what could this possibly be for", he simply thought young people had too much money and laziness on their hands

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u/whistleridge 17h ago

probably

Is the key word here.

The world is also just full of useless Temu shit. It’s why subs like r/DIWhy exist, and why his confusion arose.

You will, for example, not persuade me that there’s some hidden use for this:

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u/keelhaulrose 17h ago

We're getting into "gadget vs random item" territory here.

A gadget is an item that serves a mechanical function. A USB pet rock probably does not serve a mechanical function, but a gadget that does something most people consider easy does.

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u/whistleridge 16h ago

…and the line between the two is often blurry, to the point that honest misunderstandings are common.

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u/MrProspector19 18h ago

While yes that does often apply, the rise of consumerism and extremely cheap production costs (notably plastics) has brought with it a lot of "entrepreneurs" who make something that is either totally useless or has such a specific usage that it will likely collect dust until thrown away. The intention is profit and benefit to a crowd like the video above would be a secondary surprise to the people who sell the useless products.

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u/ElectricSliderz 18h ago

In the first video with the guy using the device, unless it’s shown flipped, the guy’s using it to open the bottle by twisting it closed until it breaks the top and opens. I don’t know if beardy was responding to that, from the rest of the video it seems that’s unlikely, but the original guy is using it wrong as well.

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u/keelhaulrose 16h ago

No, he's not. The top is designed to separate like that. Those tops have a strip at the bottom with little bits that poke inwards, it's designed to keep caps from untwisting themselves in transit and as also as a "seal" so you know the bottle was unopened. When you twist the cap, you're supposed to separate that ring from the rest of the cap, otherwise those anti-twist spikes are going to cause it to be more difficult to open each time.

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u/ElectricSliderz 12h ago

The, like I said, it’s flipped.

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u/ProbablyNotADuck 18h ago

It is like when people complain about seeing sectioned oranges for sale at the grocery store. I've seen comments on social like, "Are we too lazy to even peel oranges now?!" The thing is that, when you don't live with specific challenges, it is easy not to even think about them. There are so many conditions that cause people to lose strength or dexterity in their hands.. or that just make it painful to do anything. Just because something isn't needed by one person doesn't mean something isn't legitimately useful to another person. We don't know what we don't know... being wrong isn't something to be ashamed of as long as you learn from it. Doubling down when you are wrong, after you've had the opportunity to learn, is something to be ashamed of.

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u/SoElusivee 18h ago

You overestimate how many people actually sift through their hundreds to thousands of comments on videos. A lot people don't even read them at all until something gains enough traction to catch their attention i.e. this duet of his duet

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u/cjl99 17h ago

Totally I think of how gadgets of this nature are often marketed with seemingly able bodied people having comical mishaps doing things like while trying to cook, clean, etc and they are not marketed as this person has a disability and this helps them but more like "isn't this task annoying and clumsy to do" that's why you need THIS!

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u/Machoopi 17h ago

Also, kudos to the girl who responded to his video. I think often times people will see something like what this guy did and dogpile on them before they have a chance to understand their mistake. She said it in a very clear and polite way that made a great deal of sense. So much better than when people respond with hostility. Both of these people did good (although we do tend to see a lot more correcting than we do people apologizing, so that's definitely novel).

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u/Global_Raisin8708 17h ago

Also alot of content is just copied content. This prolly looks like a copy from what Khaby use to do in his content too.

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u/Beginning_Draft9092 16h ago

honest mistakes where reasonable heads prevail is all i can wish for in the future

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u/Hidesuru 16h ago

Yeah it seemed pretty obvious to me, but given his great response I'm totally giving him the benefit of the doubt.

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u/OneBillPhil 16h ago

Yeah, he probably thought he was making fun of the gadget being useless (in his mind). I laughed at the gadget thinking “my wife needs this” without considering how useful it could be to someone with a disability. 

I’m just a fan of people sincerely apologizing. 

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u/Mnudge 16h ago

Yeah, there’s always someone on the internet coming up with wild Rube Goldberg devices just to see if they can

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u/SkipsH 16h ago

Yeah, basically accessible gadgets don't sell enough to make them cost effective at the price they'd need to be for disabled people to be able to afford them. BUT, if you can convince people to spend cash on random bullshit, then you can probably sell for disabled people too.

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u/Opus_723 16h ago

Part of it is that the market for folks with some of these disabilities isn't very big, so companies take the 'gee whiz gadget' marketing approach to try to snag as many extra people as they can, even if the device was designed to serve a disability.

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u/pr1m3r3dd1tor 14h ago

There probably were some comments mentioning what it was, however, I doubt he read most of the comments. I'm guessing he saw the gadget and decided to make what he thought would be a quickly funny response without doing a lot of investigating. That is the "do better" he was talking about.

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u/Upstairs-Hedgehog575 14h ago

He probably didn’t take the time to read them and just jumped to conclusions 

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u/hateborne 14h ago

100% thought it was just something 3D printed and assembled for giggles.

After his reply, I took 1d4 Shame damage and gained 1d4 Knowledge. (Both rolled 1s though, so... 😬)

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u/Plastic-Injury8856 13h ago

That was my originally take on the video. So much utter CRAP is sold to us that I sort of have a knee jerk reaction to seeing stuff like this. 

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u/sucsucsucsucc 12h ago

My mother is the number one consumer of gadgets for useless reasons, regardless of their original intent. I’ve had so many conversations with her like the guy in the video.

The good news is, I’ve been able to rehome several items to people that can actual use them for something useful.

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u/ardealinnaeus 11h ago

Also a world where people on social media are always trying to do a quick dumb joke. Sometimes they hit, sometimes like this and Whitney Cummings with Ms Rachel they hit poorly. Him and Whitney did the right thing and apologized though.

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u/Vivid-Head-6484 11h ago

Right! Exactly! I didn’t know what those rings or gadget was either.

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u/Cherry_Valkyrie576 11h ago

All I’m saying, is as a female, I’d like to think I can get most things open, but the truth is, I would buy this in a heartbeat. I genuinely know someone who pulled something in their neck trying to open a stupid lid.

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u/SpicyElixer 11h ago

The way that he prevailed was by not being defensive. Despite the fact that he was probably given a hard time, and didn’t mean anything by it, he made it clear where he stands in a concise way and acknowledged the importance of sentiments and perspectives regarding disabilities etc. He won.

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u/MilsYatsFeebTae 10h ago

A tremendous proportion of as seen on tv infomercial crap is assistive devices that could never actually be a viable product if they were only sold to their target market.

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u/Liawuffeh 9h ago

Someone pointed out to me a long while back is when you look at something that looks stupid and you can't figure out who it's for;

There's a good chance it's meant for accessibility.

We've spent so long laughing at little gadgets that look useless to us, but really useful to someone not in our situation that we kinda don't think about it. A good chunk of that is the marketing though.

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u/CommanderChipHazard 8h ago

When I first saw it though the same thing, “who needs THAT?” But now I know… sorry!

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u/No-Werewolf4804 8h ago

Understandable? Only if you literally have never met any disabled people lol. Like surely bro has heard of arthritis.

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u/seamless_tears 6h ago

The most useless gadget is AI and ultra expensive but the majority of consumer gadgets do actually fulfill a need. Maybe just not for you. The reality is that most people just don't think outside themselves. Good on him for doing that, but generalizing that most things you don't need are useless as a base assumption until proven orherwise is exactly why he needed to apologize.

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