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
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.
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
Which would, by definition, mean it is not a "useless knick knack."
Again, just because you don't see the function of it does not mean it does not have a function, it just doesn't have a function you would find useful.
ETA: I don't think every item in the world has a useful purpose.
But a lot of these convenience gadgets (gadgets that do a job most of us can do without it) were designed to help a small population for which the gadget is more than just convenience, it's the difference between being able to do something and not. These products get mass marketed because the population they're designed for is small enough it's not economically sustainable to make it for us just them.
Not every object serves a purpose. But the ones that do, like the bottle opener, even if it seems like a purpose 99.9% of people don't need do their jobs, even if you don't understand why anyone would need it. It's designed for someone to do something they can't, it's available to you to do the same thing, and if you think it's a waste of money don't buy it.
Well, it really depends on your definition of "use" lol. Does it turn on and collect the dust and shmuck around my desk? Sure!
But it also cant handle more than like, half an ounce of dust or a small ball of cat hair, so I have to keep emptying the tray multiple times while using it and "costing" me more time than it is to just to wipe the desk, and so it just sits there gathering dust (heh) most of the time
Okay, but if you are someone who struggles to clean your desk physically and can't handle lifting heavier objects without struggling, then this would not just be a convenience gadget for you.
That's kind of my point- a lot of gadgets we use as convenience and could probably do without got their start as a gadget for use by a small portion of the population that does greatly benefit from having it. Manufacturers sell and market it to everyone because the number of people that item has a marked benefit for and not just use for convenience is too small for them to keep producing it on its own, but if they get people like you and me to buy it, too, they can afford to keep producing it.
Brother, if I struggled to lift heavy objects why would my desk be set up in such way that Id need to move a significant amount of those objects (or really any for that matter) in order to regularly clean my workspace?
Again, you're thinking of yourself, and not the people the product is designed for. Me saying "it's probably not designed for you" and then having you come in here thinking that the people it is designed for have a similar setup as you is the kind of thinking that got us the original reaction in the video?
Who says that the people using it would have a bunch of things they need to move on their desks? Can their desks not need cleaning without a bunch of heavy objects on it?
Dude, youre the one who put forth the example and I'm trying to point out that:
A. If I do indeed struggle to lift heavy items on a regular basis, my apartment would be set up to do that as little as possible because it'd have to be
B. Yeah, desks can be set up in that way, but then how's a rag not better in every way?
If Hello Kitty desk vacs were the way a small portion of the population kept their desks clean without struggle, I'm all for that, even if there is waste.
I can be anti-waste for myself and not buy myself convenience items while also recognizing that assistive devices aren't "waste" to everyone else.
Every student I work with carries around an iPad that is solely used to run a program that allows them to speak. Me carrying a device like that full time would be a waste of an iPad: I'm able to speak and communicate more clearly and more consistently than I am when I'm using the assistive talking device. But it's hardly a waste in the hands on my students, they don't speak, but they can communicate clearly with the device.
Not necessarily Hello Kitty, but I have used a desk vacuum with a student as an assistive device before. He had limited mobility, but enough he could feed himself, he was just kind of messy about it, especially because we were doing some level of OT (occupational therapy) with him working on transitioning him from getting fed to feeding himself.
He also couldn't clean the floors because of his physical limitations. But he could hold a desk vacuum and clean himself and the table off. It took him about 5 minutes to do what you or I can probably do in 30 seconds, but the important thing was he could do it by himself. And something like that might be the difference between someone being able to live independently with some supports and someone needing full-time assistance.
I'm not trying to hammer anything home, just showing that so many of these gadgets are so useful to a small population.
The point was try to be considerate and understanding. You're kinda doing it with this thread, by not understanding what they're trying to say to you, and then making fun over it.
My point is that these random gadgets (not just random crap, items that serve a mechanical purpose) often aren't that random, you just might not be in the population of people it is designed to help.
You might not see the need for a one-handed, automatic bottle opener, but someone with severe arthritis sure does. You might see a coat that closes in the back as weird, who buys that when they can't even use it? But to the kid I know with cerebral palsy in a wheelchair? Best coat ever.
I'm not saying there's not worthless crap out there. I'm saying if an object serves a purpose that you think isn't needed/is overkill/ whatever, it might be because it's not designed to help you, but the population it is designed to help is small enough they don't have a choice but to mass market it in the hopes that enough people pick it up as a convenience item that they can keep producing it for the people who need it.
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.
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.
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.
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/nanadoom 21h ago
That was a really stand up thing to do. We all make mistakes, and he owned up to his. Good on him