• Member Since 17th Jul, 2014
  • offline last seen Jul 17th, 2019

Jesse Coffey


© MMXIX by Jesse Coffey Productions, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

More Blog Posts1463

Nov
3rd
2016

The 50 Worst Inventions - Third 10 · 7:49pm Nov 3rd, 2016

TIME - From the zany to the dangerous to the just plain dumb, here is TIME's list (in no particular order) of some of the world's bright ideas that just didn't work out. These are numbers 21-30.

21. TANNING BEDS
It's no secret that overexposure to UV rays — either natural sunshine or manufactured — produces negative effects. In fact, about 90% of skin cancer incidents are the direct result of UV radiation. The role of tanning beds remains key. Introduced in the U.S. in the 1970s, they've continued growing in popularity, especially among teens, despite well-publicized risks. An April 2010 study showed for the first time that indoor tanners specifically may form dependencies in the same way that drugs and alcohol do.


22. CROCS
It doesn't matter how popular they are, they're pretty ugly. Crocs, introduced in 2002, mostly take the form of rubber clogs but have been transformed into high heels and loafers. Their manufacturing company announced on April 26, 2010, that it would also start making ballet flats. "If we make it a little bit more stylish, then we start to appeal to a larger audience," said the company's CEO. Which means they just might be attractive enough to do your laundry in.


23. HULA CHAIR
Is it an amusement-park ride or a workout device? The Hula Chair attempts to create the ab-workout sensation of using a hula hoop (actual exercise) while sitting down (generally not considered exercise). Giving your abs a workout while filing papers is a nice idea, but trying to focus while your lower half is throttling around like this is absurd and, more to the point, oddly erotic. Oh, and the chair costs upwards of $250.


24. FOURSQUARE
When broadcasting your every thought via Facebook and Twitter isn't enough, there's Foursquare, the next generation of creepy social networking. Instead of saying where you are, you can use your phone's GPS to broadcast the address. Just another tool tapping into a generation of narcissism, with which you can earn badges for checking into your local Starbucks more than anyone else. While coupons eventually come along as bonus incentive, Foursquare simply builds another layer onto a generation living virtually. Introduced in 2009, the site has only a million users — a drop in the bucket compared with Facebook, expected to soon reach 500 million. But like most social-networking phenomena, its usage is only growing.


25. POP-UP ADS
Blinking ads, flashing banner ads, singing ads. Escaping advertising was already a hopeless endeavor online in the early 2000s when Web browsers introduced pop-up ads, an almost unavoidable trick by websites to generate revenue. Hundreds of angry Facebook groups have been created to deride pop-up ads. Though pop-up blockers were eventually created, you still never know when you're going to click on a link that will bring a flurry of pop-up ads or freeze the computer screen altogether.


26. PHONE FINGERS
With the iPhone, some people really do mind fingerprints. One Austrian company found a novel solution for this present-day quandary: cover your digits with latex accessories known as Phone Fingers. For less that €10 — a relative bargain, given the euro's latest swoon — consumers could roam the streets with pink, white, blue or black fingers. The only problem for buyers was getting the fingers on and off with any semblance of ease. The company squelched those worries with a printable size chart designed to help buyers estimate their "finger size." Just put your finger on the piece of paper, and presto, you're a large. Yeah, I need my iPhone for, well, everything but this.


27. CFCs
Short for chlorofluorocarbons, CFCs are nasty chemical compounds that wreak havoc on the environment. Used in refrigeration units and aerosol cans, CFCs combine with atmospheric ozone, neutralizing the molecular compound and weakening the ozone layer, an important environmental barrier that protects the earth's surface from ultraviolet radiation from the sun. While increased regulation since the 1970s has diminished their use, CFCs can endure in the atmosphere for nearly a century, making this a very long-lived mistake.


28. PLASTIC GROCERY BAGS
Touted as a convenient and cheap alternative to paper bags, plastic grocery bags gained acceptance in the late 1970s and now meet 80% of retailers' bagging needs. They've saved millions of trees but come with equally bad consequences: more than 500 million are used and discarded each year, millions of which never make it to a landfill and fall as litter. And depending on the plastic used in production, those bags may take several hundred years to decompose. The solution? Recycle, or better yet, skip both paper and plastic and bring a reusable bag of your own.


29. BUMPIT
Hey, ladies. Disappointed because your skull lacks an unnatural ridge? The Bumpit is here to help! Informercials didn't go quite like that, but this "hair-volumizing insert" is about as lame. Likely celebrity practitioners? Snookie from Jersey Shore, and allegedly even Sarah Palin. Judge for yourself.


30. ELECTRIC FACIAL MASK
For those who want to look like a serial killer and seem younger at the same time. Seriously, just watch this 1999 tutorial. It's terrifying.


Comments ( 1 )
Login or register to comment