BS: Bad design

Subject: RE: BS: Bad design
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 10 Apr 14 - 10:36 AM

Bert, you're so funny. And so right!

Subject: RE: BS: Bad design
From: Bert
Date: 10 Apr 14 - 10:28 AM

Yes Rob. Mine, you have to hit 'answer' six or seven times before it wakes up. But when you turn it off and put it in your pocket, it Butt Dials someone.

Subject: RE: BS: Bad design
From: Joe_F
Date: 09 Apr 14 - 10:20 PM

I am delighted to be proved mistaken. Curiously, tho, I have never seen a cell phone with lanyard on a train or bus. So also with wallets, which AFAICT were designed by pickpockets for their convenience, tho there is a working-class tribe that puts them on a conspicuous chain.

Subject: RE: BS: Bad design
From: Rob Naylor
Date: 09 Apr 14 - 09:30 PM

Bert: Don't get me started on Lumias!!!

I know the Symbian OS in the N8 is outdated and essentially unsupported by many 3rd party app developers, but when I "upgraded" to a Lumia 900 I went back to my N8 within 5 weeks.

Not only did I find the Lumia ergonomically crap, but the windows implementation I thought was vile, with the "system" trying to do too much for you (ie copying the Apple credo to an extent), no proper file system and the clumsiest way of backing up or downloading photos to laptop that I could conceive of.

IMO Nokia really blew it with the Lumia range.

Subject: RE: BS: Bad design
From: Rob Naylor
Date: 09 Apr 14 - 09:24 PM

McGrath:

sorry, I meant to link this one, but something went wrong during my "clicky making"!

Nokia Lanyard Tether Hole

And you can see the actual lanyard in this one:

Lanyard Attached

Most of my last few have come with lanyards in the box, but they're generally only a 10 cm or so loop of thin wire or nylon "rope" and need attachment to something bigger to make a "proper" lanyard....ie something similar to what's in your link.

Subject: RE: BS: Bad design
From: Bert
Date: 09 Apr 14 - 10:32 AM

My Nokia Lumia 810 doesn't have one.

Subject: RE: BS: Bad design
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 08 Apr 14 - 09:43 PM

Not visible in those photos - though they do have them, as most mobile phones seem to. But they never include tether lanyards in the kit when you buy them, and so far as I can see the only way to get them is online - here is a website with a big range.

Subject: RE: BS: Bad design
From: Rob Naylor
Date: 08 Apr 14 - 09:28 PM

The tether hole on one of them is seen at:


Nokia Tether Hole

Top left of picture.

Subject: RE: BS: Bad design
From: Rob Naylor
Date: 08 Apr 14 - 09:24 PM

Joe F: Cell phones & tablets are small, smooth, & heavy -- easy to drop & damage. They are also easy to steal; something like 1/10 of all cell phones are stolen each year. Nevertheless, nobody puts a hole thru them or attaches a bail so that they can be tethered to the bearer. I recently bought a tablet & epoxied a loop of fabric to it.

Actually, they do. Both my current phones have a small hole punched in the casing where you can loop through a thin but strong cable that came with the phones. The cables are finished with eyelets that allow attachement to something else (they're not very long in themselves).

My last 3 phone have had the same, 2 of them with suitable wires for use as wrist loops included in the boxes.

I've never used them, but they were supplied.

Subject: RE: BS: Bad design
From: ChanteyLass
Date: 08 Apr 14 - 09:15 PM

The automatic transmission gear-shift on my Toyota Prius is a bad design. For most of my life I drove manual transmission cars, although I originally learned on an automatic.

On standard transmissions, to get started forward, you push the lever forward. To go backwards, you slide the lever to the side and then pull back. Forward direction--push lever forward. Backwards direction--push lever backwards. Makes sense.

On the Prius, though, to go forward I slide the lever to the side and then pull it backwards. To make the car go forward, I slide the lever to the side and then push backwards. Counter-intuitive and a big change from what I was used to. It is also not like the automatic I learned on or any I have rented.

I've had this car for more than a year and occasionally still slip it into the wrong gear. So far, fortunately, I have never pressed the accelerator with the car in the wrong gear, perhaps because there is an auditory cue. In reverse, there is a beeping sound which is silent when in drive.

Subject: RE: BS: Bad design
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 08 Apr 14 - 08:38 PM

We rented a Ford Explorer to go on vacation last week. We visited an antique shop, but I lingered in the back seat a few minutes to take a capsule and drink some water. Found I couldn't get out; I was locked in and couldn't unlock my door. (We had de-activated the child locks, so that wasn't it.)

I pounded on my window till somebody noticed me, and the guy with the keys released me. What if the car had been on fire or was sinking in water?

Subject: RE: BS: Bad design
From: GUEST,Patsy
Date: 08 Apr 14 - 06:16 PM

It occurred to me to get a new fancy touch screen phone the other week. Up until now I've had this little basic Nokia for a while and was happy it was functional and served me fine however I just thought it was time to try something a bit more up to date.

But I just could not get the hang of the darned thing, I was all fingers and thumbs with it and just could not control the settings or anything. I had seen other people using them perfectly well with no problem and I was seriously beginning to think that I was the bad design. However I kept going back to it and discovered it is how you touch it that makes a difference. But with all the hassle with it I can't decide on whether it is a bad design or not. Am I alone in preferring press buttons or am I an old typist dinosaur who prefers to type out a message or phone number?

Subject: RE: BS: Bad design
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 07 Apr 14 - 09:46 PM

You wouldn't be implying that the banjo is not an example of perfect design, would you, Guest?

Subject: RE: BS: Bad design
From: Jack the Sailor
Date: 07 Apr 14 - 09:43 PM

If you are serious, I read it is based on a gourd based African instrument.

Subject: RE: BS: Bad design
From: GUEST
Date: 07 Apr 14 - 08:55 PM

Apple putting glass screens on their equipment.

Anyone ever attempt to trace the antecedence of the banjo? Am I right in surmising it descends through the kora from a bohran? If so, who was responsible?

Subject: RE: BS: Bad design
From: Joe_F
Date: 07 Apr 14 - 08:47 PM

Cell phones & tablets are small, smooth, & heavy -- easy to drop & damage. They are also easy to steal; something like 1/10 of all cell phones are stolen each year. Nevertheless, nobody puts a hole thru them or attaches a bail so that they can be tethered to the bearer. I recently bought a tablet & epoxied a loop of fabric to it.

Subject: RE: BS: Bad design
From: Bert
Date: 07 Apr 14 - 03:24 AM

Another one from The Nokia 810 Windows phone.

Who the hell could guess that you have to click on a SMILEY FACE to access your text messages?

Who thinks these F^&(*&^ things up?

Subject: RE: BS: Bad design
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 04 Mar 14 - 02:18 PM

A recent visit to the Fed website to check on some NHTSA regulations on trucking found only an "index page" separately linking each individual paragraph of the statute section in question.

I quit counting before getting a complete total, but getting the whole statute section would have required opening and copying/saving more than 900 separate links, one at a time.

As an added insult, each save used the identically same default filename, so you would have to "Save As" and "Rename" each of the paragraphs, in order to avoid overwriting the previous with the latest.

(There are utilities that claim to let you save "all linked" but their performance, in my experience, varies from site to site, so it would take almost as long to find which special app could be used on that site as to go ahead and follow the links.)

The whole section in which I was interested might have been 300 pages (but probably was fewer) and a single pdf might have been a little over 280 MB (a rough guesstimate), but I wouldn't consider those to be "large" downloads.

"Government transparency" in action. (??)

John

Subject: RE: BS: Bad design
From: Mr Red
Date: 04 Mar 14 - 09:23 AM

as an engineer I see and seeth all the time. I try to suss out these things before I buy to the distraction of one girlfriend (at least). Fashion has never been about function - it is all about form and marketing. AND CHANGE!

But when it comes to websites you have no choice. How many times do you find some idiots that regards themselves as highly knowledgeable &/or experienced who don't use there own website? The one that annoys me is when they change the page filename/URL for some idiotic sense of orderliness and the link you have carefully found is now broken? On my website I am motivated to check occasionally but far more people have it on the favourites, and that still makes it a broken link. So they go "Googling" (another example of bad ergonomics fueled by commerce/fashion) and find the competition!

Even governments, with highly paid webmasters do it. EG events listed as january, february, instead of this month, next month. Its not as if a bit of cleverness (make that smartness) in PHP or JavaScript couldn't solve the problem by having a "this month" page with computed redirects in a frame or layer. But no they is too edjukated to be that smart. They prefer broken links.

Subject: RE: BS: Bad design
From: GUEST
Date: 03 Mar 14 - 06:36 PM

Anyone ever get a "pocket phone" call from a cell phone? What's up with that?

Subject: RE: BS: Bad design
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 03 Mar 14 - 06:13 PM

Talking about wine, what's with those bloody stupid plastic false "corks"? The damn things are often harder to get out than real corks! I understand the sentiment behind real cork corks though I am not in sympathy with said sentiment, as many a bottle so sealed is "corked" (i.e.,the cork has tainted the wine). The only alternative is the screwcap, fer chrissake!!

Subject: RE: BS: Bad design
From: Bert
Date: 03 Mar 14 - 05:56 PM

My Nokia phone has a button on the side, right at the place where your fingers go when you hold it. The button controls the ring tone volume.

So every couple of days I can't hear the phone ring and have to turn the volume up again. And that's just the hardware. The software is even worse, but it would take me days to tell you all about that.

Subject: RE: BS: Bad design
From: Penny S.
Date: 03 Mar 14 - 01:56 PM

I distinctly recall that Istanbul airport loos (as well as having those nifty little squirters for extra cleanliness) had enough room to get in easily and bring the luggage as well. The Turks can do it, so why can't we? Dyson driers as well, Didn't notice any gunk.

Penny

Subject: RE: BS: Bad design
From: frogprince
Date: 03 Mar 14 - 11:09 AM

This one I just remember reading about some months back, so I won't swear that I've got it right. But I'm fairly sure I read if you're watching a movie on some of the newer mobile gadgets, and you look away, they are designed to pause until you look at the screen again. I may just be skeptical, but I would make a small bet that the feature would be so touchy/fussy and unreliable as to be mostly a
nuisance.

Subject: RE: BS: Bad design
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 03 Mar 14 - 09:26 AM

I've never visited Bristol, Patsy, except passing through the station (I think it was called Temple Meads) But I'm sorry to hear it isn't well-designed as a city. I must go there one day to explore. But will watch out for the badly-designed loos!

Subject: RE: BS: Bad design
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 03 Mar 14 - 08:38 AM

Perhaps not as much a bad design as an "Who Needs It" sort of thing:

Netflix hacks up a sleep detector to pause while you snooze

Fitbit integration would keep you from having to rewind.

By Jared Newman | Tech Hive US | 28 February 14

Falling asleep to a movie on Netflix is a wonderful feeling, but one that can turn to frustration the next day as you try to figure out where you left off.

It's one problem that Netflix engineers tried to solve during an internal company Hack Day last week, according to TechCrunch. The hack involves using a Fitbit wristband to detect when the user has fallen asleep. When snoozing commences, Netflix slowly fades the audio and puts the movie on pause. It also creates a bookmark at the point when sleep began so snoozing users can easily return to that point later.

Fitbit only detects sleep by measuring movements after the user has turned on "sleep mode," so the feature might not be ideal for mid-day naps. It could be useful, however, if you were planning on dozing off for the night in front of the television.

*****

Why would you start a movie if you don't intend to watch the movie? It appears that you have to tell the app that you intend to go to sleep in order for it to work.

Of course I do often find "her" reading her Nook book with her eyes closed, but I don't think it turns the pages until she wakes up and tells it to, so maybe it's a "cultural difference" sort of thing.

John

Subject: RE: BS: Bad design
From: GUEST,Patsy
Date: 03 Mar 14 - 08:36 AM

Still on the subject of loos it amazes me what a bad state a lot of public loos are in general or the lack of them when needed most which is a particular bad design feature of Bristol UK.

Another bad design, tables and seating of dining area right up to the doors of a loo. I found this in a pub next to the Hippodrome in Bristol this weekend. The door was left open by some inconsiderate user toilet on display for all to see which is hardly a very nice view or hygenic for anyone eating close by. I don't know why or what it is about Bristol but they are so behind on design of the city. The atmosphere of the place is really great yet there is no drive to make it a desirable place for visitors to want to visit.

Subject: RE: BS: Bad design
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 03 Mar 14 - 07:13 AM

Exactly, topsie. I've had the devil of a job with that in airports and stations. Now that 'left luggage' is a thing of the past due to bombs, you have to tote the blasted cases everywhere. I've sat on a loo with a case across my knees before now! Even a cabin bag can be quite bulky in a tiny space. Okay if there's two of you so one can guard the bags, but I always travelled alone - nightmare!

Subject: RE: BS: Bad design
From: GUEST, topsie
Date: 03 Mar 14 - 04:59 AM

Another problem with toilet doors and available space: you would think that designers of 'rest' rooms in airports and in bus and train stations would realise that most of their passengers have luggage with them, and allow enough space for it. Are people expected to leave their belongings outside the cubicle behind a locked door, for anyone to help themselves to?

Subject: RE: BS: Bad design
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 02 Mar 14 - 10:09 PM

I was in a pub loo one time and a man came in with his little. Before leaving he showed him how to work the taps to wash. Then he showed his how to dry his hands, by wiping them on his trousers. As you do.

Eat your heart out, Dyson.

Subject: RE: BS: Bad design
From: GUEST
Date: 02 Mar 14 - 09:51 PM

One of the neat things about good design--that is, products that work as the should--is that we love 'em when we find 'em.

The things I'm thinking of here are dimes, well-adapted and tuned guitars, rice and wine-in-a-box that's easy to open. Life can be good.

Subject: RE: BS: Bad design
From: Joe_F
Date: 02 Mar 14 - 08:54 PM

A long time ago, someone observed that whereas eggs are packaged in such flimsy cartons that care is needed to avoid breaking them on the way home, chisels are potted in such tough plastic that you need another chisel to get them out.

Until recently, a few brands of wine had a little tab on the plastic covering the cork so that you didn't need a knife to get it off. A small courtesy, but I suppose it made the malicious packagers grind their teeth. At any rate, they have all abandoned that design -- & lost this customer.

Subject: RE: BS: Bad design
From: Ed T
Date: 02 Mar 14 - 06:24 PM

"So why don't public loos have doors which open outwards to avoid the handling the handle problem?"

Doors ooening inwards presents big problems for many disabled folks. I have noticed a trend towards outward opening doors in new buildings where I live. I also see changed doors in older buildings, as a result of awareness campaigns by groups promoting greater access to public areas (such as washrooms) for the disabled.

Subject: RE: BS: Bad design
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 02 Mar 14 - 05:38 PM

Lots of very helpful hints and ideas, thank you. Should help a lot, because my hands get worse every year. Luckily I have an able-bodied husband, bless him, but while he's at work I have to make do. On the subject of public loos, some of the airport and service station toilets have no main door into the ladies', just a bend you walk round, so there's nothing to touch. I hate those awful sanitary bins in the cubicle. You're squashed up against them while on the throne, and they always smell horrible. My dear old friend Pat is further down the rheumatics road than I am, and she's very up-to-date with the latest gadgets for opening jars etc. I do like those chunky spud-peelers and fish-slices.
While we're discussing loos, I also hate stupid toilet rolls that are firmly stuck down so you can't get them started. I bet some sadistic person in the factory sniggers on his way home, thinking of all the folk ripping at their rolls to get a sheet from them!

Subject: RE: BS: Bad design
From: frogprince
Date: 02 Mar 14 - 05:31 PM

Jennie, you're talking about a good design; you're not supposed to mention that on this thread !

             ;<}

Subject: RE: BS: Bad design
From: JennieG
Date: 02 Mar 14 - 05:15 PM

Eliza, I have a wondrous little plastic gadget which looks something like a bottle opener, specifically designed for popping the vacuum on jars such as those of which you speak! One little pop, vacuum gone, and the lid can be opened very easily. Its label tells me it is called a "JarKey", and mine is a wondrous shade of green.......my favourite colour. Try kitchenware/gadget places.

Subject: RE: BS: Bad design
From: Penny S.
Date: 02 Mar 14 - 05:15 PM

So why don't public loos have doors which open outwards to avoid the handling the handle problem?

And indeed, others. Heston service station on the M4 (close to Heathrow, so visitors might come across it) has won an award for its loo design. This included doors to the cubicles in the ladies which opened inwards through an arc leaving a small triangular space and perhaps two inches at the closest approach to the loo seat. It is not big enough for average sized women to fit in that space and then swing to door back to the closed position without squeezing up against the wall. In other toilets with similar designs I have seen that the cleaners are unable to deal with anything on the walls behind the door. Doors opening outwards would avoid those problems. They would also make it easier to deal with anyone falling ill inside. (Though difficult to keep shut if the fastening didn't work.)

Subject: RE: BS: Bad design
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 02 Mar 14 - 05:02 PM

Eliza - I can't possibly press the things down while turning them, my finger joints would scream! I also jab a hole in the tops of jam and honey jars, removing the vacuum.

I've found some Rx bottles where the person who filled them screwed the cap down so tightly that the "cogs" the outer cap is supposed to engage are damaged, and the lid won't come of regardless of how hard you "press down to open." I have an old "filet knife" and a hammer, and drive the knife through both parts of the lid to lock them together and then use fairly large channel-lock pliers to twist the knife. You do need to be VERY CAREFUL to hit the knife squarely so it doesn't fly off and remove body parts.

On some honey jars and the like, an old fashioned "bottle cap remover" (a.k.a. "church key") can get a grip on the rim of the cap enough to lift it slightly and break the vacuum, after which the cap can be removed (maybe with a pair of small strap wrenches). For the ones with a glass "bead" immediately under the cap so that you can't get the key into the crack, the "bowl end" of an old spoon sometimes will get in to where a twist will break the suck. It's best to pry the rim outward, away from the jar rather than upward, since usually the cap is more "flexible" in that direction. And sometimes just running hot water over the jar will expand the contents enough so that they're less sucky. Of course these methods still require some strength/dexterity, so you have to choose what you can do to do.

A problem with honey/syrup jars that aren't air-tight is that the honey is more likely to "sugar" and glue the cap back on later. This seems to happen less frequently if you don't have to make holes in the cap.

Steve S - In washrooms where paper towels are available, you can assume that a fresh towel is as clean as necessary. After your hands are dried, wrap the towel around the knob/handle and open the door. Prop the door with your toe, and compress the towel into a fairly tight ball that you can throw straight and go for a three pointer into the trash bin.

Where there aren't any paper towels, at least in the US there's always a bit of fresh arse-wipe somewhere that will suffice.

John

Subject: RE: BS: Bad design
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 02 Mar 14 - 04:34 PM

Eat more worms in the garden. Good for the immune system.

Yes, ahem, old chestnut department here. I've heard many a doctor say this, but what evidence is there?

Subject: RE: BS: Bad design
From: Richard Bridge
Date: 02 Mar 14 - 04:14 PM

Eat more worms in the garden. Good for the immune system. Steve, you have just destroyed, for me, any cred you had.

Subject: RE: BS: Bad design
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 02 Mar 14 - 04:11 PM

I never dry my hands after washing them in a public toilet.

You may as well not bother. After all, even if you do wash your hands, you then have to grab a filthy door handle to get out of the bogs that hundreds of super-unhygienic people have grabbed before you. You've probably only been in there for a wee, but you then emerge with your hand covered in other people's invisible shit. I compromise: I do wash my hands, then either (a) wait for someone to open the door from outside so that I can elbow my way through without touching it, or (b) loiter until someone else opens it from my side, then muscle my way out before it closes, or (c), if I'm desperate, use the very tip of my pinkie to try to drag it open then regard my pinkie tip as totally insanitary for at least the next half-hour. Let's face it: nearly everyone except me is disgusting.

Subject: RE: BS: Bad design
From: GUEST
Date: 02 Mar 14 - 03:39 PM

Apply to Facebook, Bert.

Subject: RE: BS: Bad design
From: Bert
Date: 02 Mar 14 - 02:40 PM

Error message when trying to update HP software.

"Your system does not meet the minimum requirements for this update - Update cancelled"

And the F^%*ing morons don't tell you what those requirements are. I wish I could get a job turning out crap like that.

Subject: RE: BS: Bad design
From: GUEST
Date: 02 Mar 14 - 12:04 PM

"I never dry my hands after washing them in a public toilet."

Good move, but next time try using the sink :-)

Subject: RE: BS: Bad design
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 02 Mar 14 - 12:01 PM

I never dry my hands after washing them in a public toilet. I have thick, tufty, badly-behaved hair, so I just use my damp hands to smooth it down a bit. It dries them at the same time!

Subject: RE: BS: Bad design
From: GUEST,Patsy
Date: 02 Mar 14 - 10:53 AM

I agree about the Dyson Airblade dryer as Steve Shaw says about the slime lurking at the bottom. I have always been dubious about the claim that it is the most hygienic hand dryer assuming that the user washed his/her hands properly in the first place how can they possibly make that claim?

Subject: RE: BS: Bad design
From: Ed T
Date: 02 Mar 14 - 09:22 AM

While there often is room for AA battereie, some electrical items require the , more expensive AAA batteries. I wonder why? Additionally, why are the smaller size much more expensive than the larger ones? (Except for the short-lived , china,discount-dollar store batteries).

Subject: RE: BS: Bad design
From: GUEST,Eliza
Date: 02 Mar 14 - 09:11 AM

My old hands are quite stiff, so I found the same solution as you, John. I kept an old, non-childproof bleach container cap, and when I buy a new one, just transfer the caps. They all seem to be the same size fortunately. I can't possibly press the things down while turning them, my finger joints would scream! I also jab a hole in the tops of jam and honey jars, removing the vacuum. They open easily after that. (But of course, they're no longer airtight!)

Subject: RE: BS: Bad design
From: JohnInKansas
Date: 02 Mar 14 - 08:38 AM

When US regulations were first imposed requiring "child proof**" caps on medicines, elderly and/or hadicapped persons were allowed by most pharmacies to request "no childproof" so that their medicines would be delivered in containers they could open.

It's not clear whether the regs have changed, or the "profit requirement" is responsible, but none of our suppliers now will provide that convenience.

Fortunately, I have been able to get several decent pairs of slipjoint pliers, a selection of of needle nose pliers, a couple of Dutchmans, a few dykes, and a fair selection of chisels out of their wrappers, so I've been able to make "unchildishproof" caps for each of our few dozen regular meds. Generally the modified caps are just moved to the new bottle (once I get it open the first time) as long as I can catch "her" before she throws the old bottle out with the good cap on it.

Usually "de-proofing" another cap is fairly simple, but I have encountered a couple that required destroying the new cap in order to get it off a first time.

**childproof = proven (proofed) that only children under age 12 can open it.

John

Subject: RE: BS: Bad design
From: Steve Shaw
Date: 02 Mar 14 - 06:53 AM

Plastic fittings in lampshades and ceiling lights which, after a few years' use, crumble to brittle smithereens as you unscrew them when you wish to replace the shade. Grrr.