Especially in North and South Dakota, it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas. Disgustingly, that also means that the onslaught of horrifically crappy gadgets to celebrate the occasion are making their way out in full force. In this episode of the world's
lamest excuse for gadgets, we see a smattering of gizmos that you should never -- under
any circumstance -- give to anyone you love (or like, or don't loathe). On the other hand, these are all perfect for gifting someone you aren't particularly fond of. Check out the catastrophes below, and toss in your vote for most pathetic in the handy poll down there.
Read - USB animal hand warmer / massager
Read - Ornament ball digital photo frame
Read - Santa stocking USB drive
Read - Dog mat mouse pad
Read - Banana peeling simulator
Read - Santa / Snowman digiframes
posted Nov 10th 2008 11:04AM
We usually see some here.
Put me down for the banana peeler.
I want one of those! Looks hilarious!
I voted for the USB drive. I could see everything else getting some use (except the banana, but that's too funny to vote for). I figure who wants to be seen in spring or summer toting a xmas-themed USB drive.
Time to make like a banana, and split.
Thank goodness that ridiculous banana thing is "winning." What an atrocity.
Also, I'd love to see a post/poll that contains these sort of items you might actually consider buying.
At least the fake banana looks well made. That Santa USB stick looks like it was made out of plastic from the 70's.
What about adding these ( http://vavolo.com ) cake slice USB memory sticks???
They have to be the biggest piece of crap I've seen in a while. Their whole site
contains nothing but crap.
you win, man, this site is fully of totally useless crap...
LOL
They have a lot of different flavors!
I am usually against any form of violence, but I think I would enforce some against that designer... Just to set the example ;)
"Targetted at kids below six and psychopaths, the Dazzling Banana would hit stores in Japan"
Anyone see anything wrong with that? Oh they misspelled targeted.
I thought the idea of a santa/ digital picture frame for your christmas tree isn't a bad idea at all. Digital frames seemed to be all the rage a couple of years ago during christmas. I'd buy a couple for older folks (mom, dad, etc).. a nice way of displaying previous christmas time memories. The other gadgets ARE pretty jacked up though.
I actually thought the welcome mat mouse pad was kinda' cool.
But the banana peeler wins because it doesn't deserve to exist...how could anybody look at that and think it isn't a waste of money?
Why, the hand warmer DOES deserve existence? Or the Santa Claus 2 Gb stick?
I just hope I don't have a "thank you" from my employer in such a form!
This USB peeling banana... this is just a cultural difference. Japaneese people seem to love those things. Still I voted it the crappiest gadget.
The ornament ball digi photo frame is a nice idea. If they made it flat, enough memory for, like, 5 pictures at most with a slideshow option, and $5 price/each, then I would buy a set.
Door (dog) mat mouse pad is disgusting. I would prefer a picture of vagina ;)
The banana peeler at 6$ a piece is quite a bargain.
Haha I like how the Banana article says:
"Targetted at kids below six and psychopaths,"
haha i saw that, even they know its a piece o'!
I still want one... you all better hope im under 6
Well I'm a psychopath and I definitely want one! :p
DAM, so their not renaming engadget crapgadget
The usb hand warmer and massager... come on... what late night sico's are they trying to target by putting animal faces on that... Now if they only had a goat... Really though... thats kinda dirty when you think of it
seriously, what noise does a peeling banana make? and how would someone record it and then play it back on a tiny speaker? those are the real questions here.
One skin. Two skin. Three Skin...
The hand warmer/massage thing is some kind of sick sex toy of course. The banana peeling simulator though? Someone had to have that idea, pitch it, and have it manufactured for it to even exist. How is this possible? I have an even better idea for them: buy an effing banana.
Well yeah sure but think of how expensive all those bananas would be. at 6 dollars this is quite the deal. I just placed an order for 12.
Exactly! You know how many bananas you could buy with $6?!
At the Chinese market by my place, they are 29 cents (CDN no less!) a pound! That's like 80 bananas for $6....for shame banana-pealing-simulator-buying-peoples!
Too bad not everyone lives by the Chinese market, eh?
....well, even at so-called megamarts, bananas are no more than 79c a pound, usually cheaper. Still a boat-load of bananas for cheap! (haha...banana-boat....)
Valicore said: "The hand warmer/massage thing is some kind of sick sex toy of course"
....so is the banana peeling simulator.... so what's wrong with that?
I'd give this gift to my muslim family members, but they'd stone me to death. Not because of the santa thing, but because of how horrible this is.
DIE
I'm predicting GoCarnivore's response will be: "GoCarnivore says: "I mean, of course they're Muslims, my Christian friends never stone anybody, I it's in the bible, I think it's like "Let he without sin throw th... Owwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww why are those people with crosses throwing rocks at m... thump""
Is it just me or does the Santa digi frame NOT bear a striking resemblance to the Santa in Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer?
All of these devices are the worst kind of tat... but I had to vote for a digital photo frame. They're the most ludicrous excuse for a gadget to come anywhere near common use (not that near, thankfully) and will continue to be so until we can at least get colour e-paper or something so you can, you know, have a picture on the wall without using electricity the whole time.
At least the banana doesn't use any power when you're not peeling it.
I chose the snowman/etc on aesthetic grounds. The tree-decoration one is at least a halfway clever idea.
(And what's wrong with the doormat mousepad? Not much sillier than the average mousemat imo...)
I think you need to define "crapgadget" a little better - some of these things are ugly, or tacky, but not necessarily a "crapgadget" - especially the mouse pad.
I voted for the santa claus snowman frames because the display is TINY and they're ugly...definitely crap. The picture's the whole reason for it and you can't even really see that.
On the peeler - I never knew that I needed one until I saw this - now I wonder how I have lived without one for so long! And I kind of liked the doormat mousepad...
My daughter gave me a giant golf ball digi-frame. Yeah, it's a crap-tastic gadget. But the pictures she loaded it with of her and my son are priceless. It will never leave my desk.
I'm concerned about them Japs... how in the world would peeling bananas be satisfying? There actually exists a lust for peeling bananas?!
Also, what sound does it give off? I need to know....... (places order)
I think its a thing over there. I'm pretty sure they just had something about opening express envelopes or something else like that a month or so ago. I have a great idea, instead how about we get all the bulk junk mail we get ever day and sell it to them. Then they have a large supply of envelopes to open, no need for pesky simulators.
Didn't Engadget just have a story about e-waste and it's impact on the world?
These insta-landfill devices are another reason why manufacturers should be legally responsible for their product after it's been sold.
Here's a short video about our crap, from beginning to end. (She's somewhat annoying/patronizing)
www.storyofstuff.com
I think engadget should have a crap-of-the-year poll, with winner of each crapgadget poll on it so we can vote for the ultimate crap.
The award clearly goes to the electronic banana peeler. Seriously, how weird does one have to be to buy a device that gives them the intense pleasure of peeling a banana, without actually peeling a banana. Strange people out there.
That picture frame (pictured in this article) really reminds me of Apple's commercial they had :p the animated one :p
Don't see a problem with the Welcome door mat mouse pad... its lame but its not a total waste of space.
"Targetted at kids below six and psychopaths"
hahaa nice...
lol I saw that too. Made me smile.
Personally, I thought the hand warmer was kind of neat... I have pretty bad circulation and my hands are always ice cold at work from typing on the computer. Don't think I'd ever feel comfortable using the massage-feature, though...
Here's another one... a Circuit City gift card
i generally ignore crapgadget but i just couldn't NOT click the banana peeling sim.
we sell / will be selling the photo frame at staples this holiday season, some stores already have them.
Dog mat? Am I missing something here?