What ridiculous short-lived products have you owned?

One of those waist gyrater bands that had potential to do damage to the kidneys.

I’m a very late adopter, so I can’t think of anything I’ve personally been suckered into, but this question reminded me of an interesting thing I heard on the radio about a guy who claims that technologies never go extinct. He makes a pretty convincing case that no device has ever actually gone completely out of production. Everything continues to be made somewhere, even if only on a tiny scale. Here’s the story. Fun stuff.

Cotton candy.

I got for my wife, way back in the day, one of the original “Epilators”. She apparently had no appreciation for it and went in the bin the same day.You try to do something nice for someone….

Tartan paint, looked good in the tin but absolutley atrocious on the wall.

Tamagotchi

R.O.B..

@woodcutter What is an epilator?

@chyna here’s a pic of an epilady like I had. It rips out your hair, roots and all

@woodcutter OMG, next are you going to waterboard her?

I have a disposable razor sharpener. As seen on TV for $10, got it at Big Lots for $3. Shockingly enough, it actually works! I haven’t bought a razor in months.

I still have fond memories of my VCR+ (handheld unit.)

It wasn’t that it was a bad idea. It was fantastic while it lasted. It worked flawlessly. If I wanted to go out of town for a week or two I could enter every single program I wanted recorded. All I had to do was get a friend of mine to put in a fresh tape when needed. And when I was home, it was just so fantastic to be able to plan my recordings for an entire week or more without any hassle.

But then the company got bought out and the only way you could get the same functionality was to buy an entire VCR which had it incorporated as an “extra” feature. EXTRA = MORE EXPENSIVE.

And then TV guide and all the newspapers stopped publishing the codes.

The day they got bought out was its downfall. They totally broke what didn’t need fixing to begin with. It was a genius invention which big business totally screwed up.

Likewise for WEB TV. the second they were bought out by Microsoft, the whole thing went to hell in a handbasket.

I was going to buy one but opted for a different device instead. It was also ruined by Microsoft.

@chyna It seemed like a good idea at the time ;\

The usual home gym stuff, eliptical that turned into a glorified clothes hanger at the foot of my bed, and ruined the ambiance of my bedroom. haha
I put about 40 miles on it in a year and a half, so… gave it to my daughter and her room mate.

One of those “Q-Ray” bracelets. Wore it for a week. Did absolutely nothing for me. What a waste of money.

I also tried one of those “Balance” hologram bracelets, thinking it would increase my stamina when I went through my daily swimming work-outs. Nothing!

I just purchased a gag gift for a lady friend, it’s a contraption which lets women pee standing up. I’m guessing it will be short lived.

You got that one right ! !

:D

Welcome to Fluther, BTW

@MRSHINYSHOES—You’re supposed to wear those around your neck for optimum performance, better if you put around 15 on at a time.

@woodcutter I wore it on my left wrist for several weeks (the Balance bracelet), and all it did was get wet when I swam! Lol.

@woodcutter do you mean the Epilady? Made in Israel? Pulls the hair out with a vibrating coiled wire? I have one and love it. Better than shaving. Cheaper than waxing. Only thing better is laser hair removal if it is in your budget.
@RockSlave A woman can pee standing up without any devices necessary. It is a process that was precisely described in a sci-fi novel of the 60s or 70s, possibly Dhalgren [any a big thick one]. I think it was merely pulling the clitoris up, which pulled everything up and frontally oriented then letting ‘er rip. I may have once tried it in a mens’ room trough in my youth during one of those days of poor bathroom parity at a crowded concert to the amusement of fellow urinators.
I bought a satin marijuana garland necklace from the NORML foljks at the Bill Clinton inaugural festivities. Years later [in the 90s] I gave it to a young friend going to a 60s party.

@anartist

OMG! I forgot about that torture device, I had one waay back when, evil things they are! lol

@anartist Epilady huh. My wife hated it, and I said “come on give it a chance” And she said “give it a chance? Tell you what, you let be use this POS on your fuzzy balls and then I might think about it” To which I said,“I still have the receipt.”

@woodcutter They suck, because they hurt, but they are the most effective tool for ridding the folicle of its root, I have such sparce leg hair because of them and almost no arm hair at all and I haven’t actually used mine in years, it just stopped growing back. If you are patient, it never grows back the same again. *Which is excellent! So it wasn’t your fault, she was just impatient.

As for me…

Pet rocks
Silly putty
Sega Dreamcast (LOL) That’s hilarious and pathetic at the same time!

@woodcutter hahaha she gotcha by the short hairs on that one!

@woodcutter My little ones love Silly Putty. They like to make imprints from comic books then stretch the characters’ faces out of shape.

Another short-lived product I have owned is those silly glass bulbs that you fill with water and stick it into the soil of potted houseplants, to water them when you don’t have the time. I bought a few once, and used it when I went on vacation for a week. When I came back home, my wife and I were surprised to see that the plants were almost dead——the bulbs failed to water the plants while we were away.

I also bought two “dryer balls” from an As Seen On T.V. store, to dry clothing faster in the dryer. They don’t work at all. The balls just made loud sounds as they rolled around in the dryer, nothing else.

@anartist Hahaha. No way was she using that devise on me. I’ll keep my “short hairs” thank you. I can’t believe she thought of that. Sounds like what they would do on “Jack Ass”. Yeah I wanna see Stevo epilating his sack,maybe not.