Innovations That Did NOT Make Things Better.

[Paradox]

Saw someone in our hotel parking lot this morning with one of those "donut" spare tires on their car. This has to be one of the most useless things ever. "Hey, got a flat? Well, with our invention, you get to change your tire TWICE!"

And halogen headlights. Guys, we kept them limited to a certain brightness and aimed them at the ground for a REASON. Congratulations, you get an almost infinitesimal increase in visibility while half-blinding anyone coming at you.

Anyone else got a peeve against "improvements"?

[GreenLanternRanger]

I would say Social Media. Creating a generation of teens that don't know how to properly interact with real human beings, because they are too busy on their cellphones telling the world where they are, what they are having for lunch, and taking selfies. Speaking of which selfies are also a pox, spamming the internet with pictures of yourself that have no purpose other then to prove your own vanity. Also dammed be the man/woman who created the selfie stick!

[Shawn Hopkins]

The internet. Probably a bad idea overall.

[ed2962]

I like the internet and some social media. There's lots of folks out there use it as a means to hurt other people, but it's a useful tool for legit communication.

My choice is going to be auto-tune. Just cuz of the way it's been abused in pop music over last say ten years.

[Trey Strain]

Low-calorie and low-fat diets.

The only one that works long-term for most people is the low-carb diet.

[Trey Strain]

The trend toward mass, long-term incarceration that began in the 1990s.

The globalization of the economy that began in the 1990s.

The complete loss of privacy that the Internet has created.

Political correctness.

"Broken window" policing.

The Supreme Court's classifying political contributions as "free speech."

The war on drugs. And really, anything the government does that has "war" in its name.

[Trey Strain]

Reality television.

Rap music.

The drastic escalation of pay rates for CEOs.

The proliferation of payday lenders.

The idea that it's OK for politicians to accept money from Wall Street.

Allowing politicians to leave office and become lobbyists.

[jeanvaljean]

Trey, this thread is not called "various bad things."

[jeanvaljean]

But I could start a "various bad things " thread for you if you'd like one.

[Trey Strain]

All of those were innovations that made things worse.

[Don C]

[CliffHanger2]

All the crazy ways they came up with to turn on the shower without using knobs.Why?

Making people build their own furniture.

The disappearance of on and off buttons

[CliffHanger2]

Reality television.

Rap music.

The drastic escalation of pay rates for CEOs.

The proliferation of payday lenders.

The idea that it's OK for politicians to accept money from Wall Street.

Allowing politicians to leave office and become lobbyists.

Eh, I don't get the Rap music thing but whatever...

[Kirby101]

High Fructose Corn Syrup

Financial Derivitves

[Sharkerbob]

Forcing every website and video game service possible into a social media model.