I remember lot of great gadgets we had back in the ‘50s, they were made in places like Youngstown Ohio, out of real steel, worked well, cost 69 cents and lasted a generation, rusty. Now they are made in China, of plastic or thin beer-can aluminum, cost $6.98 and bend, or break the third time you use them, if they work at all. You can buy an electric version for $69.89; it might work. Sadly, they are marketed under an American or American-sounding brand. Part of the problem seems to stem from a cultural gap in which the product may not be used by upper management, just their minions or household servants so managers never encounter the flaws.
Some of my pet-unnecessary-peeves: Unopenable packaging. Beverage multi-packs, have perforations supposed to make it easy to open, but the perforations are done so poorly that they only serve as a line to follow with the knife, scissors or “package opener.” I thought the perforation dies wore out. Many packagers went to laser perforation and there was a temporary improvement. Did they turn down the power on the laser to save a penny a carload? The Post Office, not generally known for innovation does it much better. Stamps tear at the perforations every time and never in half.
Plastic packages are often marked “cut here,” or cutely with a picture of scissors, but when one cuts on the line the package is still sealed so one must recut carefully in the tiny space between the first cut and the zip-lock, to open the package. Sometimes, conversely the zip-lock is on the piece you just cut off.
Devices come with a molded case that fits perfectly, until you try to put it back and discover that unless you replicate exactly how the cord was folded it won’t fit. If you succeed you discover that keeping the cord contorted the same way makes it take a set into a spring that resists as you use it and ultimately cracks the wire insulation.
Car trunks that have the light below the luggage, duh. Sharpening steels made out of softer steel than the knife so they don’t do anything. I relocated a 50-year-old Gerber-steel and suddenly my knives can be razor sharp again.
Movie subtitles that use the same white font throughout even if the background is white. Can’t they use outline fonts, to make the subtitles readable, like Parasite? Subtitles that are out of sync, so you can’t be sure who said what. Don’t they check their work? Streaming videos with the voices out on sync with the lips and facial expression can be unbearable to watch. The one that is hardest to understand is clothing labels that seem to be made of fiberglass. Do the executives not use their own product?
Websites or phone lines with endless choices and FAQs to pick, but seldom anything that resembles what you need. Isn’t it wonderful when you call an 800 number and a living, breathing, English-speaking human being answers? This seems to happen more often with low-cost businesses than majors. Phone companies are the worst, some don’t even have an incoming line. Computer chips can do four million operations a second, but the off button needs four seconds to work!
Robert-Up The Organization-Townsend, recommended managers call their own organization covertly to see what indignities staff is inflicting on customers. How often do you call a business and have a receptionist mumble something incoherent so you have to ask: Is this my bank? Like the fast food counter worker’s “Melpew.” One business I called answered “Cleveland District;” of what? Some businesses answer the phone with a recorded message that ends “please hold” then elevator music for 20 minutes. Interrupted with “your call is important to us” over and over.
Many retailers use secret shoppers to detect problems in their systems and this should be expanded to manufacturers and importers as well. Can upper management maintain an environment where the typists, maids and gardeners that actually shop, use the products and open the packages will tell their isolated boss about the products annoyances?
Ken Obenski is a forensic engineer, now safety and freedom advocate in South Kona. Send feedback to obenskik@gmail.com