Readers Sound Off on the Worst Inventions Ever

Design News readers share their opinion on the worst inventions ever produced -- or merely suggested.

Rob Spiegel

December 13, 2015

2 Min Read
Readers Sound Off on the Worst Inventions Ever

We opened up the suggestion box on bad inventions and our readers filled it with a wide range of ideas of contraptions that never should have seen the light of day -- or store shelves! Many of them never did. Some -- such as water lite -- were mere suggestions. Others, such as quadraphonic sound, actually made it into production.

One of my favorite inventions called out as bad by our readers was the TV. Actually, the comments derided early TV content rather than the very successful box -- which is no longer a box anyway.

Click on the image to begin the slideshow and then tell us in the comments section below other inventions you think are just plain wrong.

Voice broadcasting is a mass communication technique, begun in the 1990s, that broadcasts telephone messages to hundreds or thousands of recipients at once. Voice broadcast users can contact targets (members, subscribers, constituents, employees, or customers) almost immediately. Voice broadcast systems manage a database of phone lists as well as digitally recorded phone messages. Using telephony components, these computers can simultaneously broadcast thousands of phone messages. Personalized information can be included in the phone messages through the integration of text-to-speech software.
(Source: cio.com)

READ MORE ARTICLES ON BAD INVENTIONS:

Rob Spiegel has covered automation and control for 15 years, 12 of them for Design News. Other topics he has covered include supply chain technology, alternative energy, and cyber security. For 10 years he was owner and publisher of the food magazine Chile Pepper.

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About the Author(s)

Rob Spiegel

Rob Spiegel serves as a senior editor for Design News. He started with Design News in 2002 as a freelancer and hired on full-time in 2011. He covers automation, manufacturing, 3D printing, robotics, AI, and more.

Prior to Design News, he worked as a senior editor for Electronic News and Ecommerce Business. He has contributed to a wide range of industrial technology publications, including Automation World, Supply Chain Management Review, and Logistics Management. He is the author of six books.

Before covering technology, Rob spent 10 years as publisher and owner of Chile Pepper Magazine, a national consumer food publication.

As well as writing for Design News, Rob also participates in IME shows, webinars, and ebooks.

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