Bad design really annoys me, especially when you find it in products that highly-paid industrial designers made a lot of money creating.
Take vacuum cleaners, for example. I used to rail against the designer(s) of my old Eureka canister. It would inevitably roll exactly where I didn't want it to be; the cord return was tricky; and it was a huge hassle, requiring more than two hands, to hook up the rug beater attachment.
But that Eureka was a thing of functional beauty compared to the upright Dirt Devil I bought out here in MN. Its designer certainly has never actually done any vacuuming, else he (and you can bet it's a he: all the poorly designed household products are bought to be designed by people who don't actually DO housework) would never have designed the too-wide floor brush that doesn't fit between the legs of furniture, or the floor-to-hose knob that takes two hands to operate, or worst of all, the "convenient" bagless system that allows you to spew dirt over yourself and your immediate surroundings every time you empty the thing. To say nothing of the air filter that requires a kitchen knife and 20 minutes of work to clean every time you empty the dirt container.
Then there are tea kettles. I got one for Christmas, a sort of Mizrahi or Graves knockoff from whatever discount store they don't work for. The instructions warn that the handle gets really hot, so you have to use a potholder when you are pouring water. Then, you have to use your other hand, and probably a second potholder, to open the spout to pour the water: why would it be set to pivot open when you tipped it?? No, that would be SMART design.
Bottom line: we'll probably continue to use a saucepan to heat water for tea. It's just easier that way. The tea kettle is pretty though, and it looks very attractive sitting on the stove.
Posted by otto0114 at January 10, 2005 10:02 AM