What's the Worst Technical Feature You've Used? 1008
kooky45 asks: "In an effort to make our lives easier and more entertaining, technology designers pack more and more features into electronic devices, but often they're more nuisance than they're worth. An earlier article on LEDs discussed some of these. Another example is my Nokia 6320i mobile phone which has a back lit screen that drains the battery life at an alarming rate. When the phone is not in use the back light is off; if the battery starts to run low, it gives me regular warnings by beeping and turning the back light on! What other examples of designer stupidity have you seen?"
It will come up sooner or later... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:It will come up sooner or later... (Score:4, Funny)
Speaking of Microsoft... (Score:5, Informative)
That was a disappointment.
I lost a lot of work until I found the work-around.
Re:Speaking of Microsoft... (Score:4, Interesting)
Re:It will come up sooner or later... (Score:4, Funny)
It may not be a "feature" I've intentionally used and it may not be the WORST, but it always gave me a chuckle WayBackWhen (tm) I'd turn on my PC without a keyboard plugged in:
Wonderful advice...
Re:It will come up sooner or later... (Score:4, Funny)
Re:It will come up sooner or later... (Score:5, Interesting)
After the 30 minutes it takes to navigate the site using the tab key (since your mouse is not working) you get to their friendly download link, which uses some javascript or something to make a download button that can only be clicked on by a mouse. Brilliant!
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Re:It will come up sooner or later... (Score:5, Funny)
I always wondered how they intended to display that message.
Re:It will come up sooner or later... (Score:5, Informative)
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Re:It will come up sooner or later... (Score:4, Interesting)
In a perfect world, both wires leading from the switch behind the lock would be isolated from the lock body. On our 386, one of them was common with the metal lock, which was mounted in the plastic front panel. Since the plug wasn't polarized, you had a 50% chance of getting this wire connected to ground. In our case, this wire was apparently connected to the keyboard controller. Thus, scuffing across the carpet and then touching the lock resulted in the machine freezing. One day, it also resulted in a funny smell and visible smoke from the power supply fan.
So we immediately shut the power off (back when men were men and power switches actually interrupted the AC input!) and opened the machine to see whence the magic smoke had come. The metallic sticker on the keyboard BIOS chips was shriveled and charred, and even after the time it took us to get the cover off, it was still hot to the touch. Uh oh.
Just on a lark, we decided to fire the beast back up and watch the fireworks. With the cover off and safety glasses all around.... it booted! As if nothing had happened! We unplugged they keylock from the motherboard, put the cover back on, and the machine served us well for many more years. I'd have to check which mobo is in the basement DOS box but I think it might still be with us.
So what the heck happened? IANAEE, but I think it was a textbook case of latchup [wikipedia.org].
As the article states, hot-plugged connections often result in unpredictable power sequencing, which can also result in latchup. This could be one of the failure modes when hot-plugging keyboard with DIN plugs. Note that the power and ground contacts in a USB connector are longer than the data contacts, ensuring that they make first and break last. That's proper sequencing, and prevents the data lines from acting as surrogate power conductors for a portion of a mating cycle.
Even worse on servers ... (Score:3, Funny)
For some crappy services, like a small router, or some backup DNS/Mailserver you just pick some cheap motherboard, and most tend to NOT have an option to just boot even when no keyboard is plugged.
Now it doesn't happend that often, but I used to fix this by using a crafted keyboard DIN or mini-DIN conector with no actual cable or keyboard attached to it.
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"Clippy" is a four letter word. Microsoft couldn't even get that open standard right!
--
Toro
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And before MS fans get all pissy, I'll admit up front that I'm completely and totally biased. See, I was introduced to the 'net in the Netscape 2.0 days (yeah, I'm not very l33t, sorry) and that was the context wthin which I learned what a browser, the internet, WWW and email is. In fact, if memory serves, pretty much everybody I knew in those days who had a PC and a 'net connection was running Netscape. I'm not ev
Re:It will come up sooner or later... (Score:5, Interesting)
Most people I've known have really liked the new interface. And I'm not talking about Microsoft fans, either. Much cleaner and more intuitive.
I'm not MS fan, but the Office 2007 UI is about the last thing I'd bash them for.
beeping and turning the back light on (Score:3, Insightful)
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As mentioned, pressing *any key on the phone* except zero gives a highly informative display of "press unlock", with a big animated arrow pointing to the unlock button, and then once you've pressed that, "press *".
If it's your phone, the odds that you will be dialing and you will know pretty well how to unlock said phone. If it's not your phone - to be honest, 10 seconds
Honda Stereo Security (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Honda Stereo Security (Score:5, Informative)
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Re:Honda Stereo Security (Score:4, Funny)
Or the car it's attached to.
Re:Honda Stereo Security (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Honda Stereo Security (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Honda Stereo Security (Score:4, Interesting)
When I asked GM about the stupid design, they told me that they weren't sure if it was even technically possible to install an aftermarket deck, and that this is something that the majority of consumers want.
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No, not really. The majority of consumers buy the radio as part of the car, just like any other part of the electrical system.
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You can easily add an after market stereo, although you will need an adapter. You can get one for about $30, although your door chime won't work (Which isn't necessarily a bad thing). An adapter that keeps the door chime working is about $80.
One nice thing about the newer GM radios though is that the radio stores the VIN in the radio. You can disconnect the power as many times as you want, and the radio will always work, as long as it is install
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I turned down an offer to have the button fixed for $50 figuring I could do it myself faster and cheaper. I was wrong on both counts. I bo
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Those Bings, as a class, really annoy me. (Score:3, Interesting)
Let me explain. I have a Toyota Camry, 1993 vintage. No Bings. When you leave your lights on, the car _turns them off for you_ when you open the drivers door! Nice stuff, works very cleanly, and I only turn my headlights switch off occasionally.
My parent's car (Ford Falcon) does bing. "Well turn the stupid things off yourself, then!" is my standard response.
One day, progress will move forward. But I am not holding my breath.
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I own a 2003 Hyundai Accent, one of the cheapest cars available (third only to the Chevy Aveo and Kia Rio at the time). After having rented a Toyota Corolla while it was in the shop (for accident repair, not because anything broke), I became very thankful to have it because the supposedly "nicer" car drove me insane by trying to do stuff for me! It would turn on the dashboard light according to a sensor (making me think the headlights were on when they weren't), lock or unlock the doors on its own, etc. Esp
Microwave (Score:5, Interesting)
I SO want to get out my jtag programmer
Re:Microwave (Score:5, Funny)
Oy!
1-800-XXX-XXXX (Score:5, Funny)
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If you have the same microwave that I do, it's an easy fix. Press the start button, then open and close the door quickly, then press the start button again. It will start immediately.
They don't call it American enginerring (sic) for nothing. :-D
Re:Microwave (Score:4, Insightful)
There's been a few blackouts lately and each time power comes back on, the display side-scrolls some text prompting to reset the time.
I actually use the time display on the unit (and the scrolling text is distracting) so that gets done fairly quickly.
But, who the hell thought it was important for a microwave to store the date?
For one thing, it never displays the date.
For another, it has no scheduling function and, even if it did, who keeps food in the microwave for longer than half a day (worst case: defrosting a turkey) anyway?
As a user, entering "010101" completes that step in the time reset. But as a programmer and engineer, this actually bothers me.
So, on the question of "What's the Worst Technical Feature You've Used?", I guess I 'use' the date feature to complete the reset protocol. But really, the date setting never actually gets used anywhere else so
Anyway, I'm sure I've seen worse features but I just had to mention the microwave.
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Does a clock which automatically adjust for DST really make my life simpler? Let's see..
The clock on a "dumb" microwave doesn't understand daylight savings time, and I will have to adjust the time twice per year to correct it. A "smart" microwave will understand DST, so I won't have to correct it. Surely the "smart" device is more convenient, no?
Not so fast..
Let's say my power fails N times per year. Around here, N is probably around ten times. Every time my power fails, I have to reset the time on th
Re:Microwave (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Microwave (Score:5, Funny)
But, who the hell thought it was important for a microwave to store the date?
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But it shouldn't require you to enter the time and date in order to use the oven. It should just be something you can enter if you want to. Also it ought to have a battery inside to avoid making you change it if power is lost.
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Re:Microwave (Score:4, Informative)
People who are observant certainly remember what is and isn't allowed. The issue is that the device needs to be flexible. If a refrigerator always lights a light when the door is opened, and always turns the compressor on when the door is opened because it's designed to expect that cold air is escaping then, then an observant Jewish person cannot use that fridge at all one day a week. He won't be able to avoid doing prohibited things if he goes to get anything out of it. So he'll have to do without altogether.
It seems like it'd be a hell of a lot easier to just have a switch that puts the fridge into an alternate mode where opening the door doesn't make the light come on, and doesn't trigger the compressor. Then the person can use the fridge. He knows what he wants the fridge to do -- the machine isn't meant to remind him. It's just meant to behave in the way he needs it to during that time.
Letting things work on timers or other automatic systems that are not connected to human activity which occurs on the sabbath is fine. So heat in the winter is left on automatic. It doesn't need to be turned off. There's no prohibition about having a compressor running, or having it switch on or off. The prohibition is against being the one who switches it on or off.
Anyway, this is actually pretty legalistic and rational, if quite conservative in interpretation. Well, at least if you're treating the law you're trying to follow as an absolute given. It is something that you can have a rational discussion about.
The desktop (Score:3, Funny)
Re:The desktop (Score:5, Funny)
LED (Score:4, Funny)
I sometimes plug in my USB flash drive, which has a very bright blue LED on the end, just for the light.
Grab testicles and squeeze ring mode (Score:3, Funny)
PC Load Letter (Score:5, Funny)
Re:PC Load Letter (Score:5, Funny)
You must have a
There, destroyed the joke for you.
-1, Pedantic (Score:4, Informative)
Because I know you care. <3
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Similar - beeping (Score:4, Funny)
Get this... (Score:5, Interesting)
Gore-Tex in running shoes. The water will get in at the top of the shoe (as it is only 3cm high), and never get out, since Gore-Tex is watertight. Besides, when running, my feet sweat, so water will end up inside the shoe even if it isn't wet outside.
Handsfree with short cords. I still haven't found one that allows me to have my phone in my side pocket in my pants. And I still haven't found a bluetooth handsfree with traditional lanyard design.
DVD-covers. They are larger than CDs for no good reason.
Flatscreen TVs with grounded powerchords. Apparently they cause fires because the antenna is grounded too, only not to the same "ground".
I think that's it for now
Re:Get this... (Score:5, Interesting)
Except that they fit perfectly, 2 to a spot, in media storage gear originally designed to hold VHS tapes.
Remember the CD longboxes of the early and mid 1980s? Same thing. More than half of the packaging was unnecessary, but it allowed record stores to keep their CD inventory in the same big wooden bins they had been using for vinyl LPs previously.
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Except that they fit perfectly, 2 to a spot, in media storage gear originally designed to hold VHS tapes.
No, they don't. DVD cases are necessarily deeper, and for many VHS cabinets, won't work. Of course, they could have adopted the CD jewel case size and fit in the millions of CD storage units. Or they could have used a "slimline" design from the beginning.
Re:Get this... (Score:4, Insightful)
Buttons will be pressed, you know... (Score:5, Interesting)
My first sub-brick-sized mobile phone was a Samsung flip phone. The "flip" section was designed to only cover the keypad, leaving the screen, menu nav keys, and send/end keys exposed at all times. It also had a key-guard that, by default, would automatically engage when the phone was closed. Clever, right? (Well, for its day, it was.)
There was only one problem: To disengage the key-guard, you had to hold down the always-exposed menu select button! Worse, if the key-guard was disengaged while the phone was closed, it wouldn't turn on again until you opened and re-closed the phone.
I don't know how many times I killed the key-guard as I leaned against a desk or something. Most of the time, I just ended up deep in some unexpected menu, but I recall at least two accidental phone calls initiated while the phone was in my pocket. Eventually, I got a case, and tucked some paper under the button area to make it harder to accidentally kill the key-guard.
Samsung must have gotten the hint, because my next phone didn't have any exposed keys when the flip was closed.
Re:Buttons will be pressed, you know... (Score:4, Interesting)
Oh, and another stupidity with these buttons: one button was normal and the other was a rocker button (i.e. up/down style button). To change your ring type, you had to hit first one of them, entering "change ring type" mode, and then use the other button to scroll through the options. In a sane world, you'd hit the normal button for the first step and then use the up/down feature of the rocker to scroll bi-directionally through the options. Nope. First you hit the rocker then you hit the plain button, meaning you could only move through the options in one direction. Missed the one you wanted? You have to go all the way through until it loops again. Argh...
Sanyo was (is?) worse (Score:4, Interesting)
Of course this meant that as the phone bounced around in your pocket or purse, it would hit random buttons. All of these would be blocked until a 9 was pressed. It would bounce around some more until a 1 was pressed. And so on for the final 1 and 'talk'. So basically the keyguard assured that pressing random keys would always result in a 911 call.
Digital vs. analog controls (Score:5, Insightful)
If you're in your car and working the climate control, those controls are analog for a good reason. You can see what they're set to and change before you start the car. Stereo systems are another great example (quickly turning volume up/down, not having it reset all the time). Analog dials of all kinds also give you far better real-time feedback about a given signal (delta, etc.).
Re:Digital vs. analog controls (Score:5, Insightful)
Microwaves: I wish someone had the sense to build one with just a big knob to set the time, a small knob to set the power level (clicking to an off position if you just want to use the timer), and a big start/stop button. Put the timer on a logarithmic scale up to whatever the maximum sane length of time you might run a microwave for is (or use a continuous encoder with some acceleration programmed in the software), and read the value out on the display as you spin it.
Monitors: It'd be handy on occasion to briefly adjust the brightness on my monitor, but the digital controls on all of them I've used lately are so stifling that I rarely bother. Just one little knob controlling brightness by default, or moving the cursor when in an onscreen menu, would be a hundredfold improvement. The monitors I use everyday are like minefields - sometimes the buttons aren't even labelled, and hitting the wrong one tends to make some terrible change in monitor state that takes five or ten seconds to undo, like the picture-in-picture on the bigger Dell screens, or the bizarre "highlight mode" on my old Samsung, which can't be toggled off, but instead requires digging through menus.
Digital plus/minus buttons suck.
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Handspring World Clock (Score:5, Informative)
The Right Mouse Button (Score:5, Funny)
thats right, i said: "fuck context menus"
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It reminds me of the tilting marble maze game, or the old "Operation" game.
Click on the "File" menu. Slide to "Open Recent ->", then the recent list pops up next to the file menu item. Now I have to slide the mouse pointer to the right, making sure that I do not stray above or below the line, otherwise the submenu disappears! Some applications have multiple levels of submenus! Why can't I just click on the menu item a
Photo (Score:5, Funny)
I'm surprised no one else has mention the worst feature ever: DRM.
Re:Photo (Score:4, Funny)
In Windows Vista (Score:5, Funny)
Voicemail (Score:5, Insightful)
Today? If you're the caller, you have to listen to the person's personal greeting, then suffer through another 20 seconds of "At the tone, please record your message. When finished, hang up, or press the star key for more options. To page this person, press nine. To listen to your personal horoscope..." Just shut the hell up and let me leave the message so I can get on with it, please?
If you're receiving voicemail it's even worse. "You have...two...new messages and one...saved message. To listen to...new messages...press one. To listen--" One. "First...message...received...at...ten...fifty eight...AM." SHUT UP. JUST PLAY THE GORRAM MESSAGE WITHOUT THE PREAMBLE. Christ. Why the hell do I need to know the exact freaking minute someone called?
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Voicemail uses your minutes (Score:5, Informative)
The time you spend with your answering machine is money to the Tel-Co. If you have Pay-As-You-Go it DEFINTLY counts as 10c/minute. Considering that they bill you for two minutes even if you hang up at 61 seconds, its a very easy way for them to make millions.
No joke, the more time you spend on the phone going through the various menu's the more time gets racked up, even if your on a plan your still burning minutes just trying to leave a message on someone elses phone.
Text messaging is almost worse in its cost vs value, a singel text message is generally 10-20c (sending party and recieving party), and generally requires at least one reply
Re:Voicemail uses your minutes (Score:5, Interesting)
In Israel the latest Minister of Communication decided to put a stop to it and forced the telecom companies to place a voice warning you that you are about to get the "answering machine" so you have time to hang up before you pay for the call.
Now listen and be amazed. When you listen to automatic message for free, the companies don't joke around, it goes something like "youwillbetransferedtomessagingservicenow". The whole message is said in about 2 seconds top, I am 23 years old and I doubt I am always able to hang up on time. I really doubt older people can hang it up on time to be "excused" of payment.
Re:Voicemail (Score:5, Funny)
Invulnerable Plastic Packaging (Score:5, Interesting)
You know the single molecular layer stuff with infinite strength that is used to encapsulate CDs, or the thicker and even stronger stuff that small electronic devices like CF drives come in. I once broke a pair of scissors trying to cut one of those open. I am surprised some smart lawyer doesn't do a class action lawsuit against the manufacturers of that sort of packaging - there must be lost of people who have injured themselves trying open these packages.
Re:Invulnerable Plastic Packaging (Score:5, Informative)
I've broken scissors too. Never again! Never again!
Acrobat (Score:4, Interesting)
Print button on digital cameras (Score:5, Insightful)
"Operation currently prohibited by disc." (Score:5, Insightful)
But if you're a DVD exec, I want the buttons on my DVD player ('fast forward,' 'top menu') to work as they *should* without playing "Mother-may-I?" with the embedded OS. The menu should NEVER be restricted. That doesn't even make sense! What harm could my having instant access to your product's menu do to your bottom line?
Also, on my DVD player I can't even turn the darned thing off reliably. Is it too much to ask that a power switch be an actual -power switch- and not a "send power down signal to the OS" switch? It's not like there's a hard drive in these things. There's no need for the absurd length of time it takes for most DVD players to go from a power off *command* to a power off *state*.
Same goes for the tray eject button. Kill the motor and eject the disc already! I don't need "pretty" or "graceful," I need my disc back in less than five seconds.
Worst "feature"... Ever.
--
Toro
My windshield washer tank (Score:5, Informative)
It's a pretty big tank. One US gallon. Seems like a good idea, since I'm in the US, and windshield washer fluid is sold by the gallon. Just buy a gallon, fill the tank, done.
Except that's not how it works. I've got a "washer fluid low" sensor and light on the dash. It comes on when there's about 1/10th of a gallon left. Plenty of time to put more in before running out.
So I go to the store, buy a gallon, pour in (by now) 15/16ths of the bottle, and now the tank is full. And I'm left with a 1 gallon jug with 1 cup of fluid in it. So the almost empty jug has to sit in the garage or the trunk until I use a little fluid.
Sure would have been nice to have a 1.1 gallon tank.
Text-stream interruptions (Score:3, Insightful)
In the world of user design foolishness, the worst by far are programs that interrupt you while typing with error windows, pop-ups or windows suddenly gaining focus. Internet Explorer, I am talking to you here, as well as every other program that pops up a brain-dead window demanding me to hit cancel or OK while I'm busy with more important things. It's like stopping the State of the Union address to change a lightbulb.
In addition, any web page that doesn't follow sensible usability guidelines becomes a real pain in the neck. I read Jakob Nielsen [useit.com] to avoid most of these pitfalls when I code or design.
VMWare (Score:3, Informative)
I few 'doh' moments using VMWare.
Why does it let Ctrl-Alt-Del through to the hosted machine? It pops up a box telling you that you probably didn't want to do that, since both the server and the host see the keypress; but it sends it anyway. Result: lock your windows PC and reboot your virtual Linux box. Well, fine, I can get around that. (Just stop Ctrl-Alt-Del from rebooting the Linux box).
But why have Ctrl-R reboot the hosted machine? Ctrl-R which is used all the time when interacting with a shell. It's not exactly difficult to accidentally press Ctrl-R when the VM window has focus but the hosted machine itself does not. Gah.
Sigh.
Six things (Score:5, Insightful)
2. The meaningless icons on many electronic devices. Yeah, I know, they use them so they don't have to label the buttons in different languages for each country they sell the products in, but all these things seem to do is equally confuse everyone around the world as to what they mean.
3. Convoluted shower controls. I swear, every time I take a shower in a hotel, I have to spend several minutes figuring out how the damn controls work. How about faucet manufacturers stop trying to be cute and just give me one knob for cold, one knob for hot, and a control to switch from bath to shower. I can take it from there.
4. Wall warts. I know they serve a purpose, but do they really need to be on the end of the cord, where they take up three spots on the power strip? How about placing them in the middle of the cord, so I can use more than three plugs on my six-outlet strip.
5. Windows XP's habit of constantly reminding you that the computer needs to be restarted after an update. Memo to XP: I told you five minutes ago that I didn't want to restart, and I haven't changed my mind. How about you shut the fuck up, and when I'm ready to restart, I'll get back to you.
6. So-called water-saving toilets. Sure, they use less water, but they don't work worth a shit (pun intended). So, do you really save any water when you have to flush them twice because the first time wasn't entirely successful?
SysRq (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Re:SysRq (Score:4, Informative)
Kernel hacking --->
[*] Magic SysRq key
If your system is locked up, you can at least hit {ALT-SysRq-s} to force a sync to save data before hitting the power button. This can avoid filesystem corruption. There are various commands that can be executed. Read the documentation file I mentioned above for more details.
Blackberry 8700c (Score:3, Insightful)
The Blackberry OS has a lovely feature that tells you when the battery is too low to attempt to make a phone call-- but yet, it can power the backlight, let me read email I've already received, etc. for hours beyond that point.
I discovered this "feature" at 3 AM, on the side of I-55 in the middle of nowhere in Mississippi, sitting in a rental car with a flat tire.
Hey guys, when I buy a phone, I want it to be to expend its last bit of battery power WHILE MAKING A PHONE CALL.
Open button on a DVD player remote (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Open button on a DVD player remote (Score:5, Insightful)
"Safety Feature" (Score:4, Funny)
Fuse (Score:4, Funny)
cell phone that dials 911 for you (Score:5, Interesting)
A while back, I went to work at a new place, and they gave me a Samsung cell phone. I carried it around in my pocket. One day it rang. I answered, and the person on the other end wanted to know if everything was OK. I was confused and asked them who they were. Turns out they were the 911 (emergency services) operator, and they claimed I'd called them and hung up. I told them I certainly didn't do it on purpose, that I was OK, and that I was sorry for disturbing them.
Then the same thing happened a few more times, and there were other occasions on which I took the phone out of my pocket and saw a display asking me to confirm whether I wanted to dial 911.
After several calls to the carrier, I talked to someone who tracked down the problem. Seems that Samsung had put in a feature where if you hold down the "9" button for several seconds, it dials 911. And in their infinite wisdom, they were concerned about what might happen if you had an emergency while key lock was on. So they made it so holding down "9" dials 911 even while key lock is on.
Thanks, Samsung. I love "features" that might get me fined or imprisoned when someone concludes I'm making repeated prank calls to 911.
BMW Security (Score:5, Interesting)
The AAA locksmith shows up some time later, my daughter stuck inside a VERY hot automobile. They have no idea how to get in. So they used one of those airbag things to split open the driver door to stick a coat hanger or something inside the car to get it unlocked.
I have to call the dealership and ask where the unlock button is.
After I find out where it is and relay that to my now very panicked wife who fills in the locksmith, we come to find out that the car has detected a break-in and disabled the unlock button.
All the while we are yelling at them to just take a hammer to the window to break in. Apparently the damn car has some sort of unbreakable glass.
I finally get through to BMW's version of on-star and guess what - they can't unlock the car via satelite. As it turns out, the only thing BMW on-star is good for is asking for driving directions (there's a GPS in the car) and reserving movie tickets.
In the end, after consulting with the dealer again, I have to tell the now on-scene fire department that they CAN break the glass on the short split section of the passenger side rear window - apparently a feature designed just for these situations. Of course, that's exactly where my daughter is sitting, but thank goodness we had window shades that were drawn up.
So my wife brings my 1 day old car home that I haven't driven yet and it takes 6 weeks to get a new window. Of course, when the 6 weeks comes up and I discover they haven't ordered the window yet, they are all of a sudden in abundance and it only takes 24 hours.
So... pointless/counter-productive/bizarre features?
1) auto-locking doors
2) overly extravagent security
3) satellite communications link for directions in a car with a GPS
4) a window designed to be broken
Of course I haven't even mentioned
5) voice command (more distracting than buttons)
6) GPS Volume button is the radio button. You have to adjust the volume WHILE the GPS lady is giving you directions.
7) A radio that mysteriously reboots.
8) An integrated car management system that disables radio, air conditioning, and navigation when it doesn't boot properly.
9) A flat tire sensor that has presented at least a dozen false alarms and has never actually detected a flat tire.
Re:/. editors (Score:5, Interesting)
That's been a Slashdot bug for years. I even reported it like 10 times at source forge. It just gets closed with some snide comment, like "stop submitting this bug" or "this is not a bug". It's a bug, they could at least leave it open or mark it unfixable.
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Comment removed (Score:4, Informative)
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Re:Motorola Phone (Score:4, Informative)
This is not the fault of Motorola, it is the fault of your wireless company. Motorola allows the phone company to add any features to the phone that they want, and allows them to "lock" several features so they cannot be changed/deleted/etc. There is no way to get around this on the phone itself, however if you connect it to your computer there are several utilities that can fix the problem. Check out http://www.motomodders.net/ [motomodders.net] or http://wiki.howardforums.com/index.php/Motorola [howardforums.com] for details on the fun stuff you can do with a computer link.
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