Naked Science Forum
Non Life Sciences => Technology => Topic started by: Don_1 on 25/01/2011 09:20:11
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I heard a report today that 1 in 12 gadgets given for Christmas remain unopened because the recipient has no idea how to use them.
As far as useless gadgets go, I think the most pointless are watches. How many people who sport the multi-function chronographs actually use them for anything but telling the time and date? How many of them know how to access the stopwatch, countdown timer, dual time, world time, reminder, alarm and other such functions without referring to the instruction book? How many are ever liable to ever have the need to use some of these functions? And, perhaps strangest of all, how many have a watch which is waterproof to a depth of say 10m, yet take it off when they go for quick dip in the pool?
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That sounds a bit excessive.
But.. there are those things that one just really doesn't need.
I once was given a "Salad Shooter".
It just never fit into my lifestyle.
As far as the extra functions on a watch. Yeah, perhaps all one really needs is the time and date (and leap years are nice). A stopwatch just isn't that necessary, except for perhaps runners. World Time? I suppose... Again not that vital. It is easy enough to change the times in one's head.
I suppose there are those people who have to give their watch to someone else to reset the time twice a year.
Before the water resistant/proof watches came out, it was always a pain for the watches to be fogging up all the time.
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I have a day/date watch, but it counts the days to 31, so, every couple of months I have to manually adjust the date. Unfortunately, despite having had it for many years, I still can't remember whether to pull the winder out one click or two clicks, or which direction to turn it either.