20 Most Worthless Pieces of Junk

No. 20: Rice Cookers

The rice cooker: that electric appliance that does exactly what you can do with a cup of rice, a cup of water, a pan, and pretty much zero effort whatsoever.

Two Bloggers Debate the Rice Cooker

Next: No. 19 Most Worthless

No. 19: Shoe Inserts

After his bargain-priced dress shoes began to get a little uncomfortable, this blogger bought a pair of massaging gel insoles, hoping for some of the foot bliss promised by the commercials. He admits they were comfortable -- for about 5 minutes. Before he stood up.

More on His Shoe Inserts Experience

Next: No. 18 Most Worthless

No. 18: Polaroid Camera

Polaroid film was expensive and the proprietary film could only be purchased from Polaroid itself. When another technology came along giving consumers the same instantaneous image without the accompanying high price -- with digital cameras, one could now see the photo the moment the shutter clicked, and an incremental cost of zero -- eventually consumers lost interest. Polaroid went bankrupt in 2001; its successor company stopped producing the film in early 2008, rendering the cameras dinosaurs.

More on Polaroid Cameras

Next: No. 17 Most Worthless

No. 17: The Iron

We live in a wash-and-wear world, so what use do we have anymore for that primitive device, the iron? We can find more entertaining ways to end up overheated with a sore back and scorch marks on our fingers.

More on Irons

Next: No. 16 Most Worthless

No. 16: Hobby Kits

When someone gives you a hobby kit, grit your teeth and look out: Either your initial novelty with the pursuit is going to wear off, or the item itself is bound to wear out. Ideally, both things will happen at the same time.

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Next: No. 15 Most Worthless

No. 15: The Tie Rack

If men from Savannah to San Diego consider ties either a necessary evil of corporate life or the couldn’t-care-less Father’s Day gift … then why, oh why oh why oh why do they gather around tie racks like moth-brains drawn to the pretty light?

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Next: No. 14 Most Worthless

No. 14: Giveaway Thumb Drives

When thumb drives first entered the corporate and customer swag world, a free 128MB thumb drive was the coolest thing in the world. In today's high-capacity world, small-capacity drives just don't cut it.

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Next: No. 13 Most Worthless

No. 13: Trade Show Swag

There's something about attending a convention or trade show that turn us into frenzied packrats who eagerly snatch up free key chains, mouse pads, paperweights, and other items that ultimately end up buried in a junk drawer.

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Next: No. 12 Most Worthless

No. 12: Bargain DVDs

Even the best films on DVD lose their appeal after maybe six plays. This is why budget DVDs, even if you pay just a dollar for them, represent nothing more than stealthy, dust-gathering clutter slabs. Budget DVDs can make sense if repurposed as drink coasters or Frisbees, but that's about it.

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Next: No. 11 Most Worthless

No. 11: Ear Candles

Ear candling is an old-timey process that supposedly cleans out one's ear canal. It works this way: a hollow tapered candle about the diameter of a child's pencil is lit on the wide end. The narrow end is lowered into the ear canal. In theory, the updraft from the flame creates a partial vacuum within the candle, drawing all the ear gunk from the ear canal into the candle's hollow center. However, a study confirmed the candling does not produce a pocket of low air pressure and is ineffective in sucking out the ear wax. The gunk found inside is a combination of candle wax and soot. And then, there is the obvious dangers of an open flame and an organ through which you hear.

More on Ear Candles

Next: No. 10 Most Worthless

No. 10: Books in a Kindle World

Given his love of the printed word, it's probably strange that this blogger is eager to see the Amazon Kindle take over. On one level, the little plastic reader signals the death of an industry: more convenient and potentially less expensive than traditional books, it seems quite possible that they will end up squeezing out many publishers, printers and booksellers. On the other hand, Kindles could also prove the salvation of reading. With their cheap downloads, small size, and light weight, they are far more convenient than traditional books.

More on Books in a Kindle World

Next: No. 9 Most Worthless

No. 9: Home Theater Sound Systems

You turn on the TV with the cable remote, then turn on the sound system with the other remote. Then adjust the sound on the TV with the TV remote and then adjust the surround-sound with the sound-system remote. And when you didn't want surround sound, you'd have to readjust the TV sound again. This blogger is all for making the home theater experience as wonderful as possible, but that's just too much trouble.

More on External Sound Systems



Next: No. 8 Most Worthless

No. 8: Ice Cream Makers & Bread Machines

This blogger understands that these machines are meant to save time and produce something better than what is available at the store. The smell of homemade bread is one of the best things around, and home-churned ice cream is great. But neither of these machines works well enough to have him yearning for their bread or ice cream.

More on These Appliances

Next: No. 7 Most Worthless

No. 7: VCRPlus Gizmos

VCRs rarely come equipped with VCRPlus+ capabilities anymore, and hardly anyone buys VCRs anymore anyway. Newspapers are dropping the listings one-by-one. And just try to find a replacement part.

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Next: No. 6 Most Worthless

No. 6: Ionic Breeze

The Ionic Breeze was initially a major success, propelling shares of The Sharper Image to all-time highs, but the trouble began in 2002 when Consumer Reports tested it and found the product was "ineffective." A couple of years later, The Sharper Image itself reported the machines could be dangerous because of the trace amounts of ozone they pump in the air.

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Next: No. 5 Most Worthless

No 5: Single-Slot Piggy Banks

Susan Beacham, founder and CEO of Money Savvy Generation, says, "Kids need to be reminded that there is more to do with money than just spend. Literally reminded each and every time they have money that they can save some, spend some, donate some and invest some. For that, you need a whole new kind of piggy bank."

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Next: No. 4 Most Worthless

No. 4: Ab Rollers

Admittedly, the Ab Roller can, indeed, help with one's abs. The forward and backward pushing motion works the transverse abdominus, the girdle of muscle that looks so good on Michelangelo's David. The thing is, though, that a barbell can do exactly the same thing, as can a rollerskate, a skateboard, or even a towel if one has a linoleum floor.

More on the Ab Roller

Next: No. 3 Most Worthless

No. 3: Radar Detectors

Forget about a radar detector. Today's police radar units rely on either a Ka bandwidth or a laser system, which gives them the ability to point and shoot too quickly for a driver to get the information far enough in advance to slow down. If there's lots of traffic and the cop's shooting most of the cars ahead of you, then the device might warn you time, but don't count on it.

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Next: No. 2 Most Worthless

No. 2: Wipe Warmers

One of the most common complaints about wipe warmers is that the wipe is not warm enough when it comes out of the warmer, and in the seconds it takes to pull out a wipe and move to wipe the baby's bottom, the changer is left with a cold wipe in hand. Also, the heating element will dry out a significant number of wipes, so pulling out several wipes to reach a damp one is a waste of wipes.

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Next: No. 1 Most Worthless

No. 1: Happy Meal Toys

Anyone who has had kids since 1979 can tell you how many abandoned Happy Meal toys they've stepped on as a parent, usually with a bare foot that needs an icepack afterward. This blogger's daughter is 4 and he's stepped on close to 100. Fast food is bad enough, but throw in a plastic toy that will end up in a landfill soon enough, and you've got one of the most useless pieces of junk on the planet.

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