What modern invention/innovation do you wish had *never* been developed?

[this one guy]

I might be sticking my neck out a little. Leaf blowers.
I still prefer ordinary rakes - a little more work, but nice and quiet and a little exercise too.
In autumn my small town neighborhood sounds like an industrial work zone.
... weed whackers, hedge trimmers, ... Does everything have to have an engine on it?

 

[vitanola]

Might I add, FRACTIONAL RESERVE BANKING and the private institution that started it! (Say no more!)
And, that monstrosity that resides in Turtle Bay neighborhood of Manhattan. (Saying no more!)

-dixon cannon

To which specific medieval goldsmith are you referring?

Besides which, I always admired Kitty Sorchen's fountain. Some think it outscaled, but I like it!

Have you read any books by Dr. R. E. Search? I suspect that you'd find his stuff congenial, Mr. Cannon.

 

[Philip A.]

Before cellphones started operating in Africa, whenever I needed to urgently contact someone in another town I had to write a note, call one of my staff, provide him with money for bus fare and a week worth of food and lodging, and send him on the errand. Cellphones then are not on my list.

Rap is sitting comfortably at the top...

 

[AtomicEraTom]

Touch-tone phones.
The idea that Country Music needs more electric guitar and drums and less steel guitar and fiddles.
Unibody cars.
FWD cars.
(I know the last two existed before '60, but weren't commonplace)
Plastic bumpers/other car parts.
The idea that hood ornaments are unsafe.
Bland colors for home furnishings.
'Sauder' or 'Ikea' (or otherwise cheesy and cheap) furniture.
All these homogenized radio stations, which have no local roots or any sort of differentiation from the other stations just like it.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

The idea that Country Music needs more electric guitar and drums and less steel guitar and fiddles.

I hate how the obnoxious, insidious influence of Rock has crept into practically everything, including country music and musical theatre. Of late even the hip hop influence has crept in to the genre.

 

[AtomicEraTom]

Yes, I'm not a fan of this change, at all. If you like Rock or Hip-Hop, more power to you, but I prefer seprate genres.

I hate how the obnoxious, insidious influence of Rock has crept into practically everything, including country music and musical theatre. Of late even the hip hop influence has crept in to the genre.

 

[Flicka]

I know this is pre-1960s but since the effects here appeared after 1960, I think it counts: the TV. It fundamentally changed the way people live and not for the better.

Mobile phones are a great invention I think. It's all in how you use them. But what good ever came of turning families into mindless zombies staring ahead instead of interacting with each other?

 

[Gin&Tonics]

You guys, so surly and curmudgeonly!

Rap is definitely at the top of my list. RAP = Retards Attempting Poetry

I can't say cell phones, because they provide a great deal of added safety while travelling. I feel A LOT better that my wife has a cell phone with her when she goes out, so I know she can summon help if needed. I get how a lot of people overdo them, and this insane craze with texting is silly. My cell phone is a basic flip phone without even a text plan. I tell people not to text me.

I also love video games

I definitely wish we never had useless, no-talent so called celebrities like Paris Hilton and the Kardashians...why are these people even famous?!

 

[Mario]

Autotune.

The most vicious and devastating manifestation of evil since Engelbert Humperdinck... :eeek:

 

[St. Louis]

How about those clip-on phones that allow people to walk down the street talking & gesticulating & looking as though they're talking to themselves?

 

[Shangas]

I greatly LOATHE and DESPISE rap and hip-hop in all its variations. It gives me headaches. Literally.

I also can't stand those "celebrities" which seem to have fame for no discernable reason. I'm yet to understand the attraction of Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez, that "Friday" girl (I forget her name), or Paris Hilton.

Whatever happened to celebrities worth celebrating? A Canadian teenage castrato pop-singer breaking up with his girlfriend isn't something that should make the front page.

The fact that it does makes me wonder about the media these days, too.

 

[this one guy]

Touch-tone phones.
The idea that Country Music needs more electric guitar and drums and less steel guitar and fiddles.
Unibody cars.
FWD cars.
(I know the last two existed before '60, but weren't commonplace)
Plastic bumpers/other car parts.
The idea that hood ornaments are unsafe.
Bland colors for home furnishings.
'Sauder' or 'Ikea' (or otherwise cheesy and cheap) furniture.
All these homogenized radio stations, which have no local roots or any sort of differentiation from the other stations just like it.

Plastic car parts - shrouds, tabs, even pulleys - I've had to work in frigid weather and have had them break like potato chips.
Unibody - Yep. Good luck finding a place to use jack stands... everything is sheet metal or aluminum.
Country music hasn't been Country for at least two decades now.

 

[Carl Miller]

Plastic car parts - shrouds, tabs, even pulleys - I've had to work in frigid weather and have had them break like potato chips.
Unibody - Yep. Good luck finding a place to use jack stands... everything is sheet metal or aluminum.
Country music hasn't been Country for at least two decades now.

I second the amount of plastic in cars today. One of my jobs is working in a scrap yard and the amount of plastic debris is unbelievable.

 

[Zemke Fan]

How about those clip-on phones that allow people to walk down the street talking & gesticulating & looking as though they're talking to themselves?

Actually, we've gone full circle on that one. I'm finding more and more *crazies* who really ARE talking to themselves!

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

How about those clip-on phones that allow people to walk down the street talking & gesticulating & looking as though they're talking to themselves?

Gotta love it when they're arguing with someone on the phone.

 

[LizzieMaine]

And yet more --

News blogs.
Deep fried turkey.
People Search.
Polyurethane shoes.
Bath salts (the drug, not the stuff you put in the tub)
Christmas music that begins on November 12th.
Black Friday.
Milk cartons with those irritating plastic spouts mounted on the side.
Sponge Bob Square Pants.
Sabermetrics.
Shopping malls.
Corn subsidies.
"Shock" radio.
Low-flow toilets.
Unrestricted speculation in oil futures.
Adware
Spyware
Malware
The suffix "-ware"
Needing a passport to go to Canada.
Brand-line extensions.
Print publications that try to imitate websites in their layout.
Scientific marketing.
The idea of health care as an "Industry."
Rock music being played between batters.
Rock music.
People who don't wear coats in the wintertime.
"Extreme" products or activities.
Fifteen-dollar hamburgers.

 

[Bruce Wayne]

Black Friday on Thanksgiving Thursday.

 

[AtomicEraTom]

I'd have to agree. The 50's-70's were great for it, the 80's and 90's were so-so, and the past few years have really been bad. I'd say since 2009, it's gotten to be its worst.

Country music hasn't been Country for at least two decades now.

Pet peeve of mine. They call me 'Mom' at work, because I'm always telling people they should take their jackets with them when they go outside.

And yet more --

People who don't wear coats in the wintertime.

Rebecca Black....ugh.

that "Friday" girl

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

The idea of health care as an "Industry."

And what was originally considered an "art" is now down to a "science."

 

[Mr. Hallack]

And more:


Restaurants with inscrutable one-word names.

Lizzie you talking about that new place FOG?