I never did own a rice cooker until I had kids, so I can't speak to other adults who have one. But it is certainly helpful in that it will turn off automatically when done (not keep going and burn the rice, if you get busy). Plus, if you're cooking a big meal, it frees up one space on your stovetop.

I call shenanigans on you, pal!

*stares back at overflowing bookshelf*

Not that I'm biased or anything...

1 for my PC, 1 for my TV...
i COULDNT live without one.. i went from having one, then didnt have one................. drove me mad so i bought another one...

i think no tv experience is complete without it

if thats the case, then toasters should be on the list

I have a little dorm board, it's terrible. Most of the ones I've seen are shoddy and it's just too small.

But the table top thing is perfect. I've honestly thought about making my own with some foam and fabric because I didn't see any reason it wouldn't work, but a premade one is great.

Hmm...

They even claimed that modern HDTVs have terrific speakers already built in, when in fact speakers are getting smaller as the displays get thinner. They're clearly misinformed.

@theblackdog: It looks like this one: [www.amazon.com] is the newer version of mine.. One of the reviews mentioned cake.. It costs almost twice as much as I paid for mine though.

@vladthepaler: While I'm not a big book guy myself, you raise a very good point. Kudos!

What about cookbooks or books on car maintenance? Who in their right mind is putting a Kindle near a stove or taking it underneath the car with them?

Unless the Kindle becomes ridiculously cheap or destruction proof some books just need to be printed on paper.

@macinjosh: He does seem to have an issue with older technology, judging from the inclusion of books. Hello, idiot, most of the things you've mentioned wouldn't ever have been invented if humans hadn't figured out how to write things down and keep them around - i.e. books.

@Eyebrows McGee (now with more baby!): Incredibly satisfying. The only other person I know who bakes is my cousin, so no one messes with my perk of easily impressing people with my baking.

I will never give up my KitchenAid. We are living in a small apartment ATM so it lives in a cupboard, but I just like to know it's there when I need it.

But seriously, every Asian family I know owns one. We live by it. Those $200 Japanese rice cookers make the best rice, its not something I can cook over the stove and expect it to turn out the same.

Also, rice cookers are easier to clean and doesn't take up a spot on the burners.

Kindle- $300 + cost of e-books, which are rarely more than a few bucks cheaper than their paper versions. Doesn't survive my extremely clumsiness. DRMed.

Paperback books- Around $5-15 each. Survive puddles, drops down stairs, and my dog fetching it from the nightstand (it's hella cute.) Can lend out, swap for other books on bookmooch, etc. Can borrow FOR FREE at any public library!

Plus I simply LOVE the idea of adding a Kindle to my iPod and wallet to create a trifecta of HEY STEAL MY PURSE!

Irons? Are you serious? What is wrong with the person who wrote this article?

Next holiday the sister-in-law should just give the author a $10 gift card.

@theblackdog: I think it's Panasonic SR-TMB10, it looks the same anyway.

I got it off Amazon a year or so ago..

The rice cooker is a terrific piece of equipment. Sure, if you don't cook rice more than once or twice a year you don't need one, but for anyone who likes rice at all it's a must have.

Makes me think the rest of the list is idiocy too, so why bother even looking.

I do a lot of electronics design/assembly stuff as a hobby. There are tons of books (mostly published between 1970 and 1999) that just aren't available in any format a Kindle or Sony PRS-505 e-Reader can display.

As soon as the "CRT Controller Handbook" by Gerry Kane, "Designing with Programmable Array Logic" by "the Technical Staff of Monolithic Memories, Inc.", and "The Art of Electronics" by Paul Horowitz and Winfield Hill are available in PDF or BBEB format, then I'll reconsider. As long as they're hyperlinked and/or keyword-searchable and not DRM'ed to the hilt.

But for now, my bookshelf stays where it is.

@HurtsSoGood: If I can't get to sleep I can go browse my collection for something familiar. If I want to relax in a tub or on a floatie in the pond I don't have to worry about damaging the town's property.

Right now I have one book in my desk to read during lunch, one by the couch, one in the car (you know, in case of long waits due to poorly managed road work, long trains, accidents, etc) AND I can still loan others out.

hm, so, considering the majority of the world (as 'Asians') thinks that the rice cooker is useful; doesn't that statistically make the author wrong?

What brand and model is your rice cooker?

A 20 page article, where the actual content on the page is maybe 4"x2" with the rest of the page full of ads and links to other stories? FAIL. Only 1 item per page? FAIL. Making my browser reload the first page before redirecting to the link I actually linked DOUBLE FAIL.

Claiming rice cookers are a waste of money when over 50% of the Earth's population EATS RICE ON A DAILY BASIS - Utter Fail.

Suggesting people spend $300 on an overpriced gadget that can display overpriced text files as a way to replace books - ECONOMIC FAIL.

Bargain DVDs? This one sort of confused me. Considering how expensive it is to go to the movies, I'd think staying at home and watching a DVD would be the preferable thing to do. OK, BUY the DVD? Maybe not - especially since you've got rental places, and many libraries now rent DVDs (for free even). Of course it's a bit hard to watch a DVD movie if you've gotten rid of your home theater system...

I guess the theme of the article is "anything you buy, but don't use on a regular basis is a waste of money." Well, that's insightful. It's as if this website is being written by the love child of Mr. Knowitall and Ric Romero. What's next? "Spending money means you have less money to spend"?

My take on the Top 20
20 - roommate uses his rice cooker weekly - its banged up and the outside is stained but he wouldn't give it up for anything
19 - don't use em, my posture is so bad I tear up shoe inserts
18 - had one, it was only good for 'art' pictures, ie. the ones you didn't want Kodak to develop. Replaced by digital
17 - have it, some of use still wear dress shirts on occasion and don't have access to a cheap dry cleaner
16 - disagree, inexpensive way to see if you actually have an interest in a hobby (rockets yes, calligraphy no)
15 - have one, goes with #17
14 - are you kidding? that's where I keep my portable passwords, always with me no matter what computer I'm on
13 - agree mostly, but when it became 'green' to buy and bring your own cloth bags for shopping, I pulled out a half dozen bags I received at various conferences, a lot stronger than the store bags, and a lot cheaper too.
12 - very selective on my DVD collection - no more than 50 titles - but sadly the only ones that get regular play are the "Family Guy" ones
11 - huh? can you speak up? I have candle wax in my ear
10 - add color, remove DRM and allow text to speech, then we'll talk
9 - roommate had to have one, but doesn't turn up the sound above 12 (0 to 100)
8 - got the bread maker - the first, and last, time I did the 5 am post-Thanksgiving sales, but yeah I like handmade better.
7 through 1 - never had or needed them. I had a *real* bank account when I was growing up.

I suppose if you owned a lot of ties, then sure. But most guys I know only own 3 or 4 ties.

Ah, yes. Books. Very wasteful. Why pay $10-25 for an actual book, when I can spend $300 on a battery operated gadget to buy text files for $10-25 apiece?

Yes, that makes perfect sense...

I don't get the author of the article. She's afraid of a home theater system, but thinks the Kindle is made of awesome? I'm confused and a little frightened.

@Eldritch: They will have to pry my hundreds of books out of my cold, dead hands. As someone who relaxes in the tub, electronic devices to read on aren't good for me.

Also, home theater systems? Sorry, but if you've put the money into an HD TV and other devices, surround sound really adds to the experience. I love my sound system.

Rice cookers make it easier to cook rice because they shut off at the proper time. You don't have to sit there watching the rice, just listen for the beep. The only crappy thing is that those non-stick bowl insert things won't survive the dish washer so they have to be hand washed. Still - worth the $15.

Home theater systems are worthless? The author must have never owned anything better than the bottom of the line $100 crap system.

Tie racks are also very useful. Ties are sort of easy to ruin, and a good silk tie can respond badly to ironing. Tie racks help keep them from getting folds in them.

I have books that were printed more than two hundred years ago. They still work.

Now, someone tell me why a Kindle is a good idea?

As for shoe inserts - I need more arch support than most shoes provide. If I don't have it, I wind up with tendon injuries. That used to mean custom orthotics until I discovered that Dr. Scholl's sport gel insoles happen to have the proper support. So every time I get a new pair of gym shoes, the thin foam insoles they come with go in the trash and a new pair of gel insoles go in. They're not worthless junk to me; they're essential.

Tie racks: If you have more than two or three ties, you need a tie rack. What else are you going to do with them? It doesn't have to be fancy.

@theblackdog: Oh man.. my KitchenAid mixer is the favorite wedding gift we got.

I have to also say that I love my rice cooker.. I got one that does more than just rice.. it even has a CAKE button.. and it makes the most delicious moist cakes EVER and being in Texas it means we don't have to heat up the whole house with the oven. And we get CAKE.

CAKE!! Not a lie.

@PeggyK: BINGO! One of you naysayers, got steam some rice in a pan and let me know how it turns out if you let it sit for 2 hours. The rice cooker holds the rice until you're ready to use it so that you no longer have to factor that in when trying to get everything else on the table at the right time.

It also frees a burner for use with other things.

And there are a bunch of practical reasons books won't be replaced for a very long time: The DRM issues with the Kindle and other devices, its inability to properly replicate things like college textbooks with color diagrams and photographs, the inability to annotate, underline or otherwise mark passages, and the fact that so many books just aren't in digital format yet. And anybody who says, "But it'll save trees!" has no concept of how huge a carbon footprint most modern gadgets have in terms of manufacturing and materials.

Besides, a Kindle wouldn't give me the feeling of having a book so beloved and beat up that it looks like a "lopsided old softball," to quote Kurt Vonnegut (from Breakfast of Champions). That's how books should be loved. :)

When the Kindle turns into something that looks and feels like a book, maybe I will feel differently. But for now, books are about the ONLY thing that I don't feel bad for hoarding.

Also, we use our ice-cream maker all the time. And who in their right mind doesn't have an iron and use it?

Ba-dum-dum-ching!

As an English speaker living in Norway (I'm learning Norwegian, but I'm nowhere near being fluent enough to read a book casually), it's expensive to buy books! English books here (well, even Norwegian books for that matter) can cost twice as much as what I'd pay in the States, so this means I can buy more books.

I rarely sell and/or give away the books I have, so not being able to do so with the Kindle isn't a big deal. And let's be honest, people will break the encryption if they haven't already, and people will be able to share ebooks just like others.

There are some books I've read so much that I've had to replace them, so having them in a format that doesn't wear out is quite nice.

Having a number of books to choose from on the Kindle when I'm traveling will be quite nice. And hopefully it will cut down on the impulse book purchases in insanely expensive airport bookstores.

Having a Kindle doesn't mean I'm going to stop reading or buying physical books, but it does mean I can be a bit more discerning about what books I want to spend money on to have in physical form.

17. Irons - Are you kidding me? I'm a college student and I rarely use my iron, but when I need to iron a shirt and pants before an interview it saves me 2 hours plus an expensive trip to the dry cleaner! Definitely worth the $30 entry price for a decent iron. What are they smoking? I need some of that!

14. Giveaway Thumb Drives - I thought this was about stuff you could PURCHASE (buy)? Why should I not take a free 128mb or 256mb thumbdrive and throw it in my desk? Their perfect for giving a few documents to a friend, coworker, or classmate and you don't need to worry about getting it back! Why should I give my friend my 8GB SanDisk to move a couple of word documents? Geeze...

9. Home Theater Sound Systems - If your gonna go bitch-out over another remote shell out $99 and get yourself a harmony remote! You plug it into your computer and it asks you a series of questions about your equipment and how it is plugged in, my mom can program it! You then can control all of your equipment with one remote. Works great, I wouldn't have a home theater without one. I love my big speakers, its great.

7. VCRPlus Gizmos - This doesn't include a DVR does it? I thought DVRs and DVDs made VCRs obsolete?

3. Radar Detectors - I guess it depends on where you are in the country, but my Escort 8500 X50 has saved my butt from getting a ticket all around the northeast numerous times. I hate driving without it. Of course there are many cheap radar detectors which aren't worth the PCBs they are assembled out of. But a good detector like an Escort or a Valentine One is completely worth it. Read reviews before buying one.

I think this article should be titled "Don't buy these things I think are useless pieces of junk". This article is so narrow-minded.

-Jamie

+1!

Seriously, I have to get my ears cleaned at the doctor every few years due to earwax buildup. Hydrogen peroxide does just as good a job without the pain. Although I use it straight and lie on my side for 15 minutes while it froths. :)

Oh, and an ear syringe helps, too.

TVs should fit the room. 32 inches is plenty for most people's living rooms. Any more than that is a waste of money.

As stated upthread, I wish I could just box up our books and donate them, kick the shelves they sit on to the curb, and put a nice recliner chair in that space.

Works fine, and a huge bottle of H202 is like fifty cents.

You know what I do when I have a wrinkled shirt? Wear it anyway. Which is why I usually look like I just rolled out of bed.

[blogs.suntimes.com]

Now that I have a kid I"m more alert to the kinds of books that create Bibliophibians -- atlases. Books with full-color plates of ancient ruins. Foreign language textbooks from decades past. Random encyclopedia volumes. Tantalizing hints of awesomeness, in other words, in addition to childhood and adult classics.

@Stephmo: "Plus, ruined stove top rice is awful and makes people depend on over-priced boxed rices."

I'm confused, are you saying that rice is too easy to ruin on the stove so people end up buying minute rice instead of real rice, or that the only rice which tastes good when cooked on the stove is some sort of specialty rice which comes in a box? Either way, there's likely a couple billion people in Asia who disagree with you. Any kind of rice can be made equally well on the stovetop or in a cooker, the cooker is just alot more convenient.

Despite it not strictly being legal in many states, women's shirts generally cost 2x - 4x what men's shirts do for cleaning and pressing. My dad or my ex-boyfriend can spend $10 or less on their week's worth of shirts (my fiancé works in an informal end of the media industry) but for the few months that I had a job that required me to dress the same way, it cost me more like $25.

@32ndnote: You can either buy an iron once, or spend ~$3.00 at a dry cleaners every time you need a shirt pressed, the choice is up to you. As someone who has to wear business attire five days a week, my iron paid for itself pretty quickly.

(1) I can't get locked out of in the case of an error or new device.
(2) All my books won't have a single point of failure.
(3) Isn't expensive and proprietary.@SnowingCookies:

I'm business casual at work and if I have wrinkles in my shirt I hang it up in the bathroom and take a hot shower :)

I take issue with quite a bit of this list.

20: Rice Cookers - I can't cook rice well on a stove. Many other uses. Ever try making sushi with stove-cooked rice? Author is an idiot

19: Shoe Inserts - Try having a pronation issue that requires orthotics. I got a stress fracture from running and not wearing proper inserts

17: The Iron - I have a job that requires i look presentable. Use it at least twice a week. Sorry you don't know what a real job feels like?

15: The Tie Rack - Again the job and looking presentable thing. Where do I hang my 30+ ties without a rack?

12: Bargain DVDs - at under $5 it's cheaper than renting from blockbuster. what's so bad about that? Granted, good movies will almost always cost more than a rental, and unless you rewatch movies alot it's a waste.

10: Books in a Kindle World - unless you don't read enough to justify $400 up-front. Just saying.

9: Home Theater Sound Systems - The remote is a non-issue. I got the bottom-end harmony for $50 and it has replaced 4 remotes without any snags. Everything is 1-touch and now my wife can even use everything when she feels like it where before she was hopelessly lost at anything beyond just TV. And TV speakers sound just as good? Show me a TV pushing out 100 wattsx5 channels plus good low (25hz)frequency sound and then I'll say it's "as good." Sound is half the experience and the main reason I really got blu-ray last spring.

3: Radar Detectors - I used to swear by mine, but most places use laser now. Detection these days means you're already caught.

In my opinion the measure of whether something is worthless is if it gets used and/or if you would miss it if it were suddenly gone.

That being said, I cannot agree with rice cooker being on the list. And by rice cooker I mean a REAL rice cooker, not a $20 "rice cooker/steamer" (those ARE worthless). Rice cookers have several benefits:

Saves stovetop space
Set it and forget it
You can store cooked rice in it
Always makes perfect rice. Always.

We also use ours to cook steel-cut oats for the BEST oatmeal: 1 part oats, 1 part light cream, 3 parts water, pinch of salt. Toast the oats in melted butter until nutty before adding to the cooker. Serve with sweetener of choice (br. sugar, maple syrup, etc). This is my 8 yr. old's favorite breakfast.

We have used our rice cooker multiple times per week for about 8 years. To us, it's the opposite of worthless.

I don't use them every day, but having that equipment has paid for itself and produced much healthier & better tasting food for my household. We live in a food desert, where stores are expensive and frequently sell low-quality, even spoiled foods. I can make my own bread for pennies, and frozen yogurt or sorbets for slightly more.

@frari489: Uh, yeah. My time is worth more than the $1.50 the cleaner charges to launder, press, and return the shirt. And oh yeah, they also come to my house to pick up and drop off whatever needs cleaning.

The drycleaner nearest us is about $3/per shirt, and they melted all the buttons on my partner's favorite shirts last time we used them.

He used to hang them on hangers but then he married me and I am a) so clumsy I knocked them all to the floor ALL THE TIME in our shared closet and b) so awesome I know about things like tie racks and coupons to get tie racks 20% off.

@balthisar: Ironing can make a big difference in presentation. It also makes older cotton clothes look newer.

That said, I partially agree with the article. I think Kindle is a big fat ripoff for anyone who doesn't have poor eyesight (adjustable type sizes + speech to text are great for visually impaired people) or who doesn't travel extensively (books take up a lot of baggage space). But most of us don't need to buy all the books we buy. It's been hard to break myself from purchasing all the books I like, but I use the library more and more frequently. I only buy copies of books when the library doesn't have them, when I know I'll need to reference them frequently, or when my friends have authored/illustrated/published them and I want an autographed copy in my home library.

You need something like this:

[www.amazon.com]

Stores in a drawer or closet, then provides the heat-resistant ironing surface on a counter or table.

They also make ironing boards that store in a wall cabinet and flip down (little more expensive and a little more work, but if you're living somewhere long term, might be worth it) and they make "dorm room" boards that are much smaller and often attach to a table or counter.

But the ironing pad is definitely your lowest-cost and most-portable option!

If you lived on the space station where every inch counts, okay, take your space suit to the cleaner instead of owning the iron, but an iron is so small, and you can even get those "ironing boards" that roll up and lay out on tables, so you don't have to store a board ... or an in-wall flip down one ...

Now if you don't ever need to iron, more power to you and I envy your clothes. :)

@MTVAH: I don't know why but that may be the funniest thing I read all day.

Ok I know why, because what i read for work is not funny. but still.

Every single person who knows the book industry is certain that electronic books will not replace paper books anytime soon. Every single person I know who likes to read backs this up (though I'm sure some don't, here and there). Their claim that books are "junk" is massively lacking support, which makes the authors come off as just stupid.

@betatron: Love our Zojirushi, the fuzzy logic rice maker. We have rice a few times a week. I love how I can hit the button and walk away, and it keeps warm until the rest of the dinner is finished cooking. No more over cooked rice stuck to the bottom of the pot, or getting cold before dinner is ready. Even my kid can use the rice maker to help me with dinner and I don't worry about stove burns. "Mom it's so easy! Two scoops water and one scoop rice!"

Also, I don't think Kindle will ever turn children into Bibliophibians the way a house full to the rafters of books will:

The list is fairly accurate but I disagree on books and the Iron.

I like holding a book...I don't want to read on some b/w tablet screen thing.

Iron: some of my clothing even though it is wash and wear...still gets wrinkles. A quick hit with the iron and the buttons/collar are nice and crisp.

We used to have a breadmaker...it's pretty useless. We do have 2 ice cream makers. One is a hand crank one (which is going out at the garage sale this summer) and one that's electrical. I use it every once in a while because the home made ice cream is better than the store stuff.

I used to worship my bread machine and use it constantly, but now I've learned to make bread and the bread machine only comes out at holidays, so now it could vanish.

But I've heard people say a stand mixer is a useless appliance and YOU CAN PRY MY KITCHEN AID FROM MY COLD DEAD HANDS.

I also sew. I'm in the process of making over my couch for about $100 -- slipcover from Target, bunch of fabric from the remnants table to cover throw pillows -- and the iron gets constant use for that. (Plus now all couch surfaces can be removed and thrown in the washing machine when the baby barfs on them!)

We even have a nifty iron station that holds the iron, the board, and a spray bottle hanging on the wall next to the washer and dryer.

@Snakeophelia: I would love that island, other than its proabably cold as all get out.

@frari489:

Well, I used to do that, but then I discovered the newer non-iron shirts. 100% cotton (not some godawful blend), but treated with something so you just toss them in the wash, put them on hangers when they come out of the dryer, and they look perfect. Saves me serious coin too - I was spending $400+ per year on getting shirts done, but no more.

[www.brooksbrothers.com]

I admit, I'd actually like a Kindle for commuting with; dragging 1200-page tomes back and forth on the Metro for 10-15 days is not good for them, for my back, or for the people I stand near. But I'll never give up paper books!

I also trade my used books using Paperbackswap.com

I couldn't even make it all the way through. That guy is a fucking idiot who is way to impulsive to be a blogger for a "smart shopper" website.

@Wombatish:

Google more carefully - _scanners_ are illegal, and that's the page you linked to. Radar detector law page is here, and they're legal: [www.afn.org]

@Eldritch: WTELF is now my new favorite phrase, thank you for that.

And I agree entirely...um...Kindle is just not my thing. I don't like reading off a screen. I don't like scrolling through. I like holding a book. The end. They can pry my books from my cold, dead hands at the apocalypse, thanks.

Giveaway thumb drives make my world go 'round! Keep a few in your desk drawer, you NEVER know when you're randomly going to need another USB storage device for one-time use, or to give someone a file. I'd be totally screwed without them...

@catastrophegirl - minus one kitten: Wow, that's incredible. hmmmm Chinese buns...you're making me not want to eat this yogurt I have for breakfast...

We can buy a $400 Kindle (I'm assuming we want the new one) and pay to download books when we want them. Because buying used books would suck?

AND

A $30 iron is bad and paying to have someone else iron shirts every time I need them is a good idea?

Remind me not to let them near my wallet...

Irons- they have other uses besides flattening clothes. I burn a lot of candles(its a goth thing, don't ask), and when one drips on the carpet, all I have to do is scrape up the excess, stick a paper towel on the rest, and iron it & it comes right out!

Thumb drives- these come in very handy. I recently had to reformat one of my computers, and did not have an external drive to backup to. But I did have a ton of little memory cards and old thumb drives lying around! I got several gigs of data backed up this way & was able to reformat.

Bargain DVDs- Jeez what a snob! Are they insinuating that we should all buy blu-ray dvds cause we're too good for $1.00 walmart dvds? Screw you, buddy. I once found a dvd of the original Nosferatu with a Type O Negative soundtrack at walmart for a buck!!!

Piggy banks- how are these a waste? God forbid we still deal with real money, right? Yeesh. I have a piggy bank & its full of emergency quarters.

BOOKS?! Books are a waste of money?! WTF. OK, sure, lets all go out & spend $400 on a Kindle, when we can just go to the damn LIBRARY FOR FREE. good grief! This person is crazy.

@MostlyHarmless: I use my iron maybe twice a month. I have a lot of shirts I wash and then air dry b/c I don't want the dryer to shrink or fade the shirts. After they are washed, I take an iron to them to get the wrinkles out and then hang them up to dry. Doesn't take a whole lot of time and it saves on having to take a bunch of shirts to the cleaners.

And like others, it isn't just for plain rice. I use it for dumplings and buns and I do have some pretty awesome one-pot recipes for it as well that you really couldn't pull off on the stove-top. Plus, ruined stove top rice is awful and makes people depend on over-priced boxed rices.

Someone at WalletPop just hasn't seen the awesomeness of the rice cooker. If I saw more small appliance hatred, I might get it - but they don't call out slow cookers, waffle makers, electric skillets, George Foreman grills, juicers or ice tea makers. These are all appliances that could easily be dismissed. But I'm guessing someone at WalletPop loves the mini-sausages in grape jelly that's brought to the office pot-luck, so the slow cooker gets a pass...

just another unhelpful trollish internet list designed to inspire debate.

Yeah, let's see.. I had two surgeries on each of my feet over the course of a year and a half, I was in a wheelchair and a full leg cast for 5 months following each surgery, and I did physical therapy for 3 months (each leg), and then my doctor writes me a prescription for shoe inserts to wear for the next two years, minimum.

What do I do? Clearly throw it out. Shoe inserts are useless.

Now, that being said, mine are semi-uncomfortable, but my feet are also just in constant pain because they're not put together completely correctly.

And while I realize he's talking about the drugstore type ones, he doesn't say that. Also, it's kind of a "you get what you pay for".

Granted I don't work in an enviroment that requires even business casual, but for the few times I've needed my iron, it was worth... getting it for free 2 years ago. Now I just need to find some way to get rid of my ironing board, it's bulky... but the iron itself? Worth it.

My mum also has a nice fancy steam(er) iron so I can borrow it if needed, but it's a bit of a drive.

I disagree with several of those.

I love my rice cooker. My family eats a lot of Asian meals, so it is very useful when you already have several other pots on the stovetop. It gets used at least once a week, so it was well worth the investment.

Bargain DVDs. We don't have a huge DVD collection in my house because we normally only buy ones that we know we'll watch over and over. And if I get 3 viewings out of a $5 movie, that's a good deal.

Books. There's just something about being able to hold the book in my hands. I feel the same way about comic books. I download some here and there to try out series, but I'd much rather sit on the couch and be able to flip thru the pages.

Iron...kinda. My husband loves a certain type of shirt for work, and they wrinkle even if you take them out of the dryer right away. He used to spend quite a bit of time each week ironing all of them, but after months of prodding, I finally talked him into trying a steamer. It was almost as cheap as an iron, and cut the time in half. And for those mornings when you pull something out of the closet that has a hanger crease or has gotten wrinkled from being smooshed beween other items, an iron is so much quicker and efficient than having to toss it in the dryer.

Think a book of pictures of shoes or Ansel Adams photography.

And the DaVinchi Code was a nicely polished turd. I spent half the time lamenting the writing and the other half going "I know what happens!" and reading to find out if I was right. But it was still enjoyable, for that purpose.

You have to have a permit, otherwise, illegal.

Most of the "ice cream" I've seen in stores doesn't even have cream in it and the list sounds like a locker from a science lab.
Bread with no yeast in it just tastes wrong. Blech.

(snark)

Rice cookers are multitaskers. They cook rice better than most humans, use a folding steamer basket and they are a great steamer, they can heat sauce and then keep it warm, boil water... I use mine at least 10 times week; and not for rice most of the time.

And not everything is wash and wear. Iron your collars for crying out loud.

Ice Cream makers work just fine, shut up. Problem? Most ppl dont use them very often. Bread Machines? They make great bread, this guys failures with it are his problem.

Books? Seriously, shut up. Kindle is a DRM restricted device that isnt going to replace books anytime soon. Who the hell buys a book with the understanding the rights to use it might randomly disappear?

A quality shoe insert feels good standing or walking. WTF is this guy talking about? Maybe if he lost some wght he'd notice the difference.

To lump all kits together and then all people together... Seriously, the crack pipe, put it down.

No tie rack? Yeah, from the same idiot who thinks you dont need to iron your shirts once in a while. Grunge is over.

Home theater... seriously stfu.

This idiot can diaf.

If he had to wear a shirt and tie every day he'd be singing a different tune. A good iron and tie rack can make the morning routine so much easier.

Sure the same thing could be done with a pan, some water and whatever you want to put in the rice, but it's not as "set it and forget it" as it seems.

The rice cooker has a "cook" and "warm" setting. You can pretty much leave it alone all day; you can't do that with a stove.

Or, gee... I can buy plain 'ol paper & ink used books for a fraction of the cover price. Or I could go to a library!

That's especially useful when the books I want and/or need are out of print or unavailable in ebook format.

Yeah, DRM is a deal-breaker for me. DRM keeps me from doing the things I wish to do with -my- purchased property (such as I listed). It's also only -one- of -my- reasons for not purchasing an ebook, not one of -your- reasons for avoiding that consumer choice.

Heck, if -you- want a Kindle, have at it. It's your money. Whatever floats your boat, man.

-4: Ab roller: An ab roller is actually sometimes useful if you work out, and you can do some really hard workouts with them. Of course, they are NOT neccesary. But they are also only 20 dollars and add some variety to ab workouts. The electrostim things, are not effective, and its pretty obvious unless you are a late night TV sucker (or lazy).
-5. The piggy bank: what is wrong with it again? oh, one slot for saving and children "dont understand it". I understood it, your kids must be stupid.
-8. Ice Cream maker and bread machine: Some people prefer to make their own food, not buy pre-made overpriced junk. I sadly do not own a bread machine yet, nor an ice cream maker.
-9. Home theater sound system: The main complaint is "too many remotes" and "too complicated". Wow. Sounds more like "I am too dumb to set up a home theater or remember, let alone label if I have to, what my remotes are for". I am sure a computer barely missed the list...it has a lot of buttons and wires too.
-10. Books: the kindle is inferior for many reasons. It is not cheaper than a real book, although it costs the publisher nothing to make an ebook. It needs energy. You can't write in it. You can't drop it. If you ruin it/spill on it, you are out 100s of dollars. I actually appreciate my books and would like to have them as individual works, not just data bits. I also have no need to carry a library with me, and I doubt many others do either. Space saver is a valid, but very rare reason to own a kindle. I used to live in a 250 sq foot studio, and I had room for a bookshelf. One more thing...kindle world? I have seen ONE, ever. I have heard two people mention it, EVER. I know not one person with an interest in e-books.
-12. Bargain DVDs: I would think most prefer to buying classic movies (Young Frankenstein) or cheeseball flicks for 5-10 bucks than paying 20 bucks for the latest piece of Hollywood trash that will be in the bargain bin in a few years anyways. Transformers, anyone?
-13.Consumer trade show swag/free thumb drives: most IS trash, but some is good. "Worthless piece of junk" is extreme, I like my squishy brain and free thumb drives. They save me the cost/time of CDs when I need to deliver large files, and give my friends a bonus.
-15.The tie rack: obviously, the writer does not have a job requiring him to wear a tie every day. Nor does he care about his ties anyways. In the real world, many men wear ties to work, or to look nice, and they like the ties to be unwrinkled, well kept, and accessible.
-17. The iron: I iron my own clothes. Why? well, its cheaper than paying 7 bucks to go to the dry cleaners, and I can do it whenever I want in minutes. An iron also only costs 20 dollars...the cost of 3 dry cleanings. Why pay 100s a year for dry cleaning? I also like my clothes not-wrinkly/pants, and some of them never ever go to the dry cleaners because its a t-shirt.
-18. Polaroid cameras: The author clearly has never used one, nor enjoys photography. NEXT.
-20. rice cooker: I own the rice cooker in that picture. It is the last thing I would give up in my (very nice) kitchen. My rice comes out PERFECT every time. I can make sushi rice. I can wake up with oatmeal ready to go. I can set it to have rice ready at 8, go out, then come back and start chicken at 7:45 and dinner is ready. And it doesn't use up space on my burner when making large meals.

Basically, the staff of Walletpop sounds like the people that bug the ever-loving shit out of me. Too lazy to iron their own clothes, don't care about their work appearance or diet, buy "New Release" DVDs, use lame expensive gadgets for no reason (kindle), and can't figure out the gadgets they DO own (sound system).

For all of my professional mastering & remastering work I use a pair of Bowers & Wilkins 801D speakers. Most of my mastering is done in 5.1 or 7.1, but I've yet to come across a situation where the 2 B&Ws haven't faithfully reproduced the surround information. I have a pairs of B&W 803D and B&W 602DM speakers at home. No surround there either.

and Rice cookers rock!!! My Zojirushi rice cooker gets used a few times a week, definitely more than my oven.

without an iron, how would I ever heatset dye and paint on my art projects?

I have 2 Polaroid cameras - they make the best gel print art work.

I love love love my Kindle but could not survive without my more than 1000 art books.

@Bob Lu: You know, I saw a show where they showed you how to make bread in a rice cooker.

lol what a terrible article

@Lucky225:

....huh. not sure why I thought they were illegal in MN. for some reason it did...

1. Just because it doesn't fit into your lifestyle doesn't make it worthless for everyone.

2. If you have an appliance in your house that doesn't work, get it fixed or throw it out. Don't leave it to take up space in the hope that some miraculous day it might fix itself.

3. If you don't get the results you were expecting, try learning a little more about what's going on before giving up.

The thing about a proper rice cooker -- like a nice zojirushi, is that you can cook a bunch of rice on Monday and then it will stay warm and sticky for days. So you just come back and have some rice with your lunch whenever you want it, rather than having to wait an hour to soak and dry, then another 45 minutes to cook the rice on the stove.

Even if you make a big pot of rice on the stove so you don't have to cook it later, sticky rice that's been microwave reheated is usually really miserable for anything but turning into stir-fry. It just doesn't fare well in the microwave.

I guess if you make rice once every now and then, it's a waste. But so is a set of nice steak knives if you're a vegetarian.

My List:

1. Monster Cables for home theater.
2. Bargain bin PC software (a.k.a. "Freeware" with a price tag attached).
3. Name brand pain reliever (Tylenol, Advil, etc) - store brands have the identical active igredients at up to 75% lower prices.
4. Anything with "Tommy Hilfinger" on it.
5. Anything pitched in late night infomercials.

And, uh, I just don't know if I could ever give up books and print media. I'm not an old fart or a technophobe, I just love the rustle of newspaper in the morning and the feeling of turning pages in a book. Most of all, I love researching actual texts in actual libraries instead of in online databases. Maybe I'm just crazy, but Kindles and ebooks just don't do it for me.

The best part is that they can be had for almost nothing from garage sales. (Or perhaps your parents' cupboard.)

I find that my microwave does a lovely job with rice, and I haven't used my rice cooker since I started using that.

However -
If you think that a breadmaker is just a substitute for an oven, you haven't made bread from scratch. I'm quite happy to let my breadmaker do all of the manual labor for me, while I cheerily tweak the recipe this way and that as my mood dictates.

And while it tastes better than store-bought ice cream immediately after being made, within an hour of putting it in the freezer the creaminess has solidified into ice.

That guy has NO idea how to make ice cream, it is painfully obvious. I have some Peach Ice Cream I made on the 4th in the freezer and it's as creamy as it was when I made it.

When you use 2% non-fat milk, soy, or straight up milk you get CRAP Cream. Be a man and use Heavy Cream!! What do you think makes Ice Cream so smooth? FAT!

Everyone else has covered the Rice Cooker, so I wont bother.

If you actually care at all about image quality, there is no way a $30 thrift store TV will be remotely adequate.

this person is obviously a die-hard consumer in the worst way. dropping off clothes at a dry cleaner any time they need to be ironed?

and they've obviously never even heard of PATCHING clothes. sewing without an iron is a b.

why do for yourself, when you can just throw money at it?

So what do I do when I have a wrinkled shirt? I go to the dry cleaners, of course. I live in New York, so that's easy, and inexpensive. But I have taken random polls of people across the country over the last few weeks and have come across only one person who has an iron and regularly uses it -- my boss.

Sorry, but I can not take this guy seriously. Does he honesty believe that taking shirts to the dry cleaners is cheaper than cleaning and ironing them himself?! What a lazy ****

If it wasn't for the fact that this article eschews books in favor of the Kindle (I love my Kindle, but I still love books), I'd think the writer was a tech dinosaur, especially with the VCR+ reference. I had totally forgotten about that never-used technology and I friggin' WORK in A/V. Bleh.

An iron is quite useful than wasting the time and money of getting something pressed at a cleaners.

Really, was this list compiled by some sort of person who loves to waste money?

Again, as stated in the same post you replied to, this is what IN-DASH detectors are for.

[www.escortradar.com]

[www.beltronics.com]

She lost all credibility when she claimed that the TV's built in speakers sounded "terrific".

I agree. I could imagine using hangers in a pinch, but I don't see why anyone would single out something that has a very specific and good use. Particularly when, as I said, his argument against them is that he does not like owning ties (Perhaps having shabby-looking ties is his way of "sticking it to the man"?).

Oh, with DRM it will never happen? Then I guess I'll stick to modern 400 year old "ink" technology, instead of 4 year old "e-ink" technology.

I can't buy used e-books. It's new or nothing. As a young man, it would have destroyed my enthusiasm for reading if I had to spend the same amount of money on books as I did albums.

(With the advent of the internet, I buy used CDs, as well. I have a wonderful musical and literary collection.)

I've just accepted that moving house will now always be a very tiresome, and very expensive, proposition. Shh, don't tell the landlady. I have to have some edge when renegotiating the lease.

Not good for kids, admittedly, but adults who need a rice cooker ... I dunno. I can't fathom it.

@Posthaus: RF adapter.

I COULD live without the breadmaker and ice cream maker, but not my iron. Here's what the person who wrote the article does when he needs something ironed:

"So what do I do when I have a wrinkled shirt? I go to the dry cleaners, of course."

That made me laugh. It's not really feasible or cost effective for me. I think I'll stick with the iron. An inexpensive iron can run as little as $9.99 on sale. Hardly seems like a huge expense to have this handy item around the house for when you need it.

#21 - ...buy most of the "reasons" what author used in the article.

It sat in the cupboard for a year and I finally gave it to the Goodwill during one of my visits.

About six months later she was looking for it - and I was forced to confess I gave it away. She was surprised but not terribly offended (she knows I hate clutter.)

I was explaining this to another relative with her and we had a good laugh at our differing memories. I thought it was a piece of junk item from her basement. She remembers it as an actual gift she picked out.

Hopefully another family it using it to its full rice making potential. Meanwhile I've never had a problem with a pot, rice, water, and some butter.

James | [www.futuregringo.com]

Radar detectors are only illegal in VA, DC and military bases in the US, you sir fail. In MN it may be technically illegal to have on the windshield, however thats what in-dash units like the Passport 9500ci and Bel STi-R are for.

A few pieces of junk, a couple of outdated items nobody would buy anyway, and a bunch of stuff the author doesn't understand well enough to use.

But seriously, your post contained a logical fallacy called "Moving the Goalposts". The comapnies calimed at one time they removed ear wax through suction. They called them on this, and even showed that a "ear candle" burned in a glass jar would show "removed wax". So they then moved the goalpost, and said it loosens the wax through heat and moisture?

I don't have the time to search them out now, but there are COUNTLESS stories about people doing HARM with ear candles. What happens if this helpful wax goes down your ear canal and gets stuck. How do you get a flame IN your ear to melt the wax that was melted by burning. Please, think about this.

when i worked a stand-on-my-feet-all-day job, gel shoe inserts actually really helped with lower back pain. to the point where i could sleep at night again!

i am really wishing i could find the link to the article i read a couple of weeks ago about someone doing something important with polaroid instant prints and separating the layers of the prints... but, alas, i can't recall enough details to find it. but it was something that couldn't be done any other way.

Dry cleaning is a waste of money and is too harsh on cotton shirts. I don't want my shirts coming back shiny. If I wanted shiny shirts I'd buy them that way.

2) Home theater sound system - because it comes with a remote. I have a Harmony Remote. No big deal.

3) VCRPlus+ - It was pretty cool when it was came out. Nowadays, it's just obsolete. Why not add Walkman or Edsel to teh list?

I'm not going to read any more.

* Bread Machines
Um, some of us LIKE knowing what the hell is going in our bread instead of a long list of chemicals. Besiudes the bread machine SAVES money - the cost of the flour and ingredients are pennies compared to 2 bucks for a store bought loaf.

* Books
And now we come to the most utterly moronic thing on the list. Sorry, but I refuse to touch a DRM ridden piece of crap that Amazon can turn off on a whim. My copy of Conan here on my nightstand? I'll be able to read that in a 100 years - you think a Kindle will be able to do the same thing?

Polaroid cameras were, for their time, absolutely indispensable for producing quick images. Fifteen years ago, if you wanted quick pictures, it was Polaroid or nothing.

Screw the Kindle. Give me an old fashioned book anyday. The batteries won't go dead, the publisher can't suddenly decided that I've read it too many times, and if I leave a $5 paperback on the bus, who cares?. I think the Kindle should be a definite "useless item."

I also happen to like Happy-Meal toys. I have several on my desk at home and at work.

One person's trash is another person's treasure, and vice versa.

So in other words, they lied. Now, they have a new line that's untrue (any more than a warm q-tip would be.)

It's at worst dangerous, at best ineffective. I'm personally sick of people suggesting that anyone try out quack health products.

And I happen to love my shoe inserts. Honest to Baby Jesus, when I started using them I suddenly stopped having back problems (after 8+ years of back problems, thank you very much). And when I stop using them, for whatever reasons, my back problems come back. You've got to buy the good ones, though, not just odor eaters. Better yet, Birkenstockers. Those shoes rock. I couldn't bring myself to pay so much for shoes, but once I did... my knee and joint pain disappeared. No lie. I'm not a paid spokesperson. Those shoes are just awesome.

@YouDidWhatNow?: They do have one for Apple products: The Apple Store.

And when I run out of toilet paper? I just use money, of course. Or just tear pages out of my worthless books.

sheesh

@betatron: +1 Millions of Japanese can't be wrong. I live in Japan and they're EVERYWHERE! And these people know their rice!

I'm done ranting. ;-P

I don't know why that detail stuck with me, but it did.

@YouDidWhatNow?: You beat me to it.

You could fill an entire list of 20 most useless pieces of junk with all homeopathic products.

Until the Kindle:
* is in color
* loses the DRM
* lets me make my own data backups
* lets me annotate (audio & text)
* lets me print pages/text annotations at will
I am not buyin' it. No way, no how.

My books don't crash, I can mark 'em up, most thieves aren't interested in them, and if they get wet... I can still read them.

As far as irons go, hey... some of us -like- to look nice.

And then there's the comment about the surround sound system and other -possibly- useful objects... my goodness. Yeah, I agree with the majority here. Unfortunately, this blogger has made the mistake of thinking that these things -must- be useless because he _personally_ finds them to be so.

A netbook costs a bit less than the kindle and it can also ready PDF files - and do so much more!

I like physical books, since if I loan one (you cannot do that with kindle content) or if I loose a book or it gets wet, I can just inexpensively repurchase that book, if needed.

I craft a lot. I find it cathartic. Hobby kits (everyting in the box, limited time looking for bits and peices) are great, and iron is a must for both cloths and cloth related crafts, and BOOKS? BOOKS??? Have you gone mad! I'll never abandon the tactile pleasure of a good book.

I LIVE by my rice cooker and bread maker. Dump ingredients, push button, walk away. No stirring, no checking, no kneading, no standing next to the stove/oven... I have no time for that, and with my kids, I'd get interrupted about 20 times in the process, even if I did. Plus, speaking of kids, the rice cooker and bread maker are so easy that my kids can use them. Which, at ages 5 and 9, they are not exactly ready for hot stoves and ovens, yet.

I was going to accuse you of not knowing the correct spelling of "rationale," but then I saw that you spelled it correctly the second time. Also, you're cute.

I'm not saying I would never switch to a digital reader; heaven knows I've shifted away from CDs now that I've ripped them all onto my iPod. But I still have the CDs in the basement. Just. In. Case.

@Posthaus:

S-Video.

@Billy-Austin:

...heat rises, so unless you've got your head over the flame, that heat isn't going into your ear. As for moisture from the candle wax...well, if you think there's significant moisture in wax then I don't know what else to tell you. Maybe if you poured some homeopathic pee-water through it...

Wow, what a ungrateful bitch.
It's even worse that she's basically announcing it to the entire world with her article.

@YouDidWhatNow?: I bet the idea that home theater audio is useless came from the same idiot that still has their HDTV hooked up to a DVD player with composite cables.

Some people need shoe inserts because they have oddly shaped feet. Some of us would love them, but no one makes a size 15 insert. :P

Books? Hah.

It sounds like the blogger didn't set up his home theater correctly. If it's right, the sound on the TV is off, and the surround is pumping out all the awesome. The same could be said for his bread recipes.

It sounds like "some people may find these useless, and some people may not know how to use them properly..." :|

This was a waste of my time. Shame on you Consumerist.

Books are some of the most important things in the world, and to just throw them away because some stupid device comes along?

::screams in booklover rage:: MAY HE BE FUCKED SIDEWAYS WITH A GUTENBERG PRESS!

@mmmsoap: Actually, there IS a way to make ice cream in a plastic bag, but it certainly doesn't yield a high amount.

I'm tired of people putting them down when they don't even know what they do! I stopped reading the article at that point and won't be going back to that crappy site again!

But an ice cream maker? If you're the homemade ice-cream type, is there a standard-kitchen-issue equivalent that will get the job done? You can't just stick a bunch of cream in your freezer and hope for the same result.

All in all, it was a weird list. I've never even heard of an ear candle before this, and I haven't owned a VCR in about 8 years (much less a VCR+ gizmo), but classifying books as equally useless as Happy Meal Toys is just wrong...

The rice cooker is one of the smartest buys we ever made...it gets used nearly as much as the microwave. We buy these pre-fab rice/rice-n-beans things in bags (Vigo is the brand name) and it's awesome. I can't even fathom not having one now.

Shoe inserts definitely depend on the shoe. In some shoes where there's room, they're great...if your shoes don't have room, you're just going to cramp your feet and become uncomfortable.

Tie rack? No way my closet could survive without it. Or my ties.

Take your Kindle and shove it. No. Thanks.

...and her arguement against having a nice home theater speaker system is the extra remote? Seriously. We're supposed to suffer along with the crappy speakers that TV makers put in their TVs fully expecting you not to use them because you don't want another remote in the house? Besides, virtually all remotes that come with anything are multi-use anyway - the one that came with oure reciever is the only one that needs to get used...for the reciever, DVD, DirecTV, and TV.

Radar detector...15 years ago I swore by them. But then I moved to MN where they are illegal, and I've developed a super power at being able to spot cops with my bare eyes at extreme distances...something that I had gotten too lazy to do with the radar detector.

...and as for the Ionic Breeze - they should have stores that sell only those things, Bose audio crap, Apple products, and Monster Cable. And tattoo everyone who shops there on the forehead so the rest of us can see them coming.