I'd like to nominate the new Post Office queuing 'system' in the expensively Revamped Main Post Office in Manchester City Centre.
Previously when posting stuff, I'd relied on the ridiculously arcane, outdated and frankly luddite routine of
1. Joining back of queue
2. Wait until reaching the front of queue
3. Do whatever it is I came to do
How frightfully 2oth Century! This frankly is the behavior of technophobe dinasaurs. And it needed to change. Now.... thank god!.... It has. Hurray!!!!
Now you walk in to be greeted by a short smiling bloke who asks you which one of their extensive services you require. Depending on the answer, he guides you over to a touch-screen unit which lists said services. The machine then spits out a different type of ticket accordingly.
You then entire a labyrinthine world of disconnected tannoy voices directing different types of ticket holders hither and thither. Staggeringly slowly
UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES APPROACH A COUNTER WITHOUT A TICKET. I suspect you might be gunned down.
If you merely want to post a parcel you still can. On one of the self service machines. Or you could do, if any of the expensive touch-screen units actually worked. They don't of course.
The result of all this needless technology is utter and complete bedlam. Complete anarchy! Its absolutely hilarious!!!
Christ only knows how much all this cost. I dread to think. Some management/IT consultant must be laughing his socks off. While counting his millions by a pool in Monte Carlo.
What on earth was wrong with standing in a queue?
Whats your favourite mindless, stupid IT system then? There must be plenty
Cars that tell you what the speed limit is in the area you are driving. If you cant tell what the speed limit is you obviously aren't paying attention!
My favorite "misuse of IT" was a nursing home where they printed off an e mailed form, pulled the data for it off the computer, filled in the form by hand then faxed it back to the person who e mailed it to them - every week.
Lol..Binners I was in there on Saturday and it's like being in Argos and waiting for them to bring your purchase out.
The greeter wasn't evenly friendly..."What are you doing here today?"...no introduction to the new system or anything.
roughly fits into this topic, today tried to sort out a paypal account, apparently I already have one, clicked the request username/password button. "you need to be logged in to access this" WTF obviously if I could log in I wouldn't need my username/password!
TandemJeremy - MemberMy favorite "misuse of IT" was a nursing home where they printed off an e mailed form, pulled the data for it off the computer, filled in the form by hand then faxed it back to the person who e mailed it to them - every week.
My girlfriend works for the NHS and often whinges about this exact same thing going on there.
My pet hate is LCD displays on...well, everything. Toothbrushes and clothes irons being the worst offenders. I mean... WTF?
At the Didsbury medical centre, the receptionists are evidently so ruched off their feet (acting as gatekeepers determining whether you are ill enough to see a doctor, of course), that they have no installed a touch screen "patient arrival" system.
So, you walk in through the door and, as you arrive in the waiting room, the reception desk is stright ahead of you. It has a counter and everything. After waiting for someone to pay attention to you (remember, these people are clearly very important), they then send you away. So, you turn to your left, and are greeted by the practice managed sitting at a desk in the middle of the waiting room - thank god I didn't arrive on crutches today, as I definitely wouldn't be seeing the doc - who raises one eyebrow and points you at the little touch screen at the other end of the room.
Immediately, the screnn requests you touch it. Only, it also states that "If you are having difficulty reading this, please speak to a member of staff". Eh? How, if I can't read it, the **** would I know to speak to a member of staff when half of them have shoo-ed me over here?
And then, having navigated the variuous options including "Are you male or female?", I get to sit down at a chair beside the practice manager and wait for the barely audible voice of my doctor to call my name over the Tannoy.
**** me, no wonder waiting lists are so short these days - everyone has taken their own lives rather than navigate all of this. FFS.
saw this at a friends the other day.
LEDs, Mirror, Batteries and [i]voila[/i]!:
[img] 
[/img]
Technology: where would we be with out it? Rainbowless, that's where!
My mum types letters on her computer, prints them off and faxes them. She then files a paper copy. But she makes good hot pot with crispy potatoes on the top, so that's fine
LEDs, Mirror, Batteries and voila!:
WANT IT.
Where it is from, I can get it?
I must have it...
There's a new 'fast track' ticket system down my local leisure centre. you bung yer membership card under the reader, press a few on-screen options, and it's meant to give you he correct ticket/wristband.
****ing thing never works propply, so I have to queue up anyway.
Internet enabled fridges
Bluetooth headsets for Audi drivers (unless they're actually Cybermenlite)
Mobile phones -you'd think after 20 years that someone would make one that didn't require an inch think manual. Oh, actually someone did.
The self service payment kiosks in Argos that nobody ever seems to notice until a member of the shop staff cuffs you round the ear and drags you to one.
The keyless entry system to get into the yard at work the code changes automatically at midnight. However 2 days a week I dont get back to the yard till 2 am and as the code is randomly generated and the only computer that displays the new code is in the managers office I cant get in to park my wagon.
The problem has been solved ten grands worth of security and the pass code is now set to 123456 and a big padlock has been fitted, amusingly the same padlock that was taken off the gate 2 weeks ago.
Biscuit Powered - Member
My pet hate is [b]LCD displays [/b]on...well, everything. Toothbrushes and clothes irons being the worst offenders. I mean... WTF?
My pet hate is people that talk about technology but clearly know f all 😉 do you have a pin number also, and and a dvd disc?
Self service checkouts in supermarkets.
"UNEXPECTED ITEM IN THE BAGGING AREA" - it's my bag for life YOU IDIOT MACHINE. Can't you see I've not swiped anything and the Unexpected item weighs about 10 grams? No? Either that or it's my hand. The one that should be thumping your idiot touchscreen. Hard.
"PLEASE SEEK ASSISTANCE" - Oh I'm buying alcohol/ vinegar/ ibuprofen/ toilet duck/ CDs/ razor blades - I need someone to come and authorise the sale to check I'm old enough or the sort of person the supermarket staff would be happy to see take an overdose.
Only sensible use for the things would be for school trips. Take classes of 11 year olds down, get them to fill a trolley and run the lot through the self service check out, swipe-beep-swipe-beep-swipe-beep. Then explain if they don't work hard at school they could be doing this for life. That would do more for society than 1,000 educational sociologists.
dont get me started......
i have to admit life was easier 10/15 years ago, im getting old...
pet hate is
The FAST (notice i put FAST in CAPITALS) 'Self Service Checkouts' in supermarkets, i have tried and tried and tried to use them but EVERYTIME it f*cks up through no fault of my own! "ITEM NO RECOGNISED!" - "PLEASE PLACE ITEM IN THE BAG PROVIDED" - I F****ING HAVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i have to say though im a big fan of the 'self service' petrol station pumps, my karma with these is much better, all they need to do now is sort out the fekin idiots who dont realise the filling pipe can stretch over to the other side of your car... 😉
OMG.... you read my mind ^^
Tesco self service machines.
These are the work of the devil! They beep, don't except my notes and tell me to put things in bags that don't exist.
Even the still drunk 14 year old that used to grunt at me is far more bearable then these aweful beeping machines.
OMG You read mine!!!!!
I always thought those self service checkouts were a red rag to a bull as far as shoplifting went.
Ha ha a stu N those ****ing machines mug me off good style!! The're a complete waste of time! I had a few funny looks when I told the machine to **** off and stop telling me what to do!!!!!!!
The only ones that work are the ones in ikea as they just work!
racing_ralph - MemberMy pet hate is people that talk about technology but clearly know f all do you have a pin number also, and and a dvd disc?
Using normal everyday (though not technically 100% correct) wording on a forum means I know F all about technology? FFS get a life.
Five blade razors. Just imagine the R&D meeting.
" Right the punters bought it that our three blade razor shaved them closer. We need something new for this year what's it going to be?"
"How about sticking another couple of blades on and spending a fortune on advertising- it worked before?"
Great idea- right who's going down the pub?
Passwords.
****ING C**TING PASSWORDS.
I got an e-mail at work from our IT head reminding me not to write down any passwords....
I need 17 passwords/door codes/just let me in the ****ing thing codes just to do my job....
I hate having to remember all these useless sh1te codes, and at every opportunity I change them to the most abusive, foul mouthed phrases that I can.
got to be self service checkouts in tesco. i refuse to use them but i'm fed up of the stupid conversation you are then forced to have with the checkout supervisors.
them - you only have a few items you should use the self service
me - no thanks
them - can i ask why not
my head - FFS you just did!
me - would rather be served by a person
them - but why
my head - FFS!!!
me - because i'd rather you guys were working here than on the dole
them - nobody's loosing their jobs sir, infact it takes more people just to supervise the self service <nervous laugh as realisation sets in> nobodys loosing their jobs sir......
Biscuit Powered - Memberracing_ralph - Member
My pet hate is people that talk about technology but clearly know f all do you have a pin number also, and and a dvd disc?
Using normal everyday (though not technically 100% correct) wording on a forum means I know F all about technology? FFS get a life.
nob - did you not see the piss take smilie?
Anything that you see in betterware or kleeneze catalogues. Who buys that pointless crap?
FFS get a life
Shouldn't that be FFS sake get a life?
I-Phone apps - Some of them are good/fun/handy, but really, if you need an app to tell you where you parked your car you're either too stupid or too drunk to get it into gear
Facebook/Bebo et al - keeping you in touch with those people that you thought never have to see again just so you can tell them interesting facts like "I just had a w@nk watching the One Show"
World of Warcraft/Second Life - just get a ****ing life, that elf that just helped you slay a minotaur is not your new best friend, he's probably a peadophile
aslongasithaswheelsI-Phone apps - Some of them are good/fun/handy, but really, if you need an app to tell you where you parked your car you're either too stupid or too drunk to get it into gear
That's not such a bad idea you know. I'd have used that when I lived in central Edinburgh and didn't use my car much, maybe a couple of times a week at most. Imagine coming back from biking on a Wednesday night when parking is so limited it could be anywhere within 5 mins walk of the flat. Then on Sunday morning having to go looking for the ****ing thing having only a vague notion of where it was parked recently, and not being entirely clear on whether it was last week or the week before you might have left it where you think it might be. There's a lot of streets to walk up and down when you can't quite remember where you parked last. 🙂
i have to say though im a big fan of the 'self service' petrol station pumps
No. They still seem to have limits based on prices a couple of years ago (that or nobody's realised that quite normal cars have 70l tanks), hence I can't fill my car completely if I'm anywhere below 1/4 full.
Though to be fair, Tesco self-service checkouts are worse.
Mobile phones -you'd think after 20 years that someone would make one that didn't require an inch think manual.
You'd have thought that after 20 years you'd have worked them out 🙂
My vote: the new fingerprint ID entry system at work. The one at the gym works great. The one at my main client's office works great. The only thing positive I can say about the one at work is that all the time I spend 5 minutes getting the bloody thing to recognise me I'm giving work the finger...
I like the Tesco self-service thingamibobs.
I lack 'small talk' skills and I don't look very friendly/happy so like to avoid human interaction if possible.
Plus, if you scan items in fast enough, the thing can't process it quickly enough and you get free food (obviously need to put on the whole 'grrrr, stupid machine, I'm doing it right I tell you!' act whilst doing this so that you can protest innocence if one of the supervisors picks up on it)
I am also a firm believer that we should adopt technology such as [url= http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octopus_card#Outside_Hong_Kong ]Octopus Cards[/url] instead of carrying around loads of coins and petty cash.
So yeah, I've not really contributed to this thread properly.. 😳
When I go to the paper shop to pay the bill they always ask me "do you know what your customer number is?". When I say "no, but I can tell you my address because you deliver the papers to it" there's much tutting and shaking of heads as if my paper shop customer number is a vital piece of information.
I saw the title and thought "I'll add Tesco's self service checkouts to the list"... but half the world has beaten me to it.
They are ****ing rubbish. The staff at our local branch patrol the queues trying to tempt people to use them.
Utter, utter bobbins.
Another vote for self serve tills here!
[i]Only sensible use for the things would be for school trips. Take classes of 11 year olds down, get them to fill a trolley and run the lot through the self service check out, swipe-beep-swipe-beep-swipe-beep. Then explain if they don't work hard at school they could be doing this for life. That would do more for society than 1,000 educational sociologists. [/i]
Best use for them yet!!!
Although I have also found them to be a good way to get rid of several pounds worth of coppers (if you can be arsed). You just keep piling them in - the machine didn't huff at me once 🙂
The supermarket self checkout tills are great 🙂
If you can't use a self service till then its generally user error
If you can't use a self service till then its generally user error
If they were well-designed in the first place then user error would be virtually inexistent... QED they're badly designed.
the ones in my local Sainsbury's are really good
when they're not broken 😐
can I suggest the modern motorcar? so f*cking full of useless tech. far far more than is necessary.
Self service checkouts - I used one once - now being a good little greenie I go by bike and carry a rucksack. I had to load the stuff into aplastic bag then once checked out transfer it all into the rucksack. The till thingy would not let me load straight into the rucksack or not use a placcy bag. Now that irritated me.
Sat Nav? Try a map instead.
Electronic books - for God's sake, no.
Personal Organiser? Got one, it's called a diary.
God, I'm getting old.
Personal Organiser? Got one, it's called a diary.
Mine's made by Nokia, much better - if I ever lose it it's fully backed up on my PC 🙂
Good point, well made. PC's you say, never catch me using one of those new fangled things................ 😀
LOL, can't believe how much trouble people seem to have with those self-service checkouts.
I use one every day (I get my lunch from Tescos). Never had an issue with it. Use my own bags without problem. Pay by card for small amounts without any tutting. Much faster than dealing with a RealPerson™
we would never get self service checkouts here in China. Since there is very little welfare system in place, the Government tell companies how many people they have to employ, based on the amount of customers they have. More customers = more staff to serve you.
I've been into shops where there are more staff then customers.. now that can get annoying 😯
I like self serve and Sainsburys fast track even beter as you can load up your bags as you go. What i find anoying is where they take a product that works and manage to replace it with 5 different things that never do quite what you are looking for.
FFS get a lifeShouldn't that be FFS sake get a life?
lol out loud
RAS syndrome
The thing that annoys me about the self service checkouts at tesco is that if i am buying a croissant i go to C for croissant and its there, then i want to put my almond croissant (yes i like croissants) through and it's not under C for croissant, so i look under A for almond and its not there either so i have to go through the entire alphabet to find out what they call it....ahh of course F for fresh bakery produce or whatever. One the plus side i now just put everything through as a bread roll thus saving myself time AND money
Anybody mentioned Electronic toilet doors on trains yet?
Those are brilliant!
Tesco self service checkouts are pointless. Tried to use one the other day as the normal queue was half way around the shop. First couple of items went in OK then I tried to buy a small bag of salad. I scanned it and put it in the bag - PUT ITEM IN BAGGING AREA. I just have. I take the salad out and put it back in again - PUT ITEM IN BAGGING AREA. I rearrange the bag to make sure the weight is evenly distributed. PUT ITEM IN BAGGING AREA. I give up and go and join everyone else in the normal queue.
Retro. They are indeed brilliant. We were on a train up to Glasgow. It was rammed so we sat in the corridor outside one of those contraptions. A bloke walked up and opened the doors to reveal a rather attractive young lady stood there with her trolly's around her ankles. It perked up a boring journey no end 🙂
In-car satellite navigation.
Not just for its shitey nomme de plume or the way that people automatically assume you have it when giving you an address, but for encouraging otherwise capable people to behave like my mum when confronted with a requirement to travel between two locations, and THEN, THEN endlessly complain about it!!
I accept not everyone is blessed with my faultless natural sense of direction and coolness under pressure, but honestly, come on. Real men use the position of the sun during the day and the location of star constellations at night* with the occasional glance at a map, for fun. We don't ask for directions, and we certainly don't need a small machine to make them for us.
WTF are these people going to do when civilisation collapses under the combined weight of climate change and economic unrest? Real men skills will be needed then, not a small electronic device that can't follow you into the bath and come out working. They'll be screwed. And they'll be eaten first.
* on cloudy nights we stay put or only travel to places we already know the way to.
SatNav only winds me up under certain conditions...
1. When I type in a postcode and do not get offered the name of the or when it has no concept of a house name rather than a number. Great when trying to find someplace in the middle of utter ****ing nowhere in the sticks, where house numbers do not exist and have not for centuries.
2. When people treat the ****ing things as gospel and drive their expensive Mercs/Audis/BMWs into streams, rivers, lakes, gorges etc because they refuse to believe that technology can lie to them and _never_ use their own common sense to tell them that they might be going slightly wrong the wrong way.
heard something along these lines on tv the other day....
"five blade razors, brilliant arnt they, the first one shaves you, the next one shaves a bit closer, the next a bit closer, etc etc.
strikes me, you only really need the last blade?"
Technology for technology's sake?
-UK love for CCTV
-Speed cameras instead of traffic police
-Segways
-Brain shock
-Dyson airblade
-Windows Vista
-Audi Q7
also.
crap functions on hardware.
does anyone play the miriad of games that come "pre installed" on any Operating system, or phone or anything?
voice recorders on phones?
mobile TV on phones?
all this CRAP that no one uses.
and my calender on my computer (at work this is) wont sync to my work phone, because the phone only accepts nokia calender entries or something.
which makes the useful concept of work related reminders on ones work phone totally defunct!
calls please, and txts from time to time....
thats, about IT!
I love the Airblade... it's cool and much better than ordinary dryers 😀
I'm just wondering if the iPhone fits into both the best and worst categories... Still can't decide whether to get one to replace my Nokia e61 yet.
Any help gratefully received from the STW masses by the way.
OK It does use less power, I will give em that. But they reckon a normal drier takes 27 seconds to dry? Hmmm.
And what's this:
"Power Consumption Per Use: 4.44 watts" Makes no sense James!
Typical ugly plastic dyson design though, and so damn noisy!
Asda self service sh1te when I want to quickly buy beer on a Friday night and put it in my rucksack, its worth killing someone at Walmart head office for that sh1t.
And when you finish fannying around with it, after having to scan your own stuff, get the woman to approve your age, then finally come over and reset it with her key because it won't let you use your own bag, it says "Thank you for using the fast lane!". Utter arse.
The new iPhone has a couple
-Video editing on it. Pretty sure if you NEED to edit a video, you'll find a better way
- Magnetic compass on the iPhone. It has satnav, if you need a compass, buy one from a camping shop and save 200 quid.
I'm a huge fan of the category "We did this to make your life easier, but in reality know it makes it MUCH harder". Current favourite is my local council who won't let me pay my council tax bill unless I have the relevant number. Their excuse is the system is designed with data protection in mind and won't let them add a payment unless I have the number, irrespective of whether I can tell them who I am, where I live, when I moved in, when I last paid etc. Apparently it could be "DISASTROUS" if they allowed me to pay without the relevant reference number.
- Magnetic compass on the iPhone. It has satnav, if you need a compass, buy one from a camping shop and save 200 quid.
But the reason a lot of satnav things suck for anything other than driving, is because they haven't got a compass it it. A compass makes total sense for walking directions, finding your way on a bike and other things where you're likely to not be following a completely predefined route. The real question is why the hell do people build GPS units / gps phones and not stick a compass in there, given how small and cheap a digital compass is.
Joe
I like Tesco self serve checkouts. We call them the "Buy one get one free checkouts" in our house.
parking ticket machines. put money in get ticket...you would have though, oh no, put money in TYPE IN LICENCE PLATE NO, then press hidden button, then wait, slightly too long so you think it's broken, and then get ticket.
All to stop you passing a parking ticket on to some-one else, a nice friendly thing to do, that costs them what a couple of quid...bastids
Facebook/Bebo et al - keeping you in touch with those people that you thought never have to see again just so you can tell them interesting facts like "I just had a w@nk watching the One Show"
LOL, best thing anyones said on here in a long time!!!
I think self service tills are a rite of passage in some way, they seem to confuse all sorts of people. The only problem I've ever found with them was with dodgy bar codes, then someone is along swiftly to sort that. Perfik - I dont have to queue for ages, answer whether I want a hand packing, make polite but pointless conversation etc.
Dyson airblades - absolutely rock. Work a treat, look a lot more hygenic and clean than the skanky white enammelled things normally there, full of spit and chewy, and since evap occurs primarily by air motion rather than heat its a winner all round.
Sat navs - not pointless, they mean you dont have to stop for map reading all the time, and thats handy. Rarely use one though.
The new iPhone has a couple
-Video editing on it. Pretty sure if you NEED to edit a video, you'll find a better way
Yeah, but EVERY video needs editing and the whole point is you can shoot the video of you lighting your own farts, edit it and then upload it to YouTube within a matter of minutes, all on the same device.
i usually go with the arguement that user error is the cause of "computer says no" but in the case of the tesco self serve what are you supposed to do when the bag you are packing is full. when you move it computer has a fit and refuses to do anything else gaaarrrgggghhh. 9 times out of ten that i use them something causes a pain in the hole.
the tesco self service petrol pumps are great though i have not been inside a petrol station shop in years it really puzzles me to see people go inside, wait in big Q then pay by card anyway without buying anything else. i'll pass any compliments about these on as my bro wrote the original software 🙂
In a departure from Tescos...
For me it would be a project I was on to replace a fax machine in Payroll with eFax.
They demanded that we do it, it cost a fair bit, as projects do, complete with 3rd party contracts the lot - costs more than the maintenance on the old fax machine.
Now when they are faxed they get a nice email instead containg a PDF.
... which they print out and file (legal reasons).
Why bother?
Heard a story whilst in the RAF about NASA spending $$$$$$$ to develop a pen that could write in a weightless environment. The ink was meant to be propelled from the pen by Nitrogen gas.
LMAO when the USSR solved the problem of writing in space.......by using a pencil. 🙄
i hate those speed limit signs that light up
especially the 'eco' solar powered ones!
moan moan moan, it must be early
and the whole point is you can shoot the video of you lighting your own farts, edit it and then upload it to YouTube within a matter of minutes
...which just goes to show that atlaz was right; technology for technology's sake.
Heard a story whilst in the RAF about NASA spending $$$$$$$ to develop a pen that could write in a weightless environment. The ink was meant to be propelled from the pen by Nitrogen gas.LMAO when the USSR solved the problem of writing in space.......by using a pencil
Except the story's not true, you really don't want pencil shavings (with lovely conductive graphite) floating around your spaceship...
[url= http://www.thespacereview.com/article/613/1 ]Real story[/url]
[url= http://www.snopes.com/business/genius/spacepen.asp ]More...[/url]
Those self service checkouts have one (Sort of) basic problem - They are too complicated. There's no need for them to talk to you, they react very slowly, they take up too much space.
We were in the USA a few years ago, and they hadn't been installed in the UK at the time, but over there they were fairly common, and looked a bit old and worn in some places. The American ones are very simple, don't have a big posh (Windoze) driven desktop, don't talk, and you can swipe your goods as fast as you can pick them up. In short, they work very well.
Ours are just too complicated for their own good....
Oh I just thought of another:
-genetic engineering