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Humanity has produced some truly elite ideas. The snooze button, read receipts, and trash bags with drawstrings that actually close. Civilizational wins. Whoever invented these absolutely understood the assignment and improved daily life for everyone.
But nature demands balance. For every stroke of genius, there also has to be something completely useless. And Reddit has a whole community dedicated to finding exactly those creations. It’s called Well That Was Pointless, and it’s full of hilariously unnecessary fails. Scroll down for the funniest ones.
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#1
Thank You For Noticing
Mike Rodrick 1 month ago
Amusing! For the prices we pay, there should be something to give us a chuckle.
Ozymandias73 1 month ago
No one needs to know my noticing this notice noticing my notions. Needless needling nonetheless.
Plentyofoomph 1 month ago
If you notice this notice you'll notice this notice is not worth noticing
Sour Patch Kid 1 month ago
Note how I noticed how it noticed I noticed them because they noted me for my good noticing.
RELATED:
#2
Your Trusted News Source!
Michael Largey 1 month ago (edited)
Good reporting always includes revealing the background to the story.
Binky Melnik 1 month ago
😆 If it were me and I wanted to stay anonymous, I’d have stood up and started shouting all the words not allowed on TV (assuming this is the US). (Yes, I’m aware the Brits say ANY old dang thing, up to and including the C-word.) (The first time I heard that on their TV, my C-word immediately dried up! That’s the last thing most of us women in the US wanna hear ever!)
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Aveline Roisseau 1 month ago
In the first picture they blurred her face, but not in the second.
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In_the_gorge 1 month ago
The woman’s face was revealed after it had been blurred out.
Load More Replies...On the spectrum between useful and useless, there exists a curious middle ground. A place where things are both clever and completely impractical at the same time. Where an invention can make you roll your eyes and admire the engineering behind it in equal measure. That strange space is called chindōgu.
Chindōgu (珍道具) is the Japanese practice of inventing everyday gadgets that appear to solve specific problems but often create just as many new ones. Translated literally, the term means “unusual tool,” from chin (strange) and dōgu (tool).
#3
The Vent In My Hotel Shower Doesn't Seem To Be Working
George Costanza 1 month ago
It is working if it tricks the code inspector into thinking there's actually a vent there.
Sven Horlemann 1 month ago
"Did you put the vent up?" "Yup" "Ok, job done. Lets get out of here".
martymcmatrix 1 month ago (edited)
There are so many other things that would drive me crazy, furthermost the (non)symmetry alignment of the whole matter...🙅🏽
angelmomoffour62 1 month ago
Someone didn't want it to do what it is suppose to do for some reason.
UncleJon_TheMadScientist 1 month ago (edited)
I've seen thermostats just as "useful" as this vent in offices and even in apartments
Jerusalem Cat Syndrome 1 week ago
I'm curious as to why there should be a vent in the shower in the first place.
#4
Who Is It?
The concept was coined by Kenji Kawakami, a former editor at the Japanese home-shopping magazine Mail Order Life. In his spare magazine pages, Kawakami began showcasing bizarre product ideas that never stood a chance on the actual market.
Later, Dan Papia introduced chindōgu to the English-speaking world through a monthly feature in Tokyo Journal, encouraging readers to submit their own ideas. In 1995, Kawakami and Papia published 101 Unuseless Japanese Inventions: The Art of Chindōgu, a book that became a defining collection of the movement’s most iconic creations.
#5
Secure Your Haul. Task Complete!
Doug Moyer 1 month ago
I could see doing that as a joke. My wife always questions whether I secured things properly (I've been driving a pickup truck for nearly fifty years...)
#6
Hmm
Lukas (he/him, it/its) 1 month ago
This picture is older than image generation AI. Just stupid people.
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#7
I Don't Think That's How It Works...
Daniel Atkins 1 month ago
I received one that said your fortune is already inside you. They are getting lazy writing these time to call Homer Simpson.
joann fielding 1 month ago
I got one that said, "You like Chinese food." How ever did they know?! 🤷♀️
Load More Replies... RomanceRadish 1 month ago
A corporate social hour at a nearby bar was once unexpectedly sprung upon my colleagues and me. The extroverts were delighted, us introverts were horrified.
Michael Largey 1 month ago
OK, if you say so. Tomorrow is when I will make that plan you requested.
Among those inventions were a combined household duster and cocktail shaker, designed for the person who wants to reward themselves while cleaning, and a full-day tissue dispenser worn like a hat for hay fever sufferers. There was also an all-over plastic bathing suit for people afraid of water, and even a baby outfit that doubled as a floor mop as the child crawled around.
One of the most ironic examples is the selfie stick. It was originally dismissed as a useless invention and later went on to become a global everyday accessory. Few things capture the unpredictable fate of chindōgu better than that.
#8
Wait👀
Lotekguy 1 month ago (edited)
That's the most useless gesture of pandering I've ever seen. Next step is Braille road signs for blind drivers.
Anne Roberts 1 month ago
I read that this was publicity for a national society for the blind. The jerseys were only worn for one game and then auctioned off as a fundraiser. Still, it looks strange.
Binky Melnik 1 month ago
Ah. Okay; I’m now much less annoyed than I was in my previous comment about this. Thanks for the additional info! 💋
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Tyranamar Seuss 1 month ago
At least with those I feel like it's just bc they make all ATM's with braille. Where it's installed is decided later.
Load More Replies... UncleJon_TheMadScientist 1 month ago
Hey this is right up there with the steering wheels that have braille markings for the horn
#9
A Solar Powered Parking Meter In An Underground Garage
Kit Black 1 month ago
I don't think the people who designed it had any idea that someone would put it indoors, more like a purchasing error
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Robert T 1 month ago
A Light Powered Parking Meter - there fixed that for you. Solar powered calculators work indoors, no reason this shouldn't, if there are lights on in the garage.
Sam Trudeau 1 month ago
They need more of these. Free parking for everyone (obviously the US wouldn't do it, because they need to constantly c**p money into the toilet, but every sane person would have this)
Andrew Keir 1 month ago
And I have good ideas, but in both cases, not a lot
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#10
A Screwdriver That Requires A Screwdriver To Open It
Kira Okah 1 month ago
Just like the scissors that have a cable tie holding them, necessitating a second pair to get them usable.
Debby Keir 1 month ago
Ah, but then you buy the second pair to open the first......
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justanotherweirdo 1 month ago
It’s a marketing conspiracy to make you buy more screwdrivers! 😂
Binky Melnik 1 month ago
I see no clamshell here; just looks like a thin piece of cardboard. If there were a clamshell, the s***w thing wouldnt be needed.
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Of course, something as esteemed as chindōgu could not possibly exist without an official institution to oversee it. That is exactly why Kawakami went on to found the International Chindōgu Society, which manages and promotes the concept worldwide. Through the society’s platform, inventors can submit descriptions of their creations for others to explore.
However, not every silly idea automatically qualifies as chindōgu. The Society established ten official tenets that outline what true chindōgu must follow. A chindōgu must exist, must be usable in theory but not meant for real use, must not be a commercial product, and must not be created purely for humor. It also must not be taboo, discriminatory, or patented.
#11
Starting To Understand Office Space A Little More
Carol Culhane 1 month ago
I truly believe the utter pain in the b**t of printers is the reason society is going paperless. They claim it's a green thing, but I have my doubts
Rick Murray 1 month ago
I can't get over the fact that we have gone from eight bit computers with really bad huge-pixel graphics in maybe four colours to AI bots that can regurgitate generic stories... yet the only advances in printers was to make them do colour and be quieter about it... but of all the multitude of rage inducing problems that printers used to cause people, the only problem that has gone away is misfed fanfold (with the holes down the sides) and that's only because modern printers don't work with that anymore. It's been FORTY years, people, why do printers still suck so much?
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#12
A Picture To Sum Up This Sub
yxsqk58xzs 1 month ago
America's Big Beautiful Axe: backwards , upside down, and extremely stupid.
UncleJon_TheMadScientist 1 month ago
Don't axe me what the heck... I think it's the preferred weapon of ASK m******r's everywhere
#13
Thanks
BrunoVI 1 month ago
When the Washtington Football team (eventually named the Commanders) ceased having a name (they were formerly the Washington Redskins Football team), I soooo wanted to sell to the all the DC bureaucrats football gear labeled "This space left intentionally blank."
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Arguably, one of the funniest parts of the whole concept is where it originated. Japan is often associated with high standards, precision, and quality. From cars to cameras, fashion to animation, it has built a global reputation for advanced technology and respected craftsmanship. When we see a “Made in Japan” label, it usually comes with a sense of authority and trust.
At the same time, Japanese society is also known for its formality and complex social rules. That strictness is likely one of the reasons such high standards of quality exist in the first place. It also means that communication depends heavily on context and on being very good at reading the room. Even compliments can carry hidden messages.
#14
Proper Drainage
#15
Thank God Someone Translated This
Talis 1 month ago
Could be in Catalonia. There, a lot of signs show Catalan and Spanish. Think of Catalan as mostly Spanish with some French influence. I hope I haven't insulted anyone here...
Binky Melnik 1 month ago
Aha! Must check out Catalan, then, as I already speak French and Spanish. Might be an easy-ish one to pull off at my (old-ish) age. Thanks for the tip!
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Linda Robinett 1 month ago
I am taking a French class online and the French use the s for plural just like in English so Oranges translates as Oranges. (I suspect this is on behalf of other users who don't speak English)
Rick Murray 1 month ago
Ah, but the catch is that all of the other words get pluralised as well: les voitures blanches for example.
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Rick Murray 1 month ago
In English, "cah-feh-TEA-ree-ah" (though I think most people would read that and say "CAH-fay"), in Spanish it is "ca-feh-ter-EE-a" (the accent marks the stress).
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#16
Best Security Gate Ever Made
timhood 1 month ago
This must be in Germany, where they always follow the rules. So it would work without the high cost of installing all that other fencing, 😆
Scott Rackley 1 month ago
If you want to roll on Gov. William J. Le Petomane Thruway
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Mike Rodrick 1 month ago
Painted bright yellow so you don't walk into it & hurt yourself. Prevents lawsuit.
Lotekguy 1 month ago
I think I've seen this picture before, but they've painted it yellow since then and it looks much better.
Michael Largey 1 month ago (edited)
🎶🎵 "Follow the yellow wrought gate / Follow the yellow wrought gate / Follow, follow, follow / Follow the yellow wrought gate / .... " 🎵🎶
Melissa Robinson 1 month ago
It's actually a fine gate.... It just happens to be missing a fence to go along with it. They usually team up together to get the job done
David Beth 1 month ago
The fact that there isn't a path worn in the grass around this gate proves that either it actually does work or no one ever uses this path.
For example, if your Japanese neighbor one day tells you they have heard you playing the piano and comments on how beautiful you sound and how much you have improved, you might feel thrilled that someone noticed your progress. In reality, what they may be trying to say is that your piano playing is so loud they can hear it in their apartment, and you should try to keep it down.
In that sense, it feels strangely fitting that chindōgu was born in such an environment. It turns all that structure on its head with tongue-in-cheek humor. Kawakami himself has never minded people laughing at his creations. “If people laugh, that’s fine,” he said in a 2005 interview with The Asia-Pacific Journal. “We need more of it. I believe in rejecting society by laughing at it.”
#17
Wonderful
Andrew Keir 1 month ago
"If you need to keep the toilet door shut with one foot, it's advanced architecture"
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#18
What A Deal!
Benoît Rainville 1 month ago
Slash 70 to showcase 39 so they don't need words to explain it.
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Lila Allen 1 month ago
It's shoes. Not attractive or sturdy shoes, but shoes that look like a small child on a budget made them
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#19
When You Go To A Scenic Overlook But You’re In A Cloud
Sally Moen 1 month ago
Well the sign DOES say "On a clear day..." I wonder if this is on Orcas Island
Ozymandias73 1 month ago
Tour guide: "So this is the level where Hephaestus is said to do his work. As you can see, he must really be busy right now."
Tim Douglass 1 month ago
Looks like a pretty standard view of the Olympics for about 6 months out of the year.
Lila Allen 1 month ago
It's pretty much the standard view of the entire PNW
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Mark Hastings 1 month ago
Went to the Hells Canyon Overlook in Oregon a few years ago. Could see anything due to wildfires.
But as humorous as chindōgu may seem on the surface, Kawakami has always treated the concept with complete seriousness and saw it as a genuine form of rebellion. To him, these inventions were never just jokes.
On the one hand, he spoke of chindōgu as “strangely practical and utterly eccentric inventions designed to solve all the nagging problems of domestic life.” On the other, he called them “invention dropouts,” ideas that escaped “the suffocating historical dominance of conservative utility.”
“I describe them as unuseless,” he explained. “Technically they are convenient and you can use them but most won’t because of shame.”
#20
To Anyone Who Pays To Advertise Here
#21
This Dart Apparently
Mike Rodrick 1 month ago
Yet another example of a Matrix glitch. It should show the arrow broken.
Shayne Randlett 1 month ago
Shenanigans! Fun party trick that will amaze kids - if you put scotch tape on either side of a balloon, you can poke a knitting needle through it without the balloon popping.
Glenn Cuneo 1 month ago
You can put a skewer thru a ballon without popping it: little soap near the part you blow up , little soap on the opposite side- the thickest part. That's the key: use the thickest part. It helps to sharpen the skewer first....
#22
I Understand
Corvus 1 month ago
When I worked as a translator, we did preciserly this for any language we weren't certified for. For example, I'm not certified for French, so I would write down "(text in French - illegible)" and leave it like this. The client oculd pay for a French translator to take care of this missing text, if necessary.
Load More Replies... joann fielding 1 month ago
"I fart in your general direction!" Always great to see a fellow Pythoner!
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Lost Panda 1 month ago
I've seen this, but it is usually done on purpose for if the original sound track wouldn't have been subtitled. Like if you're watching a Japanese show and someone starts speaking Korean. If they subbed it in Japanese, they would in English, but if not then they would leave it out so the audience doesn't know something the character doesn't.
Binky Melnik 1 month ago
That just happened to me this past weekend. Was watching a Korean show, but they were needing to meet with Japanese business partners, and the Japanese wasn’t translated (and there’s a LOT of it.) Haven’t been back to finish the show, as I need to look it up to see whether all that Japanese really *doesn’t* need to be translated (the Koreans understand it just fine and also speak it themselves) or whether I oughtta just bag on it.
Load More Replies... Lila Allen 1 month ago
Could be worse. Watching the show Dark Winds which is set in U.S. on a Native American Reservation and the character is speaking Navajo and it was captioned " speaking foreign language" I can't think of any language less foreign in the US than Navajo
Rick Murray 1 month ago
I watched a movie a long time ago that was subtitled "That noise Asians make that means yes." Uh, okay... 🙄
At its core, chindōgu is a critique of materialism and commercialization. Yet as the concept spread worldwide, it began to take on slightly different meanings depending on where it was received. In Europe, Australia, and Canada, Kawakami said he was often treated as a legitimate inventor or even a kind of scientist.
In the United States, however, the political edge of his work was more easily lost. “Chindōgu is considered radical in other parts of the world,” he said. “But in America they just laugh at the weird Japanese inventor.”
#23
Bus Stop
Shayne Randlett 1 month ago
"Wny were you late?" "My stupid bus stop was not in use so I had to walk eighteen inches to get to the next one."
Rick Murray 1 month ago
It's Hampshire County Council, the correct response is "What is a bus?". 😋
Rick Murray 1 month ago
Unfortunately I can't read any of the signs, because it looks a lot like where I grew up. But then everything from Surbiton to beyond Basingstoke looks a lot like that...
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Uncle Schmickle 1 month ago
Well that's about 1 foot away from the permanent sign, so the cover is correct.
#24
Solar Panels Are Set, Boss
Bell-icose 1 month ago
That’s not England. You can tell because the solar panels are on the other side of the house.
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#25
Made In Japan
Shayne Randlett 1 month ago
If you think the stuff made in Japan is cool, wait 'till you see the stuff made in Japan!
“I despise materialism and how everything is turned into a commodity,” Kawakami added. “Things that should belong to everyone are patented and turned into private property. I’ve never registered a patent and I never will because the world of patents is dirty, full of greed and competition.”
Chindōgu proves that even the most pointless ideas can still say something meaningful. Beneath the absurdity, there is a message about the world we live in and the choices we make within it. And that is a thought worth sitting with.
#26
Smhh
#27
Iron Man With Removable Iron Man Mask
Bill Swallow 1 month ago
Very funny, Tony. Now how's 'bout you get outta your poolside lounger and get your but.t out on the front lines instead of sending one of your Iron Legion suits?
Andrew Keir 1 month ago
It's probably my problem, but I can't suspend disbelief enough to bother with super-heroes
Remi (He/Him) 1 month ago
I think of them as being in alternate universe with substantially different laws of physics and also human physiology
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#28
Wow Thanks Safari
Science Nerd 1 month ago
We know who you are. Hiding behind a screen name doesn’t help.
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#29
To Help With Your Fear Of Putting Eye Drops In
Kira Okah 1 month ago
This is chindogu, the design of useless but not useless things. This isn't serious, bt captures chindogu perfectly.
Binky Melnik 1 month ago
Kira, I can tell you didn’t start reading at the top. The text BP included was all about chindogu.
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Alan Jay Weiner 1 month ago
I tilt my head and put the drops into the corner of my eye. No problem 'cause I'm not looking at the drops.
BossyCloud 1 month ago
I just put it right into the corner of my eye by the tear duct. The *drop* onto your eye is the part that hurts/is scary
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Professore CG 1 month ago
The easiest and least scary way to insert eyedrops is to keep your eyes closed (clean area before) and squeeze the eyedrops onto the eye, and then open and blink!
Rick Murray 1 month ago
I hate having things in my eye. I put my drops in in the dark so I can't see it coming. Also means I can't see where I'm aiming so it's a good thing those little plastic doohickeys have more than one drop in them.
#30
My Friend Just Sent Me This From Dundee
#31
Everything's On Sale
Andrew Keir 1 month ago
Well, "Sale" just means you can buy it. Nothing about it being cheap...
#32
Today I Made A Noodle
#33
I Just Won The Lottery!
Sally Moen 1 month ago
I know people that only scratch off the bar code, then scan the tix to see if they've won.
Rick Murray 1 month ago
All the tickets I've seen say the thing is null and void if presented with the barcode scratched off. It's a verification code to be entered that permits winnings to be paid out.
Load More Replies... Andrew Keir 1 month ago
Why is it that the people who buy the most prize draw tickets are the people least able to afford it? It's like "Vimes' boots" in reverse ...
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What do you think ?
Tonia Kay Meerman 1 month ago
I say we anger a happy, handsy mime- then say "Use your words! Use your words!" 😁
Tonia Kay Meerman 1 month ago
I say we anger a happy, handsy mime- then say "Use your words! Use your words!" 😁
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