Products are usually well thought-out. After all, companies are investing time, money, and other resources into developing them. But even though they are created to satisfy a specific need, things happen and products can evolve into something else entirely, taking on new forms and applications.
To learn more about these examples, Reddit user u/EpicEllis2004 submitted a question to the platform, asking what are some of the products that have drifted away from their main purpose. Turns out, it's a topic that really interests people. In just a week, the post has received over 34K upvotes and 14K comments, providing quite a few interesting insights into consumerism. Here are some of the answers.
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History Channel... as far as I am concerned the secret relationships between aliens and the illuminati do not qualify as "history"
The toilet lid of a toilet. Seen too many not even know you're supposed to put the lid down before flushing. Microscopic fecal matter flies everywhere otherwise. Apparently this isn't common knowledge.
This. So many arguements about putting the toilet seat up/down when honestly, everyone should just close the lid once they’re done. The particles spread up to 6 m (19 ft) otherwise.
Slinky, the toy. It was originally designed during WW2 to help sensitive instruments remain steady on ships... to counter the effects of pitch, roll, and yaw. The engineer working on them knocked one off his desk accidentally, saw the way it moved from the table to the chair, to the floor, and a new purpose was born.
On a side note... during the Vietnam War, when the Slinkys were metal, radio operators would carry them through the deep jungles. If they couldn't get a good signal in the jungle mountains, they'd sling a Slinky high into the tree limbs while holding onto one end. It created an instant antenna extension that they would attach to the radio.
Q-tips. The only thing they are used for is the one thing you are explicitly told not to use them for.
The warming drawer on the bottom of all our ovens, which is used as pan storage for exactly %100 of oven owners.
Super glue was meant to be a temporary method of stitching a wound. It was used that way during the Vietnam War. Tell people today to super clue their cuts shut, however, and most will think you're crazy
Apparently paintball guns were invented for foresters/loggers/park rangers to mark trees (for cutting etc.) without having to approach each tree.
Wonder how many minutes it took after the initial product release that 1st forester thought that it would be funny to shoot Mike on back.. Maybe hours but definetly not days..
Snuggy was originally designed for wheelchair users. Outerwear designed for walkers is cumbersome to take on and off for wheelchair users so snuggies were designed to help with this.
Ketamine is for horses and not for Saturday night.
It's been approved for use as a human sedative, it's used in operating rooms and ICUs. And remember those Thai kids that were trapped in the flooded cave? Each kid got a shot of Ketamine before the final rescue, it kept them quiet as heroic spent hours dragging them to safety through a dangerous flooded cave.
It's used in ORs and this statement is wrong. it's not FOR horses, it's used ON horses. Huge difference there. I work in the OR Area. Facts.
Ketamine (or, Esketamine) has shown to be effective in treating treatment resistant depression.
yes but it's also very risky since it's far more addictive then other antidepressants and people with depression are often more vulnerable to forming addictions.
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I had it from a paramedic for a compound tibia/fibula break. To say I was flying high is an understatement. Great stuff lol
I Had it for a heart operation...can totally see why people want to take it
Load More Replies... Not just horses - also used frequently in companion animal medicine (cats/dogs)!
Can confirm - the ketamine & Valium combination (called "ketval") is used as an induction agent for surgery. It renders the pet unconscious for a short period of time, but long enough to get a breathing tube in so that they can be put under general anesthesia for the procedure.
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Ketamine infusions in people is amazing for pain management. I wish it was more mainstream for pain as it's non-narcotic. As it is, it's like medical marijuana - way over priced and out of reach for most people who need it. One infusion will cost you 6 to 7 hundred and of course insurance doesn't cover it.
My disabled child was intubated on ketamine for a week. It took a week after "waking" her up and stopping the ketamine for her to be normal again. She spent the week after in what id call an awake coma. She had tremors, stared off into nothing and couldn't talk. She had no idea what was going on around her or who anyone was. This was used on her due to her high tolerance for other anesthesia. Never again.
I use ketamine every day to help deal with depression and chronic pain. My doc prescribes it as an alternative to weed.
Thats like prescribing Heroin as an alternative to Tylenol. Your Doc is a quack.
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My dad dislocated his ankle and they gave him special k when the put it back in
I have no idea why ketamine is supposed to feel good. An EMT shot it to me and I woke up vomiting and feeling absolutely terrible
Not everyone enjoys every potentially addictive drug. Personally, I hated morphine; it made me really mean.
Load More Replies... It’s also used by patients with intractable pain, who have caught hell because of the abusers in our society. We have lost a good many people to suicide as a direct result of the over reaction of authorities, law enforcement, DEA, over zealous pharmacists and doctors who fear losing their licensing. Big pharma and drug abusers have the cost of many lives on their books.
Ah, old special K....I saw a dude pee on himself once with the special K....
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And cops, in certain states, can order medics to give "unruly" people a shot of it... Several people have died, and dozens hospitalized because they stopped breathing due to Ketamine being a bitch-and-a-half to dose correctly on the fly.
The nephew had ketamine when he broke his collarbone and had to have it manipulated. Shouting his head off and screaming but he remembered absolutely nothing when it wore off. This is why hospital A&E depts. should have soundproof rooms so others waiting for treatment don’t have to listen.
Ketamine is wildly useful on humans. It can work as a sedative, a bronchodilator, a dissociative anesthetic, all with minimal side effects. Amazing stuff.
It helps chronic pain pts, like me, when used as a therapy to arrest a particularly bad pain cycle. Never actually had it on a Saturday, only on an operating table every 2-3 months. But do go on.
Drug is indeed a use. A bad use. In design schools we teach people to think about every possible bad use of a product, system or service that they design.
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WD-40 was developed as a rust preventative (it’s even in the initials: “WD” means “Water Displacement”). Nowadays people use it to lubricate mechanical parts.
Pipe cleaners,
Use them for all sorts of arts and crafts as kids. It wasn't till I owned a tobacco pipe and went to buy them that it actually clicked
Oh my Jesus Christ. I haven’t thought about these since I was in primary school. Back then, I assumed the ‘pipe’ in pipe cleaner referred the things that ran along the walls of my house and I didn’t question it. It’s only now, reading this as a fully grown adult, that I realise it’s not that kind of pipe at all. That update has been pending for decades!
I think people already know this but the neck on the beer bottle is actually supposed to be held so you don’t warm your drink too fast.
No thank you. I don't trust my clumsy hands to hold it steady at the neck.
Gloveboxes were originally meant to store gloves because people used to drive with gloves on for some reason.
People used to drive with at the very least - gloves, dust coats, goggles, and hats on, if not full face masks. Because cars didn't have roofs or windows and the roads weren't paved, anyone who drove the first cars was going to get all the dust, mud, or weather in the world in the face.
Minoxidil was originally developed to treat high blood pressure and people reported unusual hair growth all around the body, since it promotes blood flow to the skin pores. They came up with a topical version and voila, millions of people smear that sh*t on their scalps and beards everyday and its the one of the only clinically proven ways to cure baldness.
Microsoft Excel/Google Sheets used as informal databases instead of as a data analysis tool
Facebook... originally intended to help college students meet, now used to control political behavior.
Zuck started it for dude-bros to rate the "attractiveness" of female students. So...It went from shitty to shitty in a different way, really.
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Lots of medical products had entirely different intentions! Dramamine was originally meant to combat hay fever, but turned out to be exceptional at preventing nausea (which is good as it's useless at preventing hay fever). Spironolactone was being tested for blood pressure uses until they realized that it acts as a testosterone blocker (it does actually affect blood pressure, but barely compared to more traditional blood pressure medications). Pharmaceuticals is basically an entire industry of "not what I was going for but let's roll with it".
Skin So Soft (S.O.S.) from Avon was a beauty product, but was found to be an excellent mosquito repellent
Should I say autotune software. I think it was invented to improve the mistakes made after recording, now it's used to enhance voice and sound quality, and hide flaws of the singer and musicians.
Coke was a soft drink before,now I use it to clean my toilet and sink.They're quite cheap.
Coke actually started out as a medicine and was developed by a pharmacist. It originally contained cocaine but that was removed in the early 1900's and became a drink.
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And canola (rapeseed) oil was originally developed as an industrial lubricant too - the petrochemical industry shut that down fast!
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Here in India, 'Clinic Plus' is still sold and promoted as a shampoo but is an amazing bike and basin/bathroom cleaner.
BoredPanda. It was created for art/photography and such and now it contains a lot of posts shaming people.
It seems like you pushed a Qtip a lot too far in your ear.
Load More Replies... Facebook... originally intended to help college students meet, now used to control political behavior.
Zuck started it for dude-bros to rate the "attractiveness" of female students. So...It went from shitty to shitty in a different way, really.
Load More Replies... Lots of medical products had entirely different intentions! Dramamine was originally meant to combat hay fever, but turned out to be exceptional at preventing nausea (which is good as it's useless at preventing hay fever). Spironolactone was being tested for blood pressure uses until they realized that it acts as a testosterone blocker (it does actually affect blood pressure, but barely compared to more traditional blood pressure medications). Pharmaceuticals is basically an entire industry of "not what I was going for but let's roll with it".
Skin So Soft (S.O.S.) from Avon was a beauty product, but was found to be an excellent mosquito repellent
Should I say autotune software. I think it was invented to improve the mistakes made after recording, now it's used to enhance voice and sound quality, and hide flaws of the singer and musicians.
Coke was a soft drink before,now I use it to clean my toilet and sink.They're quite cheap.
Coke actually started out as a medicine and was developed by a pharmacist. It originally contained cocaine but that was removed in the early 1900's and became a drink.
Load More Replies... And canola (rapeseed) oil was originally developed as an industrial lubricant too - the petrochemical industry shut that down fast!
Load More Replies... Here in India, 'Clinic Plus' is still sold and promoted as a shampoo but is an amazing bike and basin/bathroom cleaner.
BoredPanda. It was created for art/photography and such and now it contains a lot of posts shaming people.
It seems like you pushed a Qtip a lot too far in your ear.
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