Wired has put out an article listing ten gadgets that only managed one thing, to separate a fool and his money. Some of these “inventions” you may remember, others you may not. Unlike all great inventions, these really did nothing to the world except make it a dumber place to live with less money.

Among the list are things like the Q-Ray bracelet, Harmony Clip, Teslar watches (which claimed to “neutralize cellphones” while in the vicinity of the watch), wooden stereo knobs, and the infamous Dowsing Rod. Regardless of whether you think these work or not, many of these inventions are pure hooey and won’t do squat for your health as so many of them claim. They are good for a laugh though.

At least one device on this list, the EMPower Modulator, comes with free crazy inside too! Well, not so much inside as more of a side dish, but you get the idea. Daniel Rutter tried to get to the bottom of the EMPower’s claims for health benefits and was issued with a bunch of legal threats and general idiocy.

So let this list be a lesson to you, make sure you know what you’re getting before you throw money at anything that claims to be the greatest thing since sliced bread. Chances are, it’s a rip off and you probably could have found something more meaningful to spend the money on, like groceries or video games…maybe bills, but I wouldn’t push it that far.

If you liked that, try...

1. Hadron Collider to Get Day in Court?
2. Mouse to Disappear Within Five Years
3. The Great ATM Hack
4. Pardon Our Dust
5. The Late Great Film Review: Transformers

2 Comments »

1. 
   Devin de Gruyl
   November 21, 2007 at 1:22 pm

   Just to let you know, the link to the Wired article is broken…

   [Reply]
2. 
   Migo
   November 21, 2007 at 1:28 pm

   Fixed, thanks. Wordpress decided to add an extra http onto the front of the URL…for some strange reason.

   [Reply]

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