ENGINEERING FAILURES

The Fark.com website asked, “What are some of the worst engineering failures you have encountered in everyday items, where the entire process somehow ignored common sense?” Some of the replies:
– “Electronics in stoves, ovens, toasters. Items that their entire purpose is to generate heat, and heat destroys electronics.”
– “The plastic door handles on 90’s Hyundai cars. They would literally break in your hands while pulling to open or pushing the doors shut.”
– “Flat roofs on hospitals and schools in heavy snow areas.”
– “I have two large glass measuring cups. Pour stuff out the spout? On both it clings to the glass, runs down the side and dumps half the liquid onto the counter.”
– “I worked in a building that smelled like sewage all the time. It turns out the fresh air intake of the building was situated right next to a main plumbing vent.”
– “I once bought a very cheap brand of plastic trash bags. I pulled out a trash bag, put trash in it, it ripped. I pulled out a second, it ripped, then a third trash bag. It ripped. I threw the entire roll of trash bags into a fourth trash bag, it ripped. The product would not even hold itself.”
– “I was given a bluetooth-enabled coffee mug with a built-in heater, and before I could use it, it required a firmware update. But the update wouldn’t take, gave me a useless error message. On a coffee mug.”
– “Driving in downtown Boston.”
* Thinking USA, how about:
– The Electoral College
– The Tax Laws
– The College Tuition System
– Sears (Fun fact: In 2007, Sears stock hit a high of 133.03. The price of a share today? 20 cents.)
* PHONE TOPIC: What everyday item have you had an engineering problem with?