Overdesigned vs. Underdesigned Which is it?

ridesolo

ridesolo

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In my build thread I've noted an annoyance that came up w/ an item I purchased. Fortunately I think I've come up w/ a work around as noted below, but the whole thing brought up memories of other things I've bought, both automotive/motorcycle and other items that seemed like a good idea but just weren't "right." So, I thought I'd start a thread about the subject to see if others have had similar experiences (or am I just becoming a grumpy old man?).

ridesolo said:
EDIT: I just went through that link you sent and like I suspected, while my problem isn't the same, it's similar because the +12v lead that provides power to both the running light and the turns is common to both the turns. The engineers who designed the headlight should have been able to foresee this and build diodes into the circuit.
Click to expand...

Thinking about this brings to mind other things I've come upon lately. It's this plethora of gadgets available, seemingly mostly available from the far east. Inexpensive, reliable, attractive, but sometimes strangely and even at times, impractically, designed. In my mind the above-mentioned headlight is a good example. Adding diodes into the design would cost just short of nothing in the manufacturing process and seems like it would be an obvious thing.

Flashlights: This is a good example. You can go to just about any store and find a display of inexpensive, brightly colored, 3 AAA battery powered flashlights near the cash registers. HF even gives them away. Press the button; ON, press again; OFF. Simple, long-lasting, cheap. Now check out eBay or any other similar source; thousands of the things available. Cheap, reliable, long lasting, bright. BUT somebody came up w/ the brilliant idea to add bright/dim/flashing to the circuitry. The bright and dim I can see, but the flashing? How many times are you in a situation where you need an emergency signal? To make matters worse, you must cycle through the bright/dim/flashing series every time it's turned on, i.e., if the last time you turned it off it was on dim, the next time you turn it on it will be in flash mode. To me that's annoying. Some time ago I got a small MagLight that has a similar circuitry embedded; bright/dim/flash/SOS, but at least the MagLite system always returned itself to the beginning rather than coming back on where you left off, so when you first turn it on it always starts off in bright and then you pick what you need. Similarly, I've gotten two different sets of LED driving lights that had that bright/dim/flash circuitry built in. The larger pair was purchased w/ the intent of using them as motorcycle headlights but the way they are set up ruined that plan.

So, I'm curious, has anybody else here come across similar annoying trinkets and goodies that seemed like a great idea but in use just don't cut the mustard because of impractical or illogical design?
 
i use those torches you strap to your head as i have to do everything outside or in a very dark dungeon under the house and they have the same sort of annoyance built in, they only ever have one button which turns them on in the first place which is high beam, then to turn it off you have to cycle through low beam then flash then it will turn off
annoying as hell but it beats gaffa taping a proper torch to the side of my head
 
I replaced the Garmin StreetPilot 2730 on my GL1800 with a new Garmin Zumo 396 because the old 2730 could no longer hold the growing new maps (really, are roads being built that fast?) and the screen was getting a bit dim. I have to spend about five minutes with the 396 when starting a trip acknowledging legal crap and then selecting a route (that I may have spent hours preparing on the laptop and transfering) and going through five more screens making sure I select the correct button so the unit doesn't recalculate the route on its own and send me way off-track. The old 2730 would read my preplaned route and take me wherever it directed. And there is no option to avoid interstates! Yes, it is supposed to be a motorcycle-specific GPS. Only comes with motorcycle mount hardware.
 
I've had similar experiences with Google Maps. I like the option to be able to select "avoid highways" for bike journeys, but a good example is my recent trip to barber. Headed from Chickamauga Georgia to Leeds Alabama, Google maps decided to take me over lookout mountain via Nick-A-Jack road. Granted this road is an absolute hoot on a bike with sticky tires, its not so much fun with a truck and trailer loaded down with 3 bikes. On the way back i decided to select another route that loops around the mountain and adds 4 minutes total to the commute, which is well worth it to avoid said mountain pass. While i am somewhat familiar with both routes, i also like the gps to remind me of where to turn etc.

Anyhow, i select the slightly longer route, press start, and then spend much of the trip having google maps say "we've found a faster route via nickajack road". I understand that, but the kicker is that you have to press a button saying that no, i would not like to take that route, or else it would automatically re route you in that direction. Again, its a first world problem pet peeve and it also is free software so i cant complain much, but it just seems that it would be programmed so that if you put specific instructions in, that it would not constantly try to "correct" the route. Maybe its even a setting that i need to change, im not sure.
 
what is this google maps thing you speak of ?

i , being a bit of a Luddite, persist in using maps and street directories, mrs spotty doesn't find this to be a good thing but strangely they tend not to go out of range of reception and don't tell you to go somewhere you didn't want to go

i also collect old street directories of our city and the oldest one i've got is a 1928, which is quite a lot smaller than the 2018 version but , give or take a few streets, is still accurate. so when i get round to inventing time travel i'll be sorted but don't bother taking your GPS devices, they'll take about 80 years to download your journey
 
Yep, a whole load of shite, mostly on Facebook at inflated prices.

FUG's ...... "Fucking Useless Gadgets". :mad:

There were the adjustable glasses - like in the opticians ... adjusted by a knurled knob to move the lenses in and out. for reading long distance .... adjusted once then fell apart - FUG.

Then there was the torch that used a battery that was unobtainable through normal sources .... FUG.

The dog Poop bags .... so thin that your fingers went through [ oh no ] FUG.

Now I stick to buying from Chinabay's 2 "trusted" provinces. 8)
 
I may have received an item today that is an exception to this, and may bypass some stupid engineering on another device. Many of the new Garmin Zumos have no wired audio output. It's either the voice from the box (who can hear that ON A MOTORCYCLE?!?!), or Bluetooth. Now, I have Bluetooth on my helmet, but it is for talking with the wife or receiving phone calls. The Garmin totally wipes out those two prime uses, so has been un-paired with them. But today I received a Bluetooth receiver board (Amazon Prime no less) that required only power (I've paralleled it with the GPS power) and outputs to a headset plug that the GoldWing already had for the old StreetPilot. I had used a LiPo powered receiver, but they die rapidly, required turning back on every time a Bluetooth dignal went away, sometimes requiring re-pairing. This new unit (actually just a popukated circuit board - I've encapsulated it in clear packing tape) gets paired once, and restarts paired-up as soon as the bike powers up. Sounds great, allowing me to listen to MP3s played by the GPS while the voice will cut in when necessary. The unit also has a patch area for line level signals out and a micro USB port for power if desired. The output level on the headset jacks is enough to drive headphones. And, it just works.
https://www.droking.com/Portable-Bluetooth-Receive-Module-Audio-Stereo-Receiver-Board-AS1711BT-DC-5-35V-Wireless-Electronics-Bluetooth-Module-Chip-for-DIY-Headphone-Home-Stereo
 
Most LED flashlights have a blinking mode because of law enforcement and most of the drivers are a result of that industry. They're meant to subdue or disorient an aggressor because of the Bucha effect. Unfortunately, most cheap/chinese companies just use or copy the existing drivers on the market from that industry instead of retooling for something that lacks that feature. If you pay up for a nicer light, you can avoid the strobe. On a side note, I have a rechargeable light that is mostly marketed for bicycles. It's brightest setting is super bright at 1k candlepower, lasts a really long time per charge, but also has the strobe because it helps identify and see a bicyclist at night. It easily unlocks from the handlebar mount, so it's become my go-to light. Though, i do still use my 4 D cell mag light a lot.
 
pidjones said:
I may have received an item today that is an exception to this, and may bypass some stupid engineering on another device. Many of the new Garmin Zumos have no wired audio output. It's either the voice from the box (who can hear that ON A MOTORCYCLE?!?!), or Bluetooth. Now, I have Bluetooth on my helmet, but it is for talking with the wife or receiving phone calls. The Garmin totally wipes out those two prime uses, so has been un-paired with them. But today I received a Bluetooth receiver board (Amazon Prime no less) that required only power (I've paralleled it with the GPS power) and outputs to a headset plug that the GoldWing already had for the old StreetPilot. I had used a LiPo powered receiver, but they die rapidly, required turning back on every time a Bluetooth dignal went away, sometimes requiring re-pairing. This new unit (actually just a popukated circuit board - I've encapsulated it in clear packing tape) gets paired once, and restarts paired-up as soon as the bike powers up. Sounds great, allowing me to listen to MP3s played by the GPS while the voice will cut in when necessary. The unit also has a patch area for line level signals out and a micro USB port for power if desired. The output level on the headset jacks is enough to drive headphones. And, it just works.
https://www.droking.com/Portable-Bluetooth-Receive-Module-Audio-Stereo-Receiver-Board-AS1711BT-DC-5-35V-Wireless-Electronics-Bluetooth-Module-Chip-for-DIY-Headphone-Home-Stereo
Click to expand...

That's a really nice and useful little module.
 
spotty said:
what is this google maps thing you speak of ?

i , being a bit of a Luddite, persist in using maps and street directories, mrs spotty doesn't find this to be a good thing but strangely they tend not to go out of range of reception and don't tell you to go somewhere you didn't want to go

i also collect old street directories of our city and the oldest one i've got is a 1928, which is quite a lot smaller than the 2018 version but , give or take a few streets, is still accurate. so when i get round to inventing time travel i'll be sorted but don't bother taking your GPS devices, they'll take about 80 years to download your journey.
Click to expand...

I hear ya, Spotty. The GPS in the truck is on as a default while on the road and Waze is a handy digital speedo, but I guarantee that anytime we're on the move to anywhere new the good old road atlas isn't far from hand. Of course now days it's the [size=14pt]L A R G E P R I N T edition. [/size]
 
beachcomber said:
Yep, a whole load of shite, mostly on Facebook at inflated prices.

FUG's ...... "Fucking Useless Gadgets". :mad:

The dog Poop bags .... so thin that your fingers went through [ oh no ] FUG.
Click to expand...
Yup... and they sell the things in packages of 24 rolls of bags. By the time you get to the last roll that thin plastic has aged so much that when you try to open them the bags just dissolve into useless confetti. Somebody needs to invent a dog food that will become something useful when it comes out of the south end of the pooch! You know, PlayDoh for the kiddies, medium for 3D printers, fertilizer for legalized marijuana farms ("Wow, man, this is some good shit!"), clay for Irk to make into pots and vases, the sky is the limit!
 
ridesolo said:
beachcomber said:
Yep, a whole load of shite, mostly on Facebook at inflated prices.

FUG's ...... "Fucking Useless Gadgets". :mad:

The dog Poop bags .... so thin that your fingers went through [ oh no ] FUG.
Yup... and they sell the things in packages of 24 rolls of bags. By the time you get to the last roll that thin plastic has aged so much that when you try to open them the bags just dissolve into useless confetti. Somebody needs to invent a dog food that will become something useful when it comes out of the south end of the pooch! You know, PlayDoh for the kiddies, medium for 3D printers, fertilizer for legalized marijuana farms ("Wow, man, this is some good shit!"), clay for Irk to make into pots and vases, the sky is the limit!
Click to expand...

my dogs have developed a strange desire to dig holes at the park and eat mouthfuls of dirt, their dumps come out like big black 8 balls, they actually bounce when they hit the ground, so much easier to pick up
Click to expand...
Click to expand...
 
spotty said:
my dogs have developed a strange desire to dig holes at the park and eat mouthfuls of dirt, their dumps come out like big black 8 balls, they actually bounce when they hit the ground, so much easier to pick up
Click to expand...

Sounds like you should carry a golf club instead of little plastic bags!
 
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