Crappy technology

I was listening to a Slate Magazine podcast in my commute to work today (you know, because I am so hip) on auto-flushing toilets. That's right, toilets. There are examples of the poor, overuse of technology everywhere. Even in the bathroom. The podcast/article starts:

My office shares a men's room with everyone who works on our level. The bathroom sports three stalls, each of which is outfitted with the most uncivilized technology of the modern age—the hands-free, automatic-flush toilet bowl.

High-tech auto-flushing limits your ability to flush when you need to flush. The author, Nick Schulz, makes the point that the auto-flush toilet is incapable of doing three very important things: flush the toilet before you sit down, flush the toilet while you are seated, and give the ole' double flush if the first flush didn't do the job. After analyzing the pitfalls of the auto-flush, Schulz brings us back to what really works: a manual flush:

As it happens, there is an almost perfect technology already in existence: the foot-pedal flush toilet.

Here is the article on the web: The Crappiest Invention of All Time.