I tend to just laugh at Yankee stupidity. Every now and then, I like to make fun of Aussie stupidity, too.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/technology/i ... 44389.html

iPod wins Shonky gong

Jano Gibson
October 19, 2006 - 1:09PM

The iPod is one of 10 products, including "miracle" magnetic laundry balls and meat pies with barely any meat, to win Choice's Shonky Awards.

At an awards ceremony hosted by "the least shonky hosts" Choice could find - comedians Roy Slaven and H.G. Nelson - this year's 10 shonkiest products on the market were named and shamed at the NSW Art Gallery this afternoon.

"Today we celebrate together as a nation another hectic year of awesomely dud products," said H.G., adding, with tongue firmly in cheek, that the Archibald Prize narrowly missed out on a Shonky after coming in at No. 11.

In no particular order, the real top 10 shonkiest products of the year, according to Choice, were:

1. Life Miracle's Magnetic Laundry System, which featured two magnetic balls that you put in your washing machine instead of detergent. They cost $80.

Choice said: "Washing with balls and plain water had about the same cleaning effect as washing in plain water alone. Why you'd want to add $80 worth of magnetic balls is one of life's true miracles."

2. Nuk Starlight Silicone Soother, a dummy that was considered a choking hazard for children.

"We've received a number of reader stories of horrified parents finding their distressed baby with the dummy fully in their mouth," Choice said.

After taking a look at the dummy, Roy asked: "Has A Current Affair looked at this?"

3. Oxygen4life Oxygen Therapy in a Bottle. Ten millilitres a day of the product's "bio-available oxygen" purportedly "enhanced quality of life".

Choice added: "Or you could breathe - which is widely regarded as the best way to take in oxygen."

The product cost $55 for a 250 millilitre bottle of de-ionised water, Atlantic sea salt and bio-available oxygen.

Roy said he felt "enhanced just holding [the bottle]".

4. Seagers Gin and Tonic with a squeeze of lime. Sounds quite good, except there is no gin in the ready-to-drink can. There is vodka though, which kind of makes up for the lack of gin, except for the fact there is no quinine [which makes tonic water "tonic"] or lime either.

H.G. said: "So it's a fantastic product. If you are into binge drinking, this is the one for you."

5. Mean credit cards. Choice said eight major credit card providers were playing nasty tricks with interest rates on their customers.

6. Lean Cuisine "Purely Fish" range. The only thing this product was lean on was its fish content - just 48 per cent.

A disappointed Roy asked: "So what's the rest? Oxygenated water?"

Choice said that "to call your product 'Purely Fish' is so fishy you're asking for a Shonky".

7. Apple iPod. Choice said it had received several complaints about the popular gadgets having cracked screens, faulty batteries and problems with sound production as well as difficulties when it came to getting them repaired.

"An iPod is a significant investment, so you don't want your Apple to be a lemon," Choice said.

H.G. was more blunt. "In other words, the thing is a complete dud ... We buy them and mail them straight back. It saves a lot of disappointment on the kids' faces."

8. Black And Gold Meat Pie. When is a meat pie not a meat pie? When it has 25 per cent meat content. The Black and Gold meat pie had just 17 per cent meat, "which is not only shonky, but unAustralian", Choice said.

9. Aldi Mezzo MWM7 and Homemaker HMWM7 washing machines. These two washing machines cost less than $400 each but Choice said they were the worst they had tested in 30 years when it came to actually cleaning clothes. But it did note that "at least the machine is very gentle on clothes".

Roy said it was basically "a white box you put in your laundry". He said the magnetic balls would go well in the machine.

10. iRobot Roomba robot vacuum cleaner. Choice said this gadget, designed to vacuum your house by itself, was almost useless on carpet, ridiculously slow on hard floors and annoyingly noisy.

"But what really made us doubt was its dirt redistribution feature: when its small dirt container starts filling up, every time it bumps into a wall or other obstacle a little heap of collected dirt falls out again," Choice said.

I'm assuming shonky means bad, right .

I can't wait until someone perfects this idea. I see this thing at tradeshows all the time and want it really bad. I know it is not good enough yet so I'll wait for better models. I also can't wait until this technology is used in lawnmowers.