History Main / InventionalWisdom

** To give a specific example, Panasonic Viera TVs have a volume indicator that goes to 100. 30 is extremely loud, only 20 or lower are comfortable volumes.

* The ''HitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'' features the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation, an entire company built around this concept. In the words of the Guide itself, their entire corporate strategy is based on building devices whose "superficial design flaws completely mask their fundamental design flaws." In other words, you get so tied up in getting the thing to work at all that you completely fail to realize that it's incapable of doing what it was made to do in the first place.

* ''Series/{{Dilbert}}'': When the evil Leena is trapped in her own prototype, the De-pruner, her coworkers hit the "decapitate" button.

** In one episode, Doofenshmirtz spends an entire episode looking for an on-off switch so he can activate his latest [[TropeOMatic -inator]]. It turns out that all the -inator does is open the cage that he had trapped Perry in.
*** To be fair, he didn't build it like that; he bought it at a yard sale.

*** It's a good thing that Dilbert didn't mention that the crazy computer's name was HAL ''9000''.

While you're at it see OvenLogic as that trope involves the oven dial able to go up to thousands of degrees. One has to wonder why the oven had a dial that could go up that high if it wasn't meant to be used that way.

* The gnomes of DragonLance. Their inventions seem to start with an idea, then modify as they go to fix percieved problems in ways that seem reasonable until you look at the whole. For example, falling into water while wearing heavy plate armor tends to be inconvienent. Wouldn't it be nice to take the armor off in a hurry when you need to? So it's set up to be removed quickly. If you fall into water, you might be a little panicked, so the way to remove it should be easily accessable, right? Bright red painted crash bar on the front. And plate armor, especially ''gnome modified'' plate armor is going to be expensive, so you want a way to retrieve all the pieces if you do need to remove it like that, so... all the pieces are attached to the belt with wires so you can easily find them.

** Even better, there was an old CD burning software, with a single button in the progress window: "Cancel". Obviously, since it was the only button it was always selected and if youhad mouse settings to move the pointer over the default option...

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** [[LetsPlay Boatmurdered]] had a lever that, when pulled, flooded a siege workshop. It turned out it had originally been put in [[spoiler:to irrigate the farms]] and became hilariously useless later [[spoiler:when someone built a siege workshop on them]].

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* In the ''Series/DoctorWho'' episode ''Blink'', the Doctor [[spoiler:(who has been sent back to 1969 by the Weeping Angels)]] constructs a device from various unrelated objects, including a casette and a flashlight to detect other "travellers".

-->'''Doctor''': This is my [[TimeyWimeyBall timey-wimey detector]]. It goes ding when there's stuff. Also, it can boil an egg at thirty paces ... whether you want it or not, actually, so I learned to stay away from hens, [[{{Squick}} it's not pretty when they blow]]...
-->'''(Cue terrified face from latest victim)'''

-->-- '''Yzma''', HangingALampshade on this trope in ''TheEmperorsNewGroove''[[hottip:*:Also, coincidentally, said during many a game of ''DwarfFortress'']]

--> '''Jorgan:''' AH! Why did I build a "Reverse-Suck"?!

* ''[[{{Disney/ptitle3if599v0}} The Emperor's New Groove]]'': As indicated by the page quote, the entrance to Yzma's secret lab has a lever that opens a TrapDoor to a [[SharkPool Croc Pool]].

* Isn't it a little strange that the motorcycle-sized speeder bikes in ReturnOfTheJedi have a centrally-placed rocker switch for jamming comm. signals? That works on their OWN comm. signals, not merely the enemies?

** Propulsion and Repulsion Gels, which were originally conceived as [[{{Squick}} digestive aids]] despite the former containing an element that "does not like ''the human skeleton''".

* ''[[{{Disney/ptitle3if599v0}} The Emperor's New Groove]]'': As indicated by the page quote, the entrance to Yzma's secret lab has a lever that opens a TrapDoor to a [[{{SharkPool}} Croc Pool]].
--> '''Kuzco:''' Why does she even [[IronicEcho have that lever]]?

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* Toward the end of the first arc of ''TengenToppaGurrenLagann'', Coco pushes a singular, prominent button on the Dai-Gurren's bridge, which opens the ''specific window'' that Nia happens to be standing in front of, so that she can climb out to enter Gurren Lagann.

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* Practically everything [[AustinPowers Dr. Evil]] owns.

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** He also designed a nice, upper class neighbourhood that just happened to break the laws of space and time. You can just throw the trash out of the window into the yard, since it's probably not your yard, anyway. It's also has a very low crime rate, as thieves generally prefer to break into one house at a time.

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* In the ''Series/DoctorWho'' episode ''Blink'', the Doctor [[spoiler:(who has been sent back to 1969 by the Weeping Angels)]] constructs a device from various unrelated objects, including a casette and a flashlight to detect other "travellers".

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* The gnomes of DragonLance. Their inventions seem to start with an idea, then modify as they go to fix percieved problems in ways that seem reasonable until you look at the whole. For example, falling into water while wearing heavy plate armor tends to be inconvienent. Wouldn't it be nice to take the armor off in a hurry when you need to? So it's set up to be removed quickly. If you fall into water, you might be a little panicked, so the way to remove it should be easily accessable, right? Bright red painted crash bar on the front. And plate armor, especially ''gnome modified'' plate armor is going to be expensive, so you want a way to retrieve all the pieces if you do need to remove it like that, so... all the pieces are attached to the belt with wires so you can easily find them.
* Really, dungeons in general in DungeonsAndDragons. They often [[TempleOfDoom have way more traps in them than any reasonable person would be willing to live with]]. It would be the one day you're preoccupied by an argument with your Beholder and you forget to hit the hidden switch that disables the disintegration trap on your bedroom door.

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* ''DwarfFortress'' has a fondness for these, with players often ending up with levers that serve no purpose but to flood parts of their own fortress with lava. This is particularly pronounced in games when players swap out between years so that no one knows what the lever actually ''does'' and building around it.

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* ''SpongebobSquarepants'': Plankton equips his [[MobileSuitHuman Robot Mr. Krabs]] with a Penny-Powered SelfDestructMechanism.

* ''[[{{Disney/ptitle3if599v0}} The Emperor's New Groove]]'': As indicated by the page quote, the entrance to Yzma's secret lab has a lever that opens a TrapDoor to a [[{{SharkPool}} Croc Pool]].

* In one episode of ''[=~Eek! the Cat~=]'', a professor built a rocket ship to Jupiter, and he told the astronauts that before launch they must make sure the absurdly huge switch is set for Jupiter and not the sun. One character asked, "Why is that even there?"

* ''Series/{{Dilbert}}'': When the evil Leena is trapped in her own prototype, the De-pruner, her coworkers hit the "decapitate" button.

* ''TheSimpsons ''

** Megas is low on oil in one episode, so Coop literally wrings the grease out of several cheesesteak sandwiches directly into a small tube that refills the tank. The gauge goes from "Empty" --> "Need a little" --> "Almost There" --> "Enough" --> "No really, I'm fine" --> and ''"PLEASE STOP!"''

--->'''DCFDL''': Who puts a HEATER in an ICE CREAM FACTORY?!

** Said machine also produces several barrels worth of toxic waste every time it's turned on, for no readily apparent reason.

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* Less drastic example: The "dislike" button under every YouTube video is right next to the (admittedly larger) "like" button. This is probably the reason why so many otherwise-epic things on Youtube invariably have a few dislikes hanging about them in a mist.

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-->-- '''Yzma''', HangingALampshade on this trope in ''TheEmperorsNewGroove''

* Mega-Maid's "blow" setting in ''{{Spaceballs}}''.
** Not necessarily a gaffe to have this, as Mega-Maid was presumably designed to use "blow" to distribute Druidia's stolen atmosphere over Planet Spaceball. Making it so easy for the good guys to reverse the suction ''was'' an Inventional Wisdom error, however.
*** Easy? I'm sure Spaceball-1/Mega-Maid's designers didn't expect anyone to come along with The Schwartz.
** It was also there for the [[RuleOfFunny obvious joke]]. "It's Mega-Maid, sir! She's gone from [[IfYouKnowWhatIMean suck to blow!"]]
** Maybe the man who designed the Mega-Maid was an [[RunningGag Asshole]]?
** Also the fact that Spaceball-1 can go to "Ludicrous Speed", which everybody except Dark Helmet realizes is something they shouldn't do. Fortunately the ship was also equipped with a hand-operated "Emergency Brake" which was labeled "Never Use".

* In a ''[[TheSimpsons Simpsons]]'' Halloween special featuring an murderous Krusty doll: "Yep, there's your problem. Somebody [[MoralityDial set this thing to evil]]."

*** "Why?! Why was I programmed to feel pain?!"[[hottip:*:It is worth noting that, though lampshading this type of trope, it is perfectly reasonable to program any device given an AI the ability to feel pain. There is a reason why ''every'' animal on earth has that capability: "Hey, this hurts! I think I'll stop."]]
*** "Bart make bot bad!"