I don’t own one myself, but I’d have to say a clothes dryer here in Colorado. The air is dry, dry, dry here and I can hang up clothes and by the time I get to the end of the line, the front of the line is mostly dry.

As a CPA, I probably overuse Excel when writing something down by hand would be just a fast/easy. I guess it’s not really that inefficient, but I think about it now and then.

I agree 100% about treadmills…and exercise bikes too.

How about the electric floor cleaners they sell for $200 a pop, plus you have to buy their cleaning solution for $10 a bottle. A mop and bucket of vinegar and water probably works just as well, plus without the toxic/obnoxious fumes.

Steam cleaners. Never used one that worked better or faster than a little scrubbing by hand.

Actually, my treadmill is one of the BEST items I own. When you live in an area where it is winter 7 or 8 months out of the year, you appreciate being able to run or walk indoors where it isn’t -40 F. I’m outside enough as it is doing my chores, I don’t really want to run out in it too.

I guess our most inefficient “gadgets” are probably our horses. But since one of them has been with us over 20 years, I don’t see him going soon 🙂

I was going to call out the creche figurines where the characters are all cats cast with resin that my mother-in-law gave us, but then realized they’re not a gadget… (we’re not religious and in-laws are not religious and they were apparently purchased because my wife offhandedly remarked “that’s cute” while leafing through a catalog)

Probably the most economically inefficient device we have is, like the shark vaccuum cleaner, a battery-powered tub scrubber. Or the *battery-powered* electric can opener. Again, my mother-in-law is to blame for both of them 🙂

Well, a treadmill is way different than just running in place. In fact, running at say 10km/hr on a treadmill is equivalent to running at 10km/hr outside with a 10km/hr tailwind.

The air is the same in both cases (stationary with respect to you) as is the ground (moving backwards at 10km/hr with respect to you).

I agree that it’s easier than running outside, due to the “simulated” tailwind, but it’s no more “simply holding your body in place” than real running is.

@Cecil – I guess the argument could be made for running merely being floating forward with the legs supporting the body. I suppose this is why runners that don’t require acceleration are generally stick thin as this is the optimal physiology for that kind of exercise. Otherwise, I think you’re basically right. However, I think the picture changes when you add incline/decline. On the treadmill you’d be adjusting your legs and lifting them higher. In the real world you’d also be lifting up the rest of the body (against gravity). I think 10% incline on a treadmill is quite a bit easier than 10% in the real world.

@Brian – I have/had a “fixed” model. You can buy them all over Europe … or at least you used to last time I checked. So now we have this plier thing which I guess is okay, because it also has a bottle opener. Of course both of these also exist in my Swiss Army Knife. But thanks for the offer anyway.

Our weather in Toronto is not that extreme but we do have couple months of cool weather. We’re considering a treadmill seriously, so please someone help to discourage us.

LOL, Jacob — who on earth pays $1000 for a treadmill anymore? 🙂 Mine was free – a castoff from my MIL! If you look on Craigslist, you can almost always find them being given away.

That said, I know there are a lot of hardcore marathoners who do their winter running on a treadmill, so there must be some benefit to it!
http://ezinearticles.com/?Training-For-A-Marathon-On-A-Treadmill&id=670017

http://www.marathontraining.com/faq/faq_tm.html

You’ve got it, Teri — sometimes it’s just about moving for a while! And no, I don’t think jumping rope for 45 minutes would do it for me 🙂

Stupid car! Now it needs tires.

@Lise

The most popular/famous of these “bent piece of hardened steel” is the P-38, favored by the military. Essentially you have a pointed end that you work around the edge of the can until it is open. I’ve often just opened a can with my pocket utility knife.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:P-38_Can_Opener.jpg

Most useless gadget? I admit I have bought many “useless” things in my time. I’ve bought things that turned out to be “not what I thought it was”, some of which I couldn’t return. There are also things that many would consider useless, but I use quite often — my ham radio being an example. I can justify most of my purchases if I consider the “cost per use”, or “how much will I use this”.

I’d say the most inefficient gadget I’ve gotten is a string of bluetooth headsets. I’ve tried several different earpieces, as well as a set by motorola that has two earbuds and goes behind the neck. I’ve also tried a bluetooth speakerphone that clips onto the steering wheel. I haven’t liked any of them. I also seem to have issues with the wired headsets (but not as much). I guess the ultimate reason is that I don’t use my phone in the car enough for a headset to feel natural. I don’t like wearing a headset 24×7 like a cyborg. For the wireless headsets, charging them becomes a hastle. For the wired, I don’t feel like connecting my phone up to them when I get in the car.

Since I only use my car about 3 times each week, and I almost never receive/make phone calls while in the car, all of the headsets I’ve purchased have been useless/ineffective.

@trentblase – Synchronization. Heavy ropes are tiring on the arms too.

Jumping rope is one of the best work outs you can do for yourself. It improves cardiovascular health, endurance and dexterity! I am a girl too and so know what you mean about certain parts moving too much, but if you get a good sports bra, it helps a lot. I am telling you, you can’t get a healthier workout indoors at home than jumping rope. For arm strength in order to get a heavier rope as Jacob mentioned, they make weighted ropes, but these are even easy to make. Another thing is ankle and wrist weights if you are trying to get a strength workout. So, jumping rope is rather versitile since you can either do it for speed or strength and always for dexterity and coordination. Much cheaper and more effective than much else at home indoors when the weather is nasty outside!