Over Engineering

I am constantly amazed at the over engineering of products which have pretty much reached the pinnacle of their design. The shaving razor and tooth brush are two great examples. I can't imagine anyone wishing either of these two things had a few extra features. Alas, that doesn't sell new products or switch brand loyalty. Once razors came as a single blade but now you can buy them with double, triple or even quadruple blades. With it being highly unlikely that five blades will get people changing brands designers have to come up with other selling points, the most recent ridiculous one I have seen is the battery powered razor. This is not an electric shaver but manual razor with a battery in it. What the battery does I have no idea and the advertising doesn't tell you either. Similarly the latest toothbrush advert I have seen advertises a tooth brush with an on board computer. Again the advertising does not say what the computer does and again I cannot imagine what it could possibly do.

That someone could think of these ideas is one thing. That someone could think of them, someone else could make them and profit from them and that we buy them is another thing. Whilst so many around the world and in our own country suffer from lack of even basic health care it is a poor reflection on our society that we would consider a battery powered razor or tooth brush with an on board computer as a worth while item.