What Frustrates You?

Forgive me Steve, I couldn’t resist

Getting kitty potty trained

MySpace. Myspace. Myspace.
This is the perfect post for myspace. It got soo many users but the design, websoftware is really bad.

I totally agree with the Myspace comment but I’ve begun to accept that Myspace isn’t about music or people, its about numbers. How many friends you have, how many listens, how many pms but these numbers don’t mean anything, having 10,000 friends doesn’t mean any of them are going to turn up at your gigs…

One of the things that really bothers me in the UK is the attitude towards failure for startup companies and the lack of support from the groundup for startups. What I would like to see is more assistance from Universities with post-graduates. I’d also like to see local councils providing cheap office space and advisors to help new businesses.

Here are a few of the things that frustrate me (and corresponding ideas for a solution):

1. Updating information with dozens of sites and organizations. Why can’t I go to one place and update my address, preference or piece of data and then have that shared with Amazon, eBay, US Postal Service, my brokerage, my bank, my health care provider, my accountant, etc. Not just address or phone number either, Plaxo can do that. Bu this might feed into Plaxo.

2. When I’m driving my GPS / Navigation system should be able to tell me if the restaurants are closed, busy or out of what I want. Let me enter the type of food I want, to include calories, expected wait, etc. Then let the GPS tell me what the options are.

3. When I go grocery shopping why can’t I enter what I am looking for and have a custom route through the store? This would take into account similar but different products in the event something I want is out of stock and the most efficient way to “get in, get out and get gone”.

4. Why can’t my applications determine the security of a network whose web service I use? If the site meets some industry agreed upon standard it might have a digital certificate, this would then be made available to any requesting application. If the certificate becomes invalid my application might restrict the types of data shared or not communicate at all. This would would require a lot of infrastructure work. I’ve been thinking about this one for more years than I want to admit.

5. Keeping track of privacy policies and EULAs for all the applications and sites I visit. Yes, sometimes I do read them all the way through (my wife is studying business law right now). The engine would index privacy policies and allow people to determine when a policy changes. They could see what the policy was before and after a change in addition to any other organization that has the same “text” in a policy. People could comment on policies with their concerns or asking for clarification. The overall idea would be to detect cases where people try to hide something deep in the policy or pull a bait-and-switch while making it easier for the average person to understand what is in a policy and if they should be worried.

Having a limited number of cell phone minutes.

Moving my clothes from the washer to the drier.

Finding a good DJ, caterer, location, etc.. for my upcoming wedding.

moving clothes from the washer to the dryer is a great one…i hate that as well.

also throw in loading/unloading the dishwasher

putting away groceries

just to name a few from around the house..

I have to agree with the washer/dryer one, I’ve never thought about that for the list. On the dish washer one, have you seen this before?

http://www.technologyreview.com/article/14852/

“The multidisciplinary team of electrical engineers, mechanical engineers, and an architect has responded by developing a computer-controlled machine called the DishMaker, which produces plates, bowls, and cups on demand. And the team even went a step further: the dishes are recyclable, so they can be reproduced for the next meal using the same materials. The idea is that machines like the DishMaker could replace dishwashers–and also save space by eliminating the need to store dishes.”

I took what frustrated me and started a company with it. I couldn’t get enough dressing on my Buffalo Wings so I created a better dipping cup.

The WingDipper

I honestly don’t understand why the clothes washer and clothes dryer aren’t the same thing. Why are there 2 units (forcing you to move them from one to other)? Machine: Wash ‘em, then dry ‘em!

I hate filling out medical forms at multiple doctor offices. Why can I hand the file clerk a flash drive or email a file or scan my fingerprint and viola!–my information is there. But no, every time I go to the doctor, dentist, etc.: new forms, same information. I love it when the office has you fill out a new form every year.

The cell minute comment reminds me of another. How can Cingular (now at&t) have rollover minutes yet Verizon can’t? Is this patented? Is the technology too complicated?

I can’t see how roll-over minutes could be patented or complicated. The statement already shows how many minutes were used, subtract that from the total and you have the remaining. Then it is just a matter of keeping track of which minutes are from what month.

On the medical/dental frustration, I’m working on that one with the first item from my original post to this thread. Although filling out medical/dental forms is not my first target.

How about shoveling snow? Sometimes it is fun, but after a few snow storms and piles of snow on the ground it gets old. Snow plows only push the snow out of the way, but if it stays around eventually there won’t be room to push more snow.

How about some portable snow melter. Something that I can use to melt the snow rather than shoveling it. Sure I’d have to make sure the melted snow goes down a drain or something so it doesn’t freeze causing more problems.

Combo washer / dryers exist… I don’t know how well they perform, but they exist. Must’ve frustrated someone else in the past, too.

Wayne,
I’d like to know more about the project you are alluding to. I am a consultant in the medical device industry and the vague description sounds like there could be applications.
jon.d.speer@gmail.com