While there are real problems in the world, there are also problems that aren’t very important, but still somewhat annoying. I’m sure that someone will say that there are things that are more pressing to talk about, like starving children in Africa, and maybe that’s true, but I still think there is a certain need to recognize these little issues that crop up on occasion, because if we don’t recognize them they’re not going away.

First on the list is lamps, specifically lamps where the switch is on the cord. This is a terrible design, because the cord tends to go somewhere else, such as behind a bedside table. In essence, a place where it’s difficult to reach and will get caught on something when trying to pull it up again, especially if this table is near a wall. I have never been in a bedroom where the switch on the cord makes sense, it’s a design developed almost exclusively to make operating your lamp slightly more difficult. There’s no reason for it, it’s just poor design, and sometimes it’s difficult to tell that a lamp uses this awful design until after you buy it. If there is a lamp designer reading this, take this lesson, next time you’re designing a lamp be sure to put the switch where it belongs, on the lamp itself. Everyone will be much happier.

The second annoying thing is small lights on televisions. This is really minor, but I’ve never been able to figure out why they’re there. We can tell if the television is on or off, because we can see things on the screen or not. In some cases, such as my own TV, a small light will tell you if the TV is off, because apparently the fact that the TV is off is somehow not clue enough. The light is, at best, pointless, and at worse completely unnecessary. Such lights are commonly on other pieces of technology as well, but at least in those cases you might need an indication of whether or not those things are on or off. With a TV, you know instantly, because there’s a much bigger light that tells you everything you need to know.

Finally, the last somewhat annoying thing I feel the need to complain about is beeps. Everything beeps, there has been this odd movement to make all technology make a slight beeping noise for a while now, and I’m getting sick of it. My car beeps when I lock or unlock it, my phone beeps when I press a button, my microwave beeps when I look at it funny. Everything beeps for every little function, which is getting to the point where it can drive someone nuts. Yes, in some cases the beeps can be turned off, and in some cases the beeps are a bit useful, usually in instances where there’s no other indication that what you’re doing is working. Still, since everything beeps, it’s difficult to really appreciate the few instances where beeps make sense, and constant beeping has become the soundtrack to our lives. One day someone will be run over by a gravel truck beeping to warn people it’s reversing, because they’ll just assume that the noises is coming from their phone.

I admit, these are incredibly minor concerns, some might call them completely pointless to think about. I admitted as much earlier on, but if someone doesn’t like it, I can add a final entry, just for them. For some people, another thing that is a bit annoying is people who complain about lamps, lights on televisions, and the beeps that fill the world.