history of useless inventions : 'chindogu' is the japanese word coined for the art of the unuseless idea .........................................................................

......................... shop .................. competitions .............. education ................ interviews ................... snapshots ................... history .......... contemporary
- september 2003 -
history of useless inventions

---
inventors have been registering bright ideas with the world's
patent office for over 150 years.
how has technology changed the world?
while the flush toilet, aspirin, the computer, the pill,
the photo-copier and the mobile phone have proved invaluable,
the same cannot be said of every innovation.
but, huuu... what makes a good invention?

'spectacles for chickens' may seem odd, but the birds do
have a tendency to try to peck each other's eyes out.
the 'alarm fork' : you should care about calories
when you eat too much.
or 'duster slippers' for cats: now the most boring job
around the house becomes hours of fun.
the 'drymobile': your laundry dries as you drive...
often inventions come about because people want to
meet their own needs.

'chindogu' is the japanese word coined for the art
of the unuseless idea.
strangely practical and utterly eccentric inventions
for a life of ease and hilarity have taken the land
of the rising sun by storm.
meant to solve the niggling problems of modern life,
these bizarre and logic-defying gadgets and gizmos
have a tendency to fail completely.
addicts of the unuseless all over the world love this
collection. the art of chindogu was born in the late
1980's when amateur inventor kenji kawakami
discovered that a not-quite-usable idea for a new
gadget or product could nonetheless be enjoyable if
one were to create a prototype and take delight in the
way it misses its mark.
the term 'chindogu' entered the english vocabulary in
1991 when then senior society member dan papia
(president of chindogu society america) published an
article on the subject in japan's leading english-language
magazine, the 'tokyo journal'.


---
the 10 tenents of chindogu
---

1. a chindogu cannot be for real use.

iIt is fundamental to the spirit of chindogu that inventions
claiming chindogu status must be, from a practical point of
view, (almost) completely useless. if you invent something
which turns out to be so handy that you use it all the time,
then you have failed to make a chindogu.
try the patent office.

2. a chindogu must exist.

you are not allowed to use a chindogu, but it must be made.
you have to be able to hold it in your hand and think:
'I can actually imagine someone using this. almost.'
in order to be useless, it must first be.

3. inherent in every chindogu is the spirit of anarchy.

chindogu are man-made objects that have broken free from
the chains of usefulness. they represent freedom of thought
and action: the freedom to challenge the suffocating historical
dominance of conservative utility; the freedom to be (almost)
useless.

4. chindogu are tools for every day life.

chindogu are a form of nonverbal communication understandable
to everyone, everywhere. specialized or technical inventions,
like a three- handled sprocket loosener for drainpipes centered
between two under-the sink cabinet door (the uselessness of
which will only be appreciated by plumbers), do not count.

5. chindogu are not for sale.

chindogu are not tradable commodities. if you accept money
for one you surrender your purity. they must not even be sold
as a joke.

6. humor must not be the sole reason for creating a chindogu.

the creation of chindogu is fundamentally a problem-solving
activity. humor is simply the by-product of finding an elaborate
or unconventional solution to a problem that may not have
been that pressing to begin with.

7. chindogu is not propaganda.

chindogu are innocent. they are made to be used,
even though they cannot be used. they should not be created
as a perverse or ironic comment on the sorry state of mankind.

8. chindogu are never taboo.

the international chindogu society has established certain
standards of social decency. cheap sexual innuendo, humor
of a vulgar nature, and sick or cruel jokes that debase the
sanctity of living things are not allowed.

9. chindogu cannot be patented.

chindogu are offerings to the rest of the world, they are not
therefore ideas to be copyrighted, patented, collected and owned.
as they say in spain, 'mi chindogu es tu chindogu'.

10. chindogu are without prejudice.

chindogu must never favor one race or religion over another.
young and old, male and female, rich and poor, all should have
a free and equal chance to enjoy each and every chindogu.

---
to update this history,
designboom asks its readers to participate:
you can look everywhere for current useless inventions,
including catalogs, department stores and ads, or the
internet. once you locate it, please send a pic to
uselessinvention@designboom.com



---
credits:

since 1995 edward p. dutkiewicz,
a registered patent attorney,
posted a 'wacky patent of the month'
on his office's website
http://colitz.com/site/index.htm

---
ted van cleave is himself an inventor of the weird.
he launched his web site 'totally absurd inventions'
in 1997 after conducting patent research for his
own wacky invention, 'inflatable greeting cards'.
http://www.totallyabsurd.com

---
kenji kawakami was editor of a popular japanese
home shopping magazine, in which the concept
of 'chindogu' was first born.
he is the founder of the 10,000-strong international
chindogu society - for the better understanding and
appreciation of the tenets of chindogu.
kawakami is author of four books of unuseless
inventions, among them:
'101 unuseless japanese inventions' of 1995
and '99 more unuseless japanese inventions'
of 1997 published by harper collins publishers.
http://www.harpercollins.com
see the interview with kenji kawakami
http://www.japaninc.com/article.php?articleID=762


---





-------
monthly designboom newsletter
-------





-------
? comments and contact us ?
-------








FISHING APPARATUS
WILLIAM R. LAMB
patented february 20, 1894
image courtesy edward p. dutkiewicz




SALUTING DEVICE
JAMES C. BOYLE
patented march 10, 1896
image courtesy edward p. dutkiewicz




EYE PROTECTOR FOR CHICKENS
ANDREW JACKSON, JR.
patented december 10, 1902
image courtesy edward p. dutkiewicz




MIRROR SUPPORT
E. A. & E. W. THAYER
patented may 23, 1905
image courtesy edward p. dutkiewicz




FIRE-ESCAPES
PASQUALE NIGRO
patented february 9, 1909
image courtesy edward p. dutkiewicz




FINGERTIP TOOTHBRUSH
US patent 5,875,513 / issued 1999
image courtesy ted van cleave




ALARM FORK
US patent 5,421,089 / issued 1995
image courtesy ted van cleave




NOSE WIPE
US patent 4,365,889 / issued 1985
image courtesy ted van cleave




INSTANT FACE LIFT
US patent 4,995,379 / issued 1991
image courtesy ted van cleave




'butter stick' (not patented), 1995
courtesy kenji kawakami



'food cooler' (not patented), 1997
courtesy kenji kawakami



'drymobile' (not patented), 1997
courtesy kenji kawakami



'duster slippers' (not patented), 1995
courtesy kenji kawakami



'needs washing' (not patented), 1995
courtesy kenji kawakami