Am I the only one...

I often wonder why certain devices exist. My catch phrase for these items is:

Just because we can do it doesn't mean we should do it!

Let me give you a few examples:

Apparently the need to reduce electrical consumption is a driving force in Spain. I have never seen motion sensors and timers used so extensively. But some of these applications need to be rethought.

The hotel I'm in has a very long internal hallway. There is no light source at the far end of this hallway where my room is located, and only a single switch, fitted with a timer, controlling the light on the elevator end of the hall. When the elevator door opens you step into a pitch black hallway. If you were paying attention while the elevator door was open, you would know that the light switch is on the wall opposite the elevator. But once the door closes there is no way to find the light switch. You are standing in a dark hallway, in all likelihood with no knowledge of the presence of anyone else who might be lurking in the dark.

Let's say you're lucky and you turn the light on. It controls only the light in front of the elevator. A small bend in the hallway still leaves the remainder of the hallway dark. There is another switch around the corner, in the dark, but you must find it before the first light times out and turns off.

Again, let's say you've been here before and you find the second switch. A light turns on at one end of the hall and you race down the hall, knowing that it too will time out. You have only a finite amount of time to locate your room, locate your key and unlock the door before the light turns off. If you are not fast enough you have to walk back down the now dark hallway and toggle the switch; off, then back on.

Even if you make it to your room, find the key, get it in the lock and open your door, you are still not home free. When it comes time to exit your room you have no choice but to walk down a long, dark hallway to reach the elevator. The switch is at the far end of the hallway!

Too abstract? Let's take a look at a more practical application: the bathroom.

Many, if not most, of the bathrooms I've seen are equipped with a motion sensor that turns the lights on when you enter the room and, when no motion is detected, turns them off again. Sounds great! Now think it through a little further. 

Ladies, you enter the outer room and the lights turn on. You see an empty stall so you take it. You no sooner are seated and the lights go out. What do you do? Wave your hand over your head? The sensor is in the outer room. You are stuck! You must complete "your business", complete the process by finding paper in the dark, pull yourself together, then exit the stall. Maybe this is a good reason why women never go to the bathroom alone? Who knew they've been practicing all their lives!

Now think about the guys. Women have been complaining since before the advent of social media that men "can't hit a target" in the bathroom. How do you think the aim will improve while "aiming" in the dark? Or while waving one hand over your head?

Think about it - what devices have been placed in your every day path that never should have cleared the patent process?