Pointless or Awesome?

When I was a kid, my dad had something in his office called the Do Nothing Machine. It looked something like this:

Go ahead, give me a spin. You know you want to!

The idea was simple, you would grab the handle and spin it around, and the little wooden pieces would go back and forth, slowly missing each other. Pointless? Sure. But my brothers and I would spend hours spinning that thing around and around while sitting in his office. I remember trying very hard to get the pieces to collide with one another, but, obviously, it never happened. This wasn't like my dad's Rubik's Cube, where we could easily peel the stickers off and put them back on where they belonged -- this was something special.

Now, before you judge me for spending so much time on the Do Nothing Machine, think about how many times you've checked your Facebook or Twitter account today -- I'd say we're about even. And even though technology has advanced drastically since I was a kid, there are people today who are making machines that are just as pointless, and just as entertaining.

Check it out:



Full disclosure: I find this video (and this machine) to be endlessly entertaining. I like to imagine that the little robot inside the machine (who I've nicknamed Preston) is getting so annoyed that someone keeps flipping his switches. But what about you, faithful readers? Do you think this is the most useless invention ever invented? Or is it simply awesome?

I eagerly await your feedback.