The 33 Things That Make Us Crazy

Wired feature this month is 33 Things That Suck, explaining why annoying things are the way they are.

A few highlights: DVD sound (“Basically, DVDs are just too lifelike for the living room. Their dynamic range — the continuum of sound levels they’re capable of reproducing — is more like the real world, where exploding cars and hails of gunfire really are a lot louder than casual conversation.”), plastic packaging (“Factories are loath to invest in new equipment, and most companies don’t want to pay a single penny more per item, even if doing so would keep your sanity — and fingers — intact.”) and air travel (“If anything, flying doesn’t cost enough: The average domestic fare in spring 2007 was $326. That’s $50 less than a decade ago, after adjusting for inflation. During the same period, fuel costs nearly tripled.”).

January 22, 2008