I remember when Sur La Table (which is selling this thing) used to be a serious cooking store. The original store in Seattle Pike's Place Market got bought out by folks with grand franchise visions and started selling this sort of crap...an all too common pattern (i.e. Abercombie & Fitch).
as "gag" gifts from a hardware store near my house. They were marked down from ¥100 to ¥10 so I bought five. Their sole purpose? Saving your manicure when opening cans, I suppose. Apparently, they were "ring-pull lifters". Now THAT'S a REAL uni-tasker and fairly useless...However, I can think of a whole bunch of very good 'uni-taskers'...it depends on your hobbies and interests
A pen that writes on anything with REAL silver...the only thing to use for correcting bad or damaged home-made electronic circuit boards...and there are "tube" testers and "LED" testers that can save a lot of time and heartbreak...A watch-back spanner for opening any make of watch (and the watch/clock 'oilers' were pretty good, too, way back when watches and clocks actually had a significant number of moving parts...) Almost all non-straight router bits for woodworking are true uni-taskers...I have a shoe-horn, a paint stirrer, a corkscrew, a cigarette holder, a cigar cutter and a candy thermometer, too, and I would probably buy an oyster knife if I had a real need for it...Heheheh!
However, I do agree strongly with the sentiments of the original post. Japan is full of gadgets like this...banana keepers, corn holders, grapefruit knives, strawberry hullers, etc...Sheesh!
I have on occasion seen these (dollar stores abound in my area) and the real problem comes in when one has one of these (given as a gag gift) and you actually try to fit a banana into it, or whatever it is, the thing is made for specific sized and shaped whatever, and I never have that size and shape. Sort of like those plastic egg carriers for camping, they will hold small eggs,which I never buy, but don't even close over the large eggs I do buy!
The stuff winds up in the chairty shops by the bag full, and someone somewhere finds a use for it, my old egg carrier, is used now to hold bits and pieces in the shop, works great for those odds and ends of screws etc.
And I do agree there are many many unitask things out there that work, but it sometimes gets taken to the extreme, and who needs a whole shelf or drawer full of things designed to hold items that you only need to store once in a blue moon.
...and even if you DID have that odd useful "uni-tasker" that was perfect for the job in hand, would you be able to FIND it when you needed it? [A definite 'NO WAY!' at my place...]
What could be possibly used to keep the loaf in a safe place and preserved. I owe one of the whirlpool refrigerators, which is common in fact. This has a unique feature which keeps the moisture of the food long lasting. I put the dough in it, for the buns and jelly doughnuts, since we make the dough on a previous day for all the bakery stuffs. So I usually don't like to put them in the regular refrigerator, cause it may hamper the moisture of the dough a lot and may result in hard dough the following day.
A kiwi doesn't look like it would need any kind of protection There are people who will buy such a thing for a different reason than pure curiosity? I guess there are markets for all kinds of stuff
I collect egg cartons for holding and delivering figs, using as a log support and fire starter, planting seeds, other ideas appreciated for egg cartons!
I recently went to a retirement party for a fellow who was given, among a host of other tacky gifts, a Japanese "banana case," -- a plastic sleeve that holds a single banana (for when a peel just won't do). Needless to say, the partygoers were coming up with all sorts of hilarious alternative uses. I'm thinking that perhaps there is no true "unitasker" so long as one has imagination. http://www.allthingsforsale.com/bento-box-lunch-box/671-japanese-bento-banana-case-4973430403757.html
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Indeed - I wonder who would
Indeed - I wonder who would buy such a thing... but I guess, "if you advertise well enough, it will sell".... (sigh)
maybe the same folks
who spend 10, 15, $20 for a "bagel slicer." PT Barnum had it right.
Stan Ginsberg
www.nybakers.com
Price?
I didn't see a price. Not interested in buying one, thanks -- just curious.
Uni-tasker NOT
I disagree, It would be excellent at storing hard boiled egg for the lunchbox. Uni-tasker it is not!.
Seriously though, Why would anyone spend money for that.
Really?
Who can't finish a whole kiwi? And what's wrong with saran wrap, tupperware, and ziplocs? It's kinda funny though...like a little spaceship!
I remember when
I remember when Sur La Table (which is selling this thing) used to be a serious cooking store. The original store in Seattle Pike's Place Market got bought out by folks with grand franchise visions and started selling this sort of crap...an all too common pattern (i.e. Abercombie & Fitch).
stocking stuffer
Reckon that would suit as a stocking stuffer for the cook who has everything ...or the OCD lunch packer businessman/woman, eh???
I bought some lovely plastic levers, once...
as "gag" gifts from a hardware store near my house. They were marked down from ¥100 to ¥10 so I bought five. Their sole purpose? Saving your manicure when opening cans, I suppose. Apparently, they were "ring-pull lifters". Now THAT'S a REAL uni-tasker and fairly useless...However, I can think of a whole bunch of very good 'uni-taskers'...it depends on your hobbies and interests
A pen that writes on anything with REAL silver...the only thing to use for correcting bad or damaged home-made electronic circuit boards...and there are "tube" testers and "LED" testers that can save a lot of time and heartbreak...A watch-back spanner for opening any make of watch (and the watch/clock 'oilers' were pretty good, too, way back when watches and clocks actually had a significant number of moving parts...) Almost all non-straight router bits for woodworking are true uni-taskers...I have a shoe-horn, a paint stirrer, a corkscrew, a cigarette holder, a cigar cutter and a candy thermometer, too, and I would probably buy an oyster knife if I had a real need for it...Heheheh!
However, I do agree strongly with the sentiments of the original post. Japan is full of gadgets like this...banana keepers, corn holders, grapefruit knives, strawberry hullers, etc...Sheesh!
copyu
Just a small note
I have on occasion seen these (dollar stores abound in my area) and the real problem comes in when one has one of these (given as a gag gift) and you actually try to fit a banana into it, or whatever it is, the thing is made for specific sized and shaped whatever, and I never have that size and shape. Sort of like those plastic egg carriers for camping, they will hold small eggs,which I never buy, but don't even close over the large eggs I do buy!
The stuff winds up in the chairty shops by the bag full, and someone somewhere finds a use for it, my old egg carrier, is used now to hold bits and pieces in the shop, works great for those odds and ends of screws etc.
And I do agree there are many many unitask things out there that work, but it sometimes gets taken to the extreme, and who needs a whole shelf or drawer full of things designed to hold items that you only need to store once in a blue moon.
EGG-zactly what I was thinking!
...and even if you DID have that odd useful "uni-tasker" that was perfect for the job in hand, would you be able to FIND it when you needed it? [A definite 'NO WAY!' at my place...]
Cheers!
copyu
What could be possibly used
What could be possibly used to keep the loaf in a safe place and preserved. I owe one of the whirlpool refrigerators, which is common in fact. This has a unique feature which keeps the moisture of the food long lasting. I put the dough in it, for the buns and jelly doughnuts, since we make the dough on a previous day for all the bakery stuffs. So I usually don't like to put them in the regular refrigerator, cause it may hamper the moisture of the dough a lot and may result in hard dough the following day.
Thought I'd share this, too
Thought I'd share this, too funny!
Good bread for a toasted
ham 'n' cheese sandwich.
A real "Croc Monsieur"...
A kiwi doesn't look like it
A kiwi doesn't look like it would need any kind of protection
There are people who will buy such a thing for a different reason than pure curiosity? I guess there are markets for all kinds of stuff
recycle
Who comes up with this stuff.
I collect egg cartons for holding and delivering figs, using as a log support and fire starter, planting seeds, other ideas appreciated for egg cartons!
Sylvia
banana case -
I recently went to a retirement party for a fellow who was given, among a host of other tacky gifts, a Japanese "banana case," -- a plastic sleeve that holds a single banana (for when a peel just won't do). Needless to say, the partygoers were coming up with all sorts of hilarious alternative uses. I'm thinking that perhaps there is no true "unitasker" so long as one has imagination. http://www.allthingsforsale.com/bento-box-lunch-box/671-japanese-bento-banana-case-4973430403757.html