Special Interest Group on CRAP

There is a crying need for a button on most consumer electronics these days. I call it the “FUCK YOU” button.

I’ll offer a few examples:

1. You put a DVD into your DVD player, but none of the buttons on the remote will function until you finish watching the promotions, the FBI copyright warning, and the logo for the studio. FUCK YOU.
2. You accidentally hit a button no your cell phone and find that you are surfing the web at $1.50 per minute. Unfortunately the phone is in your pocket and you discover it three hours later. FUCK YOU.
3. You try to get your browser window to the forefront by clicking anywhere on the page. Since literally everything on the web page is clickable (probably to get ad revenue), you end up loading a flash movie that is trying to sell you diapers for the elderly or something. FUCK YOU.

I’ve started to see enough irritations in consumer electronics, media, and communications that I think this deserves special consideration as a user interface component. There is an increasing need to register displeasure with media and devices, and no useful way to register your discontent.

On the other hand, I have little hope that such a thing would ever catch on. There is a monopoly on irritation in user interfaces, and users are not in charge of user interfaces.