Useless machine facts for kids
A useless machine, sometimes known as a "useless box", is a device which has a function but no direct purpose. It may be intended to make a philosophical point, as an amusing engineering "hack", or as an intellectual joke. Devices which have no function or which malfunction are not considered to be "useless machines".
The most well-known "useless machines" are those inspired by Marvin Minsky's design, in which the device's sole function is to switch itself off by operating its own "off" switch. More elaborate devices and novelty toys, having some obvious function or entertainment value, have been based on these simple "useless machines".
Commercial products
In the 1960s, a novelty toy maker called "Captain Co." sold a "Monster Inside the Black Box", featuring a mechanical hand that emerged from a featureless plastic black box and flipped a toggle switch, turning itself off. This version may have been inspired in part by "Thing", the disembodied hand featured in the television sitcom The Addams Family. Other versions have been produced. In their conceptually purest form, these machines do nothing except switch themselves off.
It is claimed that Don Poynter, who graduated from the University of Cincinnati in 1949 and founded Poynter Products, Inc., first produced and sold the "Little Black Box", which simply switched itself off. He then added the coin snatching feature, dubbed his invention "The Thing", arranged licensing with the producers of the television show, The Addams Family, and later sold "Uncle Fester's Mystery Light Bulb" as another show spinoff product. Robert J. Whiteman, owner and president of Liberty Library Corporation, also claims credit for developing "The Thing". (Both companies were later to be co-defendants in landmark litigation initiated by Theodor Geisel ("Dr. Seuss") over copyright issues related to figurines.)
Both the plain black box and the bank version were widely sold by Spencer Gifts, and appeared in its mail-order catalogs through the 1960s and early 1970s. As of 2015[update], a version of the coin snatching black box is being sold as the "Black Box Money Trap Bank" or "Black Box Bank".
Do-it-yourself versions of the useless machine (often modernized with microprocessor controls) have been featured in a number of web videos and inspired more complex machines that are able to move or which use more than one switch. As of 2015[update], there are several completed or kit form devices being offered for sale.
