Cell phones are the most hated inventions after alarm clocks

Masssachussets: According to the eighth annual Lemelson-MIT invention index study conducted in the US nearly one in three (30 per cent) adults say the cell phone is the invention they hate most but cannot live without. In fact, the cell phone narrowly beat the alarm clock (25 percent) and television (23 percent) in the survey, which gauges Americans' attitudes toward invention. Other products like shaving razors, microwaves, coffee pots, computers and vacuum cleaners were also cited as essential but despised inventions.

The Lemelson-MIT invention index found that a vast majority of Americans (95 per cent) believe inventions have improved the quality of life in the United States. Their strong feelings toward cell phones illustrate both the benefits and unintended consequences of innovation.

"Cell phones have clearly been beneficial in terms of increasing worker productivity and connecting people with family and friends," said Merton Flemings, director of the Lemelson-MIT Program, a non-profit organization that celebrates inventors and inventions. "However, the Invention Index results show that the benefits of an invention sometimes come with a societal cost."

MIT Media Lab researchers said, "Most people dislike cell phones because they either feel tethered to them or they are annoyed by others who use them in inappropriate public places, such as restaurants or movie theaters." They added, "We are exploring ways to give these devices human-style social intelligence, which means that they would know what we as owners expect them to do, and especially what not to do, without our having to tell them explicitly every time."

Do inventions make life easier or more difficult?
In addition to cell phones, the Lemelson-MIT invention index also looked at the impact of popular inventions such as email, voicemail and credit and debit cards.

Teenagers overwhelmingly believed email (81perecnt) and voicemail (71percent) make life simpler while adults agreed to a lesser extent. Roughly three out of five said email (59percent) and voicemail (58percent) have made life easier.

Interestingly, teenagers showed mixed reactions about credit and debit cards. Only 32 percent said they make life easier, while 26 percent said they make life more difficult and 39 percent felt they make life both simpler and more difficult. Half of the adults surveyed said the benefits of credit and debit cards outweigh any disadvantages.

The Lemelson-MIT Program, founded in 1994 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology by Jerome H. Lemelson, one of the world's most prolific inventors, provides the resources and inspiration to make invention and innovation more accessible to today's youth. It accomplishes this mission through outreach activities and annual awards, including the world's largest prize for invention - the $500,000 Lemelson-MIT Prize.

It is funded by The Lemelson Foundation, a private philanthropy committed to honoring the contributions of inventors, innovators and entrepreneurs and to inspire ingenuity in others.