Not everyone was born Steve Jobs. In a world ruled by technology and social media, many people find themselves struggling to keep up with increasingly elaborate electronics. The elderly are taking tips from their “tech-savvy kids,” and our moms are figuring out how to upload Instagram stories, which is both a bless… I mean, a curse, really.
But hey, who am I to judge when there are still some people who are so clueless about seemingly basic tech things like chargers, ad blockers, and electric kettles? Bored Panda has compiled a painfully cringy list of some of the most absurd fails in the land of electronics that will make tech ed classics great again.
After you're done reading this post, be sure to check out our previous lists with the worst software fails, older people struggling with technology, and tech support people sharing the nightmare fails they've encountered.
#1 My Dad Says, “Google Is Doing This Stupid Thing Where The Blur The Top Left Part Of The Results. Facebook Is Doing It Too Actually.” He Melted The Top Left Corner Of His Screen
Image credits: unidentifies
#2 Student Uses Light On Phone To Charge Portable Solar Battery So That He Can Charge His Phone
Image credits: IKnowICantSpel
#3 My Mother-In-Law Keeps Complaining That Her Kindle Wouldn’t Charge
Image credits: gumball_Jones
#4 I Decided To Upgrade To An Electric Kettle This Week, A Detail I Remembered As It Burst Into Flames On The Gas Stove
Image credits: notsewfast_
#5 Don't Ask Me
Image credits: goth_cakes
#6 Candle Was Super Fragrant Last Night. Now I Know Why
Image credits: TomSF
#7 My Sister Was Putting On Her Make Up In Front Of A Window And The Mirror She Was Using Burnt A Hole In Her Screen
Image credits: Hucufurus
#8 I Need Somewhere To Set This Candle. Oh Here’s A Good Spot
Image credits: kjb0419
#9 This Is How My Auntie Blocks Ads From Her Computer Screen
Image credits: itswallsss
#10 Customer Came In With His iPhone, His Glass Cracked, He Thought He Could Peel Off The Glass So He Wouldn't Notice The Crack Anymore
Image credits: Ferbel
#11 Nothing Like Pulling Out A Warm Pillow Out Of The Dryer Right Before Bedtime
Image credits: BlackDeathZombieSwede
#12 I Couldn’t Find My Phone But It Was Connected To The Bluetooth So I Figured It Was Somewhere In... Or Out Of The Car
Image credits: schelie
#13 “The Printer Isn’t Working”
Image credits: MirrorlikeTent
#14 Ripped Off What I Thought Was Protective Plastic From A New Monitor. It Was The Polarizing Film
Image credits: reddit.com
#15 If You Spill Acetone On Your Table, Make Sure You Clean It All Up
Image credits: DivineBanana
#16 Spent 10 Minutes Looking For The Drip Tray For The Forman Grill, After I Turned It On
Image credits: Kimritto
#17 My Dad Didn’t Realize You Could Screen Record Videos
Image credits: scoliosisissad
#18 Oh, Dear, Dad Tried To Print A Video
Image credits: Tom_Sawyerer
#19 My Girlfriend's Grandma Thought The iPad Was A Cutting Board
Image credits: IonnaTrailer
#20 Should I Tell My Mom She's Supposed To Take The iPad Out Of The Box?
Image credits: FrederikTwn
#21 My Mom Using A Magnifying Glass To See My Phone Better. Love Her To Death But She's Not The Best With Technology
Image credits: always_heer
#22 After Two Days Of Troubleshooting, The Solution Was To Simply Flip It Upside Down. Of Course
Image credits: NotagoK
#23 My Wife Washed My USB Drive Because It Was "Sticky"
Image credits: notw86
#24 Found Out My Toaster Can Work As A Timer, Even When Not Plugged In. Now I Have To Wait Another 20 Minutes To Find Out How Good These Fish Sticks Are
Image credits: zxvegasxz
#25 "But I Like It This Way, It's Convenient" - My Tech Savvy Aunt
Image credits: Lordalphax
#26 Technologically Superior
Image credits: minidude22
#27 After Setting Up My PS5, I Forgot I Had Set The PS4 Pro Against The Baseboard Heater And Left It There Overnight
Image credits: DoTheDishesDude
#28 My Dad's Way Of Transferring Pictures
Image credits: dealdroper
#29 Saw My Mom's Phone, And Investigated. She Used The Screen Protector's Throwaway Film Instead Of The Actual Screen Protector
Image credits: The_PwnShop
#30 "It's Hard To Hear People Unless I'm On Speakerphone"
Image credits: sdyar
#31 iPhone X That Came Into The Shop Today. Customer Said “I’ve Never Dropped It In Water”
Image credits: Lt_Pineapples_
#32 Brother Couldn’t Figure Out Why His Wi-Fi Signal Was Terrible
Image credits: Nostrom01
#33 The Way My GF Uses Her Laptop
Image credits: petanska
#34 My Dad Photocopied His Phone To Use A Money Off Voucher
Image credits: O_mo_chreach
#35 Dad Accidentally Turned Off Keyboard Backlighting And Couldn’t See The Keys
Image credits: silaxs
#36 Asked My Dad Why He Was Reading Through The Camera App On His Phone. He Said He Wanted To See What It Would Be Like If I Had A Kindle
Image credits: borrow_a_feeling
#37 My Mom Didn't Know How To Take A Screenshot So She Improvised With The Scanner
Image credits: mcgray
#38 End User Had A Heater Next To The PC Which Was Randomly Shutting Off And She Thought She Had Smelled Burning A Couple Of Times. It Is Literally Screaming
Image credits: Dragon_Khan
#39 Customer Brought In This iMac For Not Powering On. This Is How He Apparently Uses It
For further context: I'm 99% sure the customer has been running his iMac with the shipping plastic in place since 2015, including on the bottom covering the vents, as there's airflow patterns of dust and certain areas where the plastic has melted/deformed; note the scotch tape ON the plastic covering the camera.
EDIT: Just called the customer and asked/confirmed the plastic has been in place; "I guess that's why I hear the fans ramp up!" And he wants to keep the plastic in place, lol. But I got him to agree to at least let me clip the bottom portion so it no longer wraps around the vents.
Image credits: raptordrew
#40 Xerox Fault Error 072-210
Image credits: DarrenCax
#41 Tried To Wash My Pillows. They Exploded And Filled My Washing Machine With Sticky Blue And Green Pillow Fluff
Image credits: SteveLikesToBake
#42 Well, It Is Not A Good Idea To Clean The Screen Of The MacBook With Glass Cleaner
Image credits: xcstf
#43 I Spent An Hour And A Half Cleaning The Kitchen When I Finished I Thought I'd Make Coffee
Image credits: Friendly_Flytrap
#44 Broken Clip? No Problem
Image credits: SmoothToast
#45 I Have 4 Exams In The Next 2 Weeks. I Have To Buy A Replacement Online As Shops Don't Have It. Soonest I Can Receive One Without Selling A Kidney For Shipping Is 15 Days From Now
Image credits: beanie_laddie
#46 Dropped My Wireless Mouse Into A Candle
Image credits: SalsaMamba
#47 Apparently There's A Staple Sticking Upon This Bench
Image credits: gilbertsmith
#48 Well....
#49 Girlfriend Turned The New Iron On Without Checking The Bottom. She Turned It Into A Boiling Plastic Spreader
Image credits: reddit.com
#50 My Sister Unplugged My 3D Printer With Only A Few Layers Left On This 20 Hour Print
Image credits: Half_Smashed_Face
#51 Obviously Scatterbrained Today, I Put A Laundry Detergent Pod In The Dishwasher
Image credits: uglypatty
#52 Asked Girlfriend To Connect My Laptop To The TV. A Couple Minutes Later She Calls Me In Saying It’s Not Working
She plugged both sides of the HDMI cable into the TV.
Image credits: justinator5
#53 Thermostat Had Hardly Worked All Winter, A Friend Suggested I Open It And Look For A Switch
Image credits: bath-tub
#54 Set My Remotes On My Heater While Cleaning And Forgot. Then Got Chilly
Image credits: hollyjoyofyourlife
#55 Turned 26 Today, Contact Fell Out While Walking Into Work, Tried To Rub My Eye To Help The Irritation While Looking Down, And Walked Into A Brick Wall. Happy Birthday To Me
Image credits: DabDastic
#56 Some Karen Raged Into The Apple Store And Asked For A Refund For Her iPhone 5. I Didn’t Listen To The Convo But When I Walked Past I Heard The Manager Asked Her If She Charged It, She Said No
Image credits: LiterallyEkam
#57 My Favorite Part Of The Day Is Spilling Fish Food On My Keyboard In The Middle Of An Online Class That Requires Typing
Image credits: gaya_ne
#58 I Love When TV Shows Fail With Technology
Image credits: someladonreddit
#59 I Can’t Figure Out How To Get On To Netflix
Image credits: Nancy_Groves
#60 Just Found Out Why My Mom's Laptop Wasn’t Charging
Image credits: Yeetus-Rice
#61 Apparently, I Type Too Hard
Image credits: dreamwavedev
#62 When A Teacher Decides To Buy And Install A Screen Protector On Their Own
Image credits: anondeadpixel
#63 I Was Really Pleased To Find That My Left-Behind Charger Had Arrived In The Mail. Because I Am My Own Worst Enemy, I Hastily Opened The Package With Scissors
Image credits: toolsoftheincomptnt
#64 What Could Go Wrong If You Put Your Dog's Bed In The Dryer After Being Washed?
Image credits: MnkySpnk
#65 Laptop Was Left Touching An Incandescent Lamp
Image credits: Dvoraxx
#66 My Sister Plugged This Into Her Phone. A Few Minutes Later It Stopped Spinning, And Now Her Phone Wont Turn On
Image credits: grsercer6
#67 iPhone 12 Pro Cracked In Under 6 Hours Of Owning
Image credits: suprenaut
#68 One Of My Clients Upgraded His Phone But Kept His Old Screen “Protector”
Image credits: mikebellman
#69 My Iron Fell And I Didn't Notice
Image credits: wajxcsgo
#70 Accidentally Pulled On The Headphones Wire And...
Image credits: Mihash08
#71 I Set Up A Lock Screen App That Takes A Photo If You Put The Password In Wrong Trying To Catch My Daughter On My Phone. I've Only Caught Myself So Far Mostly First Thing In The Morning
Image credits: jrminoh
#72 I Stuck My Reese's In The Same Back Pocket That My Phone Was In So I Could Help A Friend Move A Couch. I Forgot About Both Of Them Until I Got Back From My Drive Home
Image credits: BirdPlan
#73 Someone Stole My Wireless Mouse Today But They Forgot To Take The Receiver
Image credits: Oshwat_02
#74 I Made A Mistake
Image credits: blamethejd
#75 I Work With A Lot Of Old School Carpenters That Aren't Super Tech-Savvy. Here Is One Of Their iPad Cases
Image credits: muppetmaker
#76 Wondered Why One Of My Earbuds Wasn't Going In The Charging Case
Image credits: mrspea84
#77 When I Was Putting Cookies In The Oven My AirPod Fell Out Of My Ear And Into The Oven. A Little Uncomfortable But Still Works
Image credits: E-Nuggets
#78 User Left Their Laptop On An Electric Hob
Image credits: Ethnikoi
#79 Just Paid $80 To Replace The Screen So I Could Trade It In. Dropped It Unlocking The Front Door When I Got Home
Image credits: creep_while_u_sleep
#80 Slap It -"This Bad Boy Is Still Ready For The Glory In The Justices Grounds"
Image credits: kikindemain
#81 Didn’t Realise The Tote Bag Containing My New Laptop Was Dragging Along The Floor, Adding A New Bevel
Image credits: mrkemeny
#82 Girlfriend Didn’t Realize The Silica Packet Was In Her Laptop Bag And Was Ripped. Perfect Size To Get Stuck In Her MacBook Aux
Image credits: PokeySalmon
#83 My Wife Says She Needs A MacBook Because "The Stupid Laptop Won't Connect To Her iPhone"
Image credits: Nardo318
#84 My Professor Got Bored In Class So She Went On Facebook. She Really Didn't Seem To Notice Her Laptop Was Still Connected To The Projector
Image credits: dstryker120
#85 Just Pulled This Out Of My Laptop Charging Hole. I’ve Been Having Issues Plugging Cords In For 4 Years Now
Image credits: Dj-oatmeal
#86 Figured Out Why My Phone Didn’t Charge Last Night
Image credits: dgroove8
#87 Teacher Was Having Trouble With Her Mouse Not Working. Turns Out She Plugged The USB Into The Ethernet
Image credits: Warro03
#88 Drilled Right Into The Battery
Image credits: TechFreeze
#89 After Investigating A Complaint (Smell), They Found That Guests Got High And Were Using The Hotel's Iron To Cook Dry-Rubbed Steaks
Image credits: reddit.com
#90 I've Been Wondering Why My Laptop Doesn't Get Charged
Image credits: stupid-names-taken
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