Next up: a chair with no seat

Every day, a devoted group of designers seeks to rethink the way we go about our everyday lives, and seeks to challenge the existing paradigms with new and exciting products.  Unfortunately for them, quite frequently they manage to  completely miss the point.  Take for example the Topless Table (link via Gizmodo).  No, it’s not what you think it is  (and while you’re at it, get your mind out of the gutter.)  It is, quite literally, a table with no top.  Instead, this “table” uses a number of retractable metal tines to create “outlines” onto which a plate and a cup can be placed.  The result is an object that is questionably suited to its intended purpose, and virtually useless for anything else.  Sure, you could stick an actual usable table top on the thing, but then it wouldn’t be design now, would it?