Why the World is full of Useless Things

Steve McKevitt

A witty and cynical look at the phoney ideas and useless products that dominate our lives.

The future has failed to live up to expectations. The 21st century of jetpacks, space travel and cities under the sea that we were once promised by Tomorrow’s World has failed to materialise. Instead of a technological wonderland, we’ve got ready meals, congestion charges and Jade Goody. How did that happen? Why is the world so full of rubbish?

Steve McKevitt went to QVC and back to find the answers.

His journey began with Home Creative Studio (a pointless piece of software that cost millions to develop), and took in bottled water, homoeopathy, the Cosmic Ordering Service, Cillit Bang, spam email, the seven signs of ageing, personal loans, reality TV, celebrity authors, chicken tikka masala, Princess Diana, Café Rouge, Big Brother, gap years and the Interactive Bible (an ambitious attempt to do nothing less than improve upon The Word of God) and much more besides.

He discovered a world that has embraced technology, but forgotten science; a world that doesn’t know what it wants, but knows when it wants it – now. But most importantly, he found out why the world is full of useless things.

Born in Liverpool in 1966, STEVE McKEVITT began his career in the 1980s. He is a business and communications expert and has worked all over Europe in the entertainment, media and consumer electronics sectors. He now lives and works in Sheffield where he runs the communications consultancy MK Ltd.

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