20 most worthless pieces of junk: #20 -- The rice cooker

WalletPoppers Amy Vernon and Todd Pruzan discovered they ...

disagreed about the usefulness of the rice cooker: that stove-top electric appliance that does exactly what you can do with a cup of rice, a cup of water, a pan, and pretty much zero effort whatsoever. But Todd had some arguments that didn't suck, so we allowed him to rebut Amy, whose initial argument was little more than PBBBT. (That's a Bronx cheer.) Here, Amy and Todd debate the rice cooker in an IM chat.

Amy: The rice cooker: useless piece of garbage, or useful kitchen tool for lazy people?

Todd: Oh, definitely the latter. But emphasis on "useful" over "lazy." I think a lot of us tend to be very busy these days with work, or looking for work, and kids and so forth. And a rice cooker is pretty reliable.