http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887323628804578348572687608806
My article was written as recently as 2013, and brings back to light the purpose–or lack thereof–of the Ultimate Machine. Having been invented in the 1950s, the Ultimate Machine had been largely forgotten and unsurprisingly so. The machine is often referred to as the Useless Machine because it is just that–useless. Its sole purpose is to turn itself off after a human turns it on, yet people seem to find this satisfying as there is a market for these machines in which people can purchase kits to assemble their own. While “machine” may have you thinking of some extravagant invention, it is generally just a small box with an on/off switch and a hinged lid.