Company Creates a Self-Making Bed 159
MarkWhittington writes "A Spanish company has created a bed that will make itself. Ordinarily I am excited about just about any technological advance, but this one leaves me wondering what it's good for. It might be that as a rather slovenly housekeeper, I do not see the purpose of making a bed. The idea of being able to bounce a coin off of a sheet that has been stretched tight seems to have been an invention of moms and drill sergeants to torment people. Why make up a bed in the morning when it's just going to be unmade that evening (or sooner if one likes an afternoon nap?) When I was a lad, dreaming of the wonders that awaited in the 21st century, among the flying cars, colonies on the moon and jet packs, self-making beds somehow escaped by imagination, even as my sainted mom forced me to make mine before heading out to school."
Because (Score:5, Informative)
A made bed looks better, giving the bedroom a more relaxing feel. It's also more comfortable to climb into and provides a consistent experience which many people need to help maintain sleep health.
Also because wife says so.
Re:Because (Score:5, Funny)
Also because wife says so.
This! ^^^
Sometimes the best answer is because my wife likes it that way. ^_^
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Too late. . . (Score:2)
Y'all need a new wife. And you can't have mine.
. . .he's already had her.
(diving for cover, grinning like hell. . . )
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I never got the point of making my bed either, but my wife grew up in the tropics where it was always windy and blew a lot of dust around. If you didn't make your bed you would be sleeping in a gritty sandbox that night.
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Wife? Oh please.
Re:Because (Score:5, Funny)
But this device would be utterly useless to my wife, unless there is an optional accessory that carefully places the (no fewer than) 7 pillows that for some reason belong on our 2-person bed.
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you forgot 7 pillows that have no use other than to make the bed look pretty.
if you use one of those pillows you will get yelled at worse than not making the bed.
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If APPEARANCE is the only reason, then it can wait until the guests drop by, and THEN I will make it. Not before.
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If APPEARANCE is the only reason, then it can wait until the guests drop by, and THEN I will make it. Not before.
I like having things look tidy at home. It makes it easier to find things when I need to, and overall is more mentally relaxing.
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my bed has a sheet two pillows, and a fleece blanket. that is all that is on it. everything has a place but there is nothing like flopping onto a bed and just grabbing sheets as opposed to un making the bed before you can sleep.
I have to un make a bed before I can sleep on it. if it is made properly it is to tight on my ankles So i have to loosen all the covers anyways. if I don't i will kick them free during the night. Not to mention I live in a house that doesn't go below 60 at night I don't need 5 la
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I use a duvet (comforter in US English, I think) or a plain blanket, depending on what climate and time of year it is; so my view of "made properly" is probably different than yours. It's basically an organized way of putting the duvet/blanket. I find it annoying when I come to hotels and have to rip it all up.
What I wanted to communicate was that it isn't necessarily a waste to tidy even if you're not having guests over - some of us like to have things tidy because we find it pleasant in itself, not to d
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>>>I like having things look tidy at home. It makes it easier to find things
Eh. I am organized (books back on the shelf, shoes under the table rather than just thrown somewhere) but still don't make my bed. As someone else said, I'd just have to Unmake it again each night.
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If you've ever had a dog, you've learned why it's important to make your bed.
Dog owners: When your dog comes indoors all muddy and dirty, with shit on his paws, where's the first place he heads for as soon as he can sneak away?
Yep. Your bed. If the bed's not made, then you either have to clean the mud and shit out of it, or else sleep in mud and shit. And you can say "My dog's not allowed on the bed," but that makes the bed even more enticing to the dog.
Same principle applies to cats who cough up hairba
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Dog owners: When your dog comes indoors all muddy and dirty, with shit on his paws, where's the first place he heads for as soon as he can sneak away?
My dog always comes up to me and stares at me when she's had an especially sticky bout of poo, waiting for me to wipe her arse. If for some reason I was busy, she'll hang around HER bed. She knows she is not allowed on OUR bed unless she is invited - where she gladly sleeps all night on our pillows (move human, this is MY pillow now). But no invite, no bed.
I don't claim to be some sort of expert dog trainer. I think I just have a very smart dog that is loved very much.
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A made bed looks better [..] help maintain sleep health.
And because you get rid of the dust- see here. [wikipedia.org]
Why make up a bed in the morning when it's just going to be unmade that evening
Because, appart from basic hygiene and avoiding building a colony of who-knows-what, it helps you maintain a healthy routine and improve discipline and self-respect. It may also improve your social life, since you will not be demonstrating to your house guests that you live in a pit. It is also NOT your mother's job to make your bed.
Seriously, are you such a lazy sod that you invoke teenage arguments against making your bed?
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Re:Because (Score:5, Insightful)
According to this [fsp.co.za], NOT making your bed is better then making it when it comes to dust mites. Obviously washing the sheets and such regularly is a good idea, but you don't have to make the bed to do that.
I don't know about you, but I don't tend to have too many house parties in my bedroom. There's a living room and a kitchen for that.
I also don't see any gain in discipline or self-respect. I do see a few minutes of my life that I won't get back being spent on something that in my house serves no purpose whatsoever. So I don't do it.
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I don't know about you, but I don't tend to have too many house parties in my bedroom.
A long time ago, houses were significantly smaller, and parties often extended into the bedroom. In fact, bedrooms became an extension of the entertainment of the house, leading to a number of changes. One of these was the purchase of luxury bedroom furnishings, because it was a further display of wealth, and the other was maintaining a clean and tidy bedroom (including a made bed), because you never know when the party would spill over to the living spaces.
Now houses are constructed quite differently, an
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Re:Because (Score:5, Funny)
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Or just live somewhere like the southwest. Dust mites require the Aspergillus fungus to pre-process dander (dead skin) for consumption, and this fungus cannot survive in climates that are below 60% R.H. Additionally, below 70% R.H., dust mites will lose moisture at a higher rate than they can acquire it, with levels below 60% R.H. considered lethal. Of course moving is expensive, but fortunately running an air conditioner, or just a dehumidifier, can do the trick too.
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According to this [fsp.co.za], NOT making your bed is better
Each to his own- that, though, reminds me of the argument that smoking is good for you, because it eradicates bacteria that cause tooth decay.
For a more critical view, the argument on your link can be used both ways: there will be variability in moisture, so one can argue that there will be areas of no mites, and pockets where mites are having a party.
I don't know about you, but I don't tend to have too many house parties in my bedroom.
Ah, perhaps you haven't been at the right party yet!
I also don't see any gain in discipline or self-respect.
This one is simple (and it may or may not work for someone): it merely prevents you from yielding to procr
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I also recall a story on the BBC website that unmade beds also reduced bed bug issues.
I can however state that having an unmade bed increases the odds of having spiders in your bed.
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Those people don't need a device to tidy up. They need treatment for their psychological disorder. If for a person it's really "can't" and not "doesn't want to", then it's a disease and should be treated as such.
Catering to the disease won't make it better. Quite the opposite.
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And a device that will help you overcome your or your partner's obsessive-compulsive disorder.
What was the point of that? (Score:5, Informative)
Subby is the author of TFA. TFA has the same text as the summary.
What's the point of that? I guess my own fault for RTFA.
Why not link to the company web page or press release or anything other than the same text posted here?
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Why not link to the company web page or press release or anything other than the same text posted here?
Because then he wouldn't have gotten all those precious slashdot hits on his yahoo contributor article.
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Yeah, I first read the headline as 'Self-baking bread'. That would be something. Plus, make it emo, so it will cut itself.
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Bread-making machines already exist. Toss in the ingredients and it mixes them into dough, and then cooks it into a loaf.
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Yes, but bread-baking machines : self-baking bread :: your mom : self-making bed.
Making a bed... (Score:5, Funny)
When I get out of bed, the first thing I do is make sure it is properly made...
Likewise, when I take off my shoes, the first thing I do is lace them up...
What I'm waiting for (Score:2)
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Also, where exactly did that shower go to when it slid away? Same for the rack that dropped down from the ceiling that he put that gun in. I think the mattress slid in and out of the wall as well. So, what was the deal? There was no indication that they had any transcendentally dimensional (bigger on the inside) technology, so there needed to be real spaces that these things were sliding away into. Was there just a bunch of pointlessly wasted space in that apartment building? Or were the apartments around h
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The arbitrarily high thing is a nice rationalization, but horizontal real estate and vertical real estate are essentially the same thing in an apartment building. I'll take the two storey apartment over the one story one with the sections that slide away into a bunch of dead-space compartments. Another possibility has occurred to me though. The extra area those things slide away into might not be dead space, but might be used for utilities. What sort of utilities is anyone's guess. If every apartment is lik
More like a "bed that straightens out a sheet" (Score:3)
Still, I suppose every technology must have a first step, even the automated bed-making technology.
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Yeah, I saw it as version 1.0 as well. Oh, just wondering, Does Spain ever get cold enough for quilts?
I would imagine this mechanism would last about a month on your average teen-ager's bed before it is hopelessly tangled and derailed by blue jeans left laying on the bed, power cords to devices, guitars, and porn magazines hidden in the track-way covers.
What's needed is something to tip the teenager out onto the floor, along with any cloths and paraphernalia, and food wrapper, hoist the bed vertical, shake
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First a bed that makes itself. Next step are clothes that fold themselves, carpets that vacuum themselves, garbage that takes itself out, and cats that don't poop. Sure it's just a small step that starts it all but it's a step that needs to be taken!
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Only they're about 40 years too late and way over budget. I made an automatic bed-making machine when I was a kid, out of the description in a Brains Benton kid detective book. Or maybe it was Danny Dunn. GIve me a break, it was 40 years ago. Anyhow, you hooked a string up to the top corners of your sheets/blankets/whatever and ran it through a pulley at the head of the bed, then left the loose ends at the foot of your bed. Get out of bed, pull on the strings, and they pull the attached sheet corners u
All hail technology! (Score:2)
Here's why you make your bed ... (Score:5, Funny)
Question:
Why make up a bed in the morning when it's just going to be unmade that evening (or sooner if one likes an afternoon nap?)
Answer:
To demonstrate to your future girlfriend that you aren't a slob.
Re:Here's why you make your bed ... (Score:5, Funny)
Answer: To demonstrate to your future girlfriend that you aren't a slob.
Just get your wife to make the bed, then tell your girlfriend that you did it.
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including the self-making bed, this joke is the fourth thing we don't get.
Re:Here's why you make your bed ... (Score:5, Funny)
Gentlemen: A toast to wives and girlfriends - may they never meet.
Poetic variation (Score:2)
Gentlemen! A toast!
To wives and girlfriends: May they never meet.
Except perhaps naked between the sheets.
Stay thirsty, my friends.
Re:Here's why you make your bed ... (Score:4, Funny)
wives and girlfriends - may they never meet.
Hmmm.. now... on the other hand...
Yeah, that's probably literally correct.
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Also to keep the moisture in so the bed bugs and dust mites don't die.
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Answer:
To demonstrate to your future girlfriend that you aren't a slob.
Also makes the wife happy, so you get two happy women for the price of one housekeeping job. Otherwise known as a redundant array of inexpensive womens. Ditto lowering the toilet lid, although there's always the sink for that.
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you must be new here.
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But, in response to his question. Why make a bed?
The room looks better with the bed made. The sheets and pillows are arranged so that when one lays down to go to bed one does not have to rearrange them to get them comfortably over ones body. If two share a bed (again never the authors problem) they can turn down each side individually. Each having comfort and convenience without disturbing the other. Finally, BECAUSE YOUR MO
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Allergies are usually caused by dust mites, which thrive on the cozy environment of made beds: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/4181629.stm [bbc.co.uk]
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Why do you want a girlfriend who is so impractical and demanding as to make bed making an issue in the relationship? If it's not useful, and you want to make me do it, then I probably don't want to be around you.
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Yes, I sleep with one nightly. The bed is perpetually unmade. This is not a problem for anyone.
It's not even about the work involved in making the bed. It's about having a brain that's not fundamentally broken. Caring about shit like bed making is a sign that your priorities are entirely screwed up.
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Now, I do find that this entire discussion is an excellent example that people will *always* find something to fight viciously over. We'll take sides across our battle lines, the Flatties over here, the Crumplers over there. Then there shall be WAR!!! And you untidy, undisciplined Crumpler sons
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We'll take sides across our battle lines, the Flatties over here, the Crumplers over there. Then there shall be WAR!!! And you untidy, undisciplined Crumpler sons of bitches will finally get what's coming to you!
=D
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Yes! I too have discovered that training and discipline is only for feeble brains. Similarly I have nothing in my apartment except my computer, a cheap mattress, a blanket that I never fold, and some storage bins for clothes that I only wash when I get complaints. Of course I also never workout or do anyt
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To demonstrate to your future girlfriend that you aren't a slob.
In the overwhelming majority of male/female relationships I've observed, the man is actually much more tidy than the woman. So I get really tired of this stereotype that I can't keep my house clean.
Be sure make a surprise visit to your girlfriend's place. It will be a mess. That mess is what you will deal with every day of your life once you live together.
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In the overwhelming majority of male/female relationships I've observed, the man is actually much more tidy than the woman. So I get really tired of this stereotype that I can't keep my house clean.
Back when I was an undergrad, I lived in a single that shared a small kitchen and bathroom with four or five other (single) rooms, collectively known as a "suite."
My first year, it was all male. While there was generally some mess around in the kitchen area, it was generally easy to localize. And guys in college don't tend to have a lot of dishes for themselves, so I guess they couldn't eat another bowl of cereal or whatever unless they cleaned them up at some point. The mess never sat around for more
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Why make up a bed in the morning when it's just going to be unmade that evening (or sooner if one likes an afternoon nap?)
When my kids offer that argument I'll let them leave their beds unmade. When dinnertime comes around I ask them why I should feed them, because they are just going to be hungry again tomorrow. Now they typically make their beds as soon as they wake up.
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The reason you feed them is so they don't die. Who dies when a bed goes unmade?
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That's a great way to teach your kids that authority figures are frequently disingenous.
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I weep when I see this sort of people laying shadows on Earth. If your kids are smarter than a lazy monkey, they will figure out the false analogy pretty fast and you will lose a large chunk (if not all) of their respect towards you. My parents used the same dumb shit on me until I have outgrown it (I was about 9 at the time).
Just use a bloody reward system to have them make their beds. But maybe you're too cheap to do so. Well, your kids, not mine.
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Also useful to bug the bugs: ignore the label and wash at at least 60 degrees C (140 F). Dust mites survive up to about 50C and with some margin the washing temp should be about 60. Somehow bedlinen manufacturers still sell sheets with max washing temp 40C.
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Learn to cook instead. If you can make her dinner and show off a clean kitchen, she's not going to give a damn that you didn't bother making the bed.
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Learn to cook instead. If you can make her dinner and show off a clean kitchen, she's not going to give a damn that you didn't bother making the bed.
Wow -- good relationship advice on Slashdot. Unbelievable!
Yes... guys: you should learn to master 2 or 3 dinner options, as well as either omelets, pancakes, or waffles for breakfast (and there could certainly be bonus points for you in the morning if you don't use Bisquick or can make an omelet completely and get it out of the pan without ever using a utensil). The dinners don't have to be difficult, but there should be something unique about them. Go upstairs from the basement and ask your Mom or Gra
Why bother? (Score:3, Informative)
likes to sleep in ? (Score:2)
Completely Uninteresting (Score:5, Insightful)
The rail-guided mechanism which makes this bed work is utterly uninteresting, and probably won't handle custom bed coverings or multiple layers, like duvet with cover. The bed cover is permanently attached at the foot corners of the bed, and pulled into place by a mechanism moving on parallel rails toward the head of the bed.
The pillows are elevated by some mechanical lift, which allows the cover to slide under, and so the pillows cannot be moved arbitrarily.
This bullshit is less impressive than the machinery in bowling lanes for arranging the bowling pins.
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Business (Score:2)
Hotels could save money on housekeeping services, presumably.
Not that Spain needs to be cutting any more employment of course.
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For long business trips I sometimes stay in hotels for weeks on end. I instruct them to change the sheets and towels twice a week, as more than that is a waste.
Making the bed always frustrated me. (Score:5, Interesting)
You see, I grew up in rural South India and we usually slept on a mat (of reeds) unrolled on cement floors with a pillow and a sheet. In the morning we would roll our mats with the pillow inside and stack these rolls one on top of another in one corner of the room which doubled as living area during the day. All was well till I started reading the Perry Mason novels by Erle Stanley Gardener, which were very popular. In more than one novel the clue that unraveled the whole mystery was, "But the housekeeper said the bed was not made". I had no idea how one would make a bed. I had seen pictures of cots and mattresses and I knew most Americans slept on elevated platforms. I imagined most of them would buy it somewhere. How does one "make" it? Very frustrating.
In another novel the key was, "But the food was delivered by the dumb waiter!". I could understand if it was a blind waiter he would not have seen the dead body in the middle of the floor. But the waiter was just dumb, he could still see right? Then how delivering the dinner by dumb waiter made the difference? By the time I actually saw a dumb waiter, I had forgotten the story. All I remembered was, "why the dumb waiter did not see the dead body?".
Similarly in our first year in Chemistry, the book said some thing called an orbital was shaped like a doughnut. (yes, the Brit spelling). No one in our entire class had seen a doughnut. Then one student found an American book, that called it a donut but had a picture of it. Almost every one shouted, "donut is a torus!". We knew the mathematical name of that shape!
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Phys Ed teacher (Score:2)
"Don't carry the ball like a loaf of bread".
I was totally dumbfounded. I had no idea what I was doing wrong. If I had a loaf of bread, it would be in a plastic bag and I wouuld hold it by the loose end. This was nothing like carrying a football.
It was phys ed, and the flow of the day didn't allow me to ask for clarification. Years later I learned that "like a loaf of bread" was a common coaches idiom for carrying the ball too far away from the body, too loosely so that it might get sripped by a defender
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Doughnut is British spelling?
I would call it the correct spelling. I think "donut" was simply slang shorthand that eventually got into common usage. (http://m-w.com just says variant of doughnut.)
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Nah, they're different. Well, technically.
Donuts, the American spelling, are toruses and are frequently iced. They're okay but they're frequently too dry and sweet for me.
Doughnuts, the British spelling, are oblate spheroids with jam injected into the middle. I've never seen an iced doughnut.They're frequently called 'jam doughnuts' to disambiguate them from the American version. To my mind they're loads nicer as the sharp jam offsets the sugar, and the dough stays moist. Pictures here: https://www.goog [google.co.uk]
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We're fixing the problem with your chemistry books.
No, the book isn't changing. India will soon have Krispy Kreme doughnuts [forbes.com], which will make the reference a sensible one.
Does this really make it any easier? (Score:2)
It appears that this unit requires that the sheets be affixed or neatly tucked in at the bottom of the bed. In that case, making it by hand is just as fast if not faster. (Although if you don't have a partner to help, you do have to make the effort of walking around to the other side of the bed once to pull the other side up.)
It doesn't look like it would work when the covers are pulled completely off. That's the only case where making a bed takes a little bit of time.
They don't say how this affects
Misleading idioms (Score:2)
Making your bed is bad for you (Score:3)
In a properly made bed, the humidity from sleeping in it is preserved for much longer. That gives nice cozy conditions to everything from mold and mites to bed bugs.
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In a properly made bed, the humidity from sleeping in it is preserved for much longer. That gives nice cozy conditions to everything from mold and mites to bed bugs.
Absolutely. The best method would actually be to pull down the bedding as far as possible for most of the day and only make it before bed, if you want that "crisp" feeling when you get into bed.
Making the bed in the morning will just make your bed dirtier and stinkier sooner.
A Major Concern (Score:2)
Not one comment in this thread addresses the most important question regarding this issue.
If the bed makes itself, who has to lie in it? Does it lie in itself? How would there be any room for me?
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They've made their bed... (Score:2)
Practical and aesthetic reasons for making the bed (Score:2)
Practical reasons:
1) So you knock some of the skin-flakes, hardened secretions and creepy-crawlies that feed on them out of the bed. Insects poop you know. Even the small ones. Sleeping in skin flakes, hardened secretions and insect poop is unlikely to positively impact your health.
2) Making the bed every day builds discipline, which is helpful in many areas in life.
Aesthetic reasons:
1) Airing out the bed in the course of making it will make the bed smell better.
2) And, having a nicely squared away bed lo
Cool (Score:2)
Now all they need to do is...
Invent a machine that can clean up and dispose of kitty litter.
A machine that can take out the garbage, and intelligently put appropriate recyclables in the applicable receptacle.
One that can vacuum the entire house, including stairs, and empty its own canister when full. Oh, and it has to be able to pick up things that aren't supposed to be on the floor and put them away.
A machine that can take clean clothes out of the dryer, and fold and put them away for you. Ideal
They got a name for this .. (Score:2)
... They call that "a maid" or "mom" in some cases ;)
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The great thing about a well-made bed is... (Score:4, Funny)
you don't lose all the nuts and bolts from the engine you're rebuilding on it.
Cracking toast, Grommit (Score:2)
Anybody else hear that in their head?
It's good news and bad news,,,,,,,, (Score:2)
The bad news is, we'll have to look at the "Elderly couple dies of starvation, trapped in perfectly made bed" stories now and then.
What's it good for? (Score:2)
Chindogu (Score:2)
This seems a very good example of Chindogu.
Well done.
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I'm not sure what happens when you make your bed, but when I do the only impediment to spiders, mice, etc. would be "must enter along the perimeter", which doesn't actually seem like a big deal, as the perimeter is where such things are most likely to encounter the bed in the first place. It would probably keep larger animals out of my bed, but if the door isn't doing that already I've got bigger problems.