Eight of the world's most utterly useless machines

Shut up and take our money.

This one has been around a while - more than 60 years, in fact- but it's a new one on us, and we are in love.

It's the 'World's Most Useless Machine', also known as the 'Leave Me Alone Box', the 'Useless Box' or in its earliest incarnation, the ' Ultimate Machine'.

It is a thing of wonder and joy, and here it is in action:

( rcbif101 via YouTube)

Yep, that's all it does.

Silly.

Gloriously, wonderfully silly.

This one's made of Lego:

(Maarten Pennings· via YouTube)

This home-made one has a message for you:

(family7485· via YouTube)

This one, by instrument maker Peter Hekker, goes really slow:

(Fog Walking via YouTube)

If you want to have a Useless Machine of your very own, you can buy a kit online and put it together.

Just like this one:

(ThinkGeek via YouTube)

Or this one, which belongs to Weird Al Yankovic, and which you can get here.

(Weird Al Yankovic via YouTube)

Of course, the beauty of the Useless Box is its simplicity, both in concept and execution.

That said, there's something in the nature of the tinkerers that play with such things which compels them to go one step further.

Like this version, made from an old printer:

(forn4x via YouTube)

All of which has been leading up to the grand finale - this version which, it has to be said, is just the daddy of them all.

(Jeffrey Kohler· via YouTube)

Now, back to work.