The Cambridge English Dictionary defines the word overengineering as “to create, design or build something to be more complicated or perform more actions than necessary or helpful.”
When Coastal Carolina University decided to finally renovate Hicks Dining Hall, just about all of the upgrades made sense. Whether it be the ease of access to bread boxes, additional station options like True Balance or just general quality upgrades– everything just made sense.
Before renovations, Hicks would set up big containers of water near the soda fountains to give students an alternative to soft drinks. They would often flavor this water with fruit slices and/or herbs like mint. That is all it really needed to be, something simple that offers an alternative.
Hicks recently added a new water machine that allows the users to select different pre-programmed combinations. Additionally, the user can adjust the flavoring from low, medium or high settings, and can add caffeine and/or vitamins to the beverage.
The saying goes, “you shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth.” I, however, can’t let this slide.
I’ll tell you why this machine fits the definition of overengineering.
To start, the flavor adjuster doesn’t really affect anything. I tried the mango mixture on the highest setting, and it just tasted like water with the slightest bit of fruit peel.
It didn’t taste like mango at all. It tasted like someone yelled the word “mango” into the cup.
Also, the caffeine and vitamins are very minimal. When I used the machine, the vitamin option wasn’t available and seemed like moot point regardless. The whole idea of adding fresh fruit to water in the first place is to not only add flavor but also vitamins.
I understand that water is crucial to anything pertaining to life on this planet. We especially don’t consume enough water on a daily basis, so I admire the effort in trying to promote water intake.
However, this is definitely a case of overengineering and overall unnecessary.
Madisyn Padgett • Jan 29, 2025 at 1:00 pm
Fantastic take