Americans hate the cell phone but can't live without it, says ABC News.
The 2004 Lemelson-MIT Invention Index, an annual survey of American perceptions about inventions, reveals that 30 percent of adults surveyed rated the mobile phone the most maddening technological invention.
The famed Massachusetts Institute of Technology organises this survey annually.
Cell phones beat alarm clocks, television sets, razors, microwave ovens, computers and answering machines to take the top slot.
While 25 percent of respondents rated the alarm clock the most irritating invention, 23 percent thought the television was the most exasperating. Fourteen percent cited the razor the most hated gadget.
'The interconnectedness you get from the cell phone is a very positive thing. I think that's one of the most important things, the bringing together of people. The downside is you sometimes want to be alone,' ABC News quoted Lemelson Center Director Merton C Flemings as saying.
But most of the adults -- 95 percent -- surveyed said technological advancement and new inventions had made their lives better.
Last year Americans rated the toothbrush -- which was developed in the 15th century -- the invention they could not live without. The toothbrush beat personal computers, cell phones, cars and microwave ovens to bag that honour.
The Lemelson-MIT Invention Index has explored American perceptions about inventions and innovations since 1996. Its mission is to raise the stature of inventors and innovators and to foster invention and innovation among young people.
