Seth writes:

Link: Seth's Blog: Amazon's Time Machine.

The question here is: why don't online stores do stuff like this on purpose? Why don't they slip in ridiculous items or funny descriptions? It's not like they're going to run out of shelf space or have a problem with inventory.

They do, Seth.   Its called woot!

Woot! sells one item (many of that item, but just one type) a day and does a hilarious job with the descriptions, often throwing in stuff like "turns into a mind controlling robot" for blenders.  I don't think I've actually bought anything yet, but it keeps me subscribing for the humor.