We asked our regular contributors through e-mail What invention is so good that it actually can’t be improved upon? We got many interesting responses. Here are some of them. We have just copied and pasted their responses, not editing them in any way.
1. Paper clip. The last major patent was in the 1880s.
– SaltyChickenDip
2. The spoon is a pretty incredible invention. It can often sub as a fork or a knife, and it has a great name.
– kippersmoker
3. The basic sewing needle. It really hasn’t changed in thousands of years. There is no need for change.
– inksmudgedhands
4. Plates. You can get the ones that don’t smash. It’s too good.
– bubblegumdummdumm
5. The Schrader Valve used to inflate your bicycle tires, car tires, tractor tires, etc. was patented in 1893. It is still used in virtually every tire on the planet. And now you know its name.
– seeteethree
6. Rubber bands. They work.
– drakethatsme
7. P-trap – a simple elegant way to prevent odor from coming into your house via sink, toilet, etc.
– BioSciGuy
8. The XLR cable. Until they can beam something directly into your head, we kind of hit a dead-end for perceived sound. The simplicity of what a cable can do by allowing both AC and DC power to flow through so you can power and draw signal from a microphone. Plus the fact it’s so simple to remove the noise you get from outside interference makes it even more genius.
– CrazyShepard
9. The toilet s-bend. We would still be throwing our Hershey soldiers out the window without it. Invented in 1775 and still used today.
Source: BBC and Kryten from Red Dwarf
– ToGrillAMockingbird
10. Most professional classical music instruments are already in their final stage like piano and violin.
– Adonis_X
7 and 9 are the same invention.