Inventions That Work Too Well to be Improved Upon

Author image for Eric Lund
Eric Lund
Aug 21, 2020 1:00 PM EDT

Sometimes someone comes up with a design so simple, elegant and effective that it becomes the de facto item for that use in perpetuity. It must feel good to have created something that does something the best. In the other direction, here are inventions that are now used for something other than their intended purpose.

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  • 01
    Text - MythicLettuce 2.0k points · 13 hours ago The soda can. The physics behind it have been perfected. There is a cool YouTube video about it!
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  • 02
    Text - acadoe 1.7k points · 14 hours ago Chopsticks. Talk about consistency, it has been the same way for I have no idea how many years.
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  • 03
    Text - -EDGAR- 385 points · 14 hours ago The aglet. That's the little piece of metal or plastic at the end shoelaces. It's a simple, yet very helpful invention that is perfectly fine just the way it is.
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  • 04
    Text - the_blade_whispers 80 points · 13 hours ago The Game. What else can you do to it? It's nearly global, it's one of the few nonconsensual things in the world that doesn't hurt you, and it's fun to play by yourself or with 3 trillion+.
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  • 05
    Text - SovacoDaCobra 7 points · 11 hours ago Deck of cards. A product that has barely changed in over 100 years.
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  • 06
    Text - SaltyChickenDip 58.8k points · 16 hours ago Paper clip. Last major patent was in the 1880's
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  • 07
    Text - falsescorpion 3.4k points · 13 hours ago The brick. It has been made of mud, then mud with straw, then mud with clay, then finally with clay alone. That is as far as progress has taken the brick, in the (guess) 8,000 years since it was invented, and it is still in use today. Someone, lost in the obscurity of ancient history, realised that you couldn't build really strong stone structures with irregularly- shaped small natural stones, and hewing huge lumps of stone into regular shapes was
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  • 08
    Text - kippersmoker 39.4k points · 16 hours ago The spoon is a pretty incredible invention. It can often sub as a fork or a knife, and it has a great name
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  • 09
    Text - inksmudgedhands 34.9k points 16 hours ago The basic sewing needle. It really hasn't changed in thousands of years. There is no need for change.
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  • 10
    Text - bubblegumdummdumm 28.5k points · 15 hours ago · edited 8 minutes ago Plates. You can get the ones that dont smash. Its too good.
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  • 11
    Text - seeteethree 19.4k points · 14 hours ago · edited 2 hours ago 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.
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  • 12
    Text - drakethatsme 18.4k points · 15 hours ago Rubber bands. They work.
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  • 13
    Text - ToGrillAMockingbird 17.2k points · 16 hours ago O 2 2 The toilet s-bend. We would still be throwing our hershey soldiers out the window without it. Invented in 1775 and still used today.
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  • 14
    Text - CrazyShepard 17.0k points · 14 hours ago 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.
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  • 15
    Text - BioSciGuy 16.7k points · 12 hours ago P-trap - a simple elegant way to prevent odor from coming into your house via sink, toilet, etc
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  • 16
    Text - Adonis_X 14.7k points · 14 hours ago · edited 12 hours ago Most professional classical music instruments are already in their final stage like piano and violin.
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  • 17
    Text - doctor_krieger_md 12.3k points · 12 hours ago Cast iron skillet est. 1707
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  • 18
    Text - rotatedesophagus 10.8k points · 12 hours ago I'd say nail clippers. Rich and poor people all use the same thing to clip their nails.
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  • 19
    Text - archSkeptic 8.6k points · 16 hours ago · edited 11 hours ago S The wheel. What are you going to do? Make it rounder? Edit: Guys it's a joke I understand that the modern wheel has brakes, suspension, and requires an axle. You can stop blowing up my inbox
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  • 20
    Text - Poeteca 7.9k points · 16 hours ago The steam turbine, it is such a useful way to convert heat into electricity that it would not be surprising to see one strapped to a fusion reactor (if one ever get built).
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  • 21
    Text - epanek 7.3k points · 13 hours ago A mirror is as good as it gets for its usage.
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  • 22
    Text - TheGardenBlinked 6.0k points · 16 hours ago . Pizza. You can change it up, you can ruin it, and you can fold it half like a crazy calzone munching madman, but you can't beat perfection.
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  • 23
    Text - Honestmistakesbyme 3.7k points · 14 hours ago · edited 38 minutes ago Hoodies. Cold? Hoodie; Underdressed? Hoodie; No bra? Hoodie; Hot? Hoodie; Rainy? Hoodie; Dead inside? You know it, hoodie
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