Not levers and wheels and gears, but Velcro and paper clips. I’d put “modern” as after 1700, and “simple” as “you can pretty much build it yourself”, but you can argue theses (as I’m sure you will! :-)
Ask HN: What’s the most important modern simple invention?
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Re: Ask HN: What’s the most important modern simple invention?
#2Rice cookers. Totally ingenious.
Re: Ask HN: What’s the most important modern simple invention?
#3Rice cookers. Totally ingenious.
Rice cooker = hipster Instant Pot.
Re: Ask HN: What’s the most important modern simple invention?
#4Binder clips.
"The binder clip was invented in 1910 by Washington resident Louis E. Baltzley, who ultimately was granted U.S. Patent 1,139,627 for his invention."
Re: Ask HN: What’s the most important modern simple invention?
#5The incandescent light bulb.
"In 1761, Ebenezer Kinnersley demonstrated heating a wire to incandescence."
Re: Ask HN: What’s the most important modern simple invention?
#6Re: Ask HN: What’s the most important modern simple invention?
#7Maybe some non-device inventions: the staff system; the germ theory of disease; currency without a gold standard; public health; public education
Re: Ask HN: What’s the most important modern simple invention?
#8It's kind of an oxymoron because if it were simple it would have been invented before modern times.
But I'll say backpacks for everyday commuter use and trashcans with wheels (what they refer to in British TV shows as "wheely bins").
Re: Ask HN: What’s the most important modern simple invention?
#9Zipper (1851) and ballpoint pen (1888) would be my picks.
Re: Ask HN: What’s the most important modern simple invention?
#10The incandescent light bulb. "In 1761, Ebenezer Kinnersley demonstrated heating a wire to incandescence." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incandescent_light_bulb
I still don't think LED (or Halogen) house bulbs are anywhere near as good as the classic incandescent bulb.
Most LED bulbs give me a headache. Bad LED bulbs cause 'strobing' in my vision which is even worse.