Duck tape:
Originally came from the thought that seals on ammo boxes would cost soldiers precious time on the battlefield.
Today it's used for seal and repair in everyday life.
Ask HN: What are some problems solved in unrelated domains?
21–30 of 94 posts
Re: Ask HN: What are some problems solved in unrelated domains?
#22A real popular one would be QR codes. They were initially created to track manufacturing processes in the automotive industry. And you know how it is these days...
I feel like QR codes failed as a general UI tool. I get annoyed whenever I have to deal with one. They wee HUGE about 10 years ago. Now, not so much.
I love QR codes, mostly because they are in-app now, and not restricted to one app or one company. The convenience is too good.
Re: Ask HN: What are some problems solved in unrelated domains?
#23A real popular one would be QR codes. They were initially created to track manufacturing processes in the automotive industry. And you know how it is these days...
I feel like QR codes failed as a general UI tool. I get annoyed whenever I have to deal with one. They wee HUGE about 10 years ago. Now, not so much.
Apple is coming out with it's own version soon that should be popular (at least with iOS people):
https://www.macrumors.com/2020/05/18/ios-14-leak-apple-qr-co...
Re: Ask HN: What are some problems solved in unrelated domains?
#24Maybe control version? From software to a lot of other information industries. Also, not an industry, but I think that some mathematicians use category theory to translate insights from one domain to other. (Trying the recipe itself here to find a meta-recipe) I think an insight itself from category theory to a more general recipe could be: don't try to move "laterally" to other industry, but go first "up" from a spe…
I don't think this is valid. Which other field is there where you can revert changes to a previous version? Certainly not hardware manufacturing.
Re: Ask HN: What are some problems solved in unrelated domains?
#25Maybe control version? From software to a lot of other information industries. Also, not an industry, but I think that some mathematicians use category theory to translate insights from one domain to other. (Trying the recipe itself here to find a meta-recipe) I think an insight itself from category theory to a more general recipe could be: don't try to move "laterally" to other industry, but go first "up" from a spe…
I don't think this is valid. Which other field is there where you can revert changes to a previous version? Certainly not hardware manufacturing.
Most domains where you produce knowledge as your main output would work. Version control is integrated in Office for example.
Re: Ask HN: What are some problems solved in unrelated domains?
#26A real popular one would be QR codes. They were initially created to track manufacturing processes in the automotive industry. And you know how it is these days...
I feel like QR codes failed as a general UI tool. I get annoyed whenever I have to deal with one. They wee HUGE about 10 years ago. Now, not so much.
I agreed with this take until 2020 and subsequent shutdowns of varying levels occurred in my U.S. state (Oregon) due to Covid-19. There are several eateries in my city utilizing them to great effect for menus and ordering as they have pivoted to outdoor and no-touch dining. And now that I have finally embraced them on this level, I notice and use them more: flyers around town, links to video tutorials on products I have purchased, local printed media, etc.
Re: Ask HN: What are some problems solved in unrelated domains?
#27A real popular one would be QR codes. They were initially created to track manufacturing processes in the automotive industry. And you know how it is these days...
My wife said to me yesterday "How do I use a QR Code?". Keep in mind, she's a civil engineer and one of the smartest people I know.
I said "In what context?" because really, I didn't know either. "I have to scan this QR code if I go to my office. It's apparently posted at the door, and will let them know I've been there, for contact tracing."
After a lot of playing around, we finally found out her phone's camera could automatically read QR codes. When we did, the QR code in question was a URL to a website with a form, requiring her to enter all her information.
Not a fan of QR codes.
Re: Ask HN: What are some problems solved in unrelated domains?
#28Maybe control version? From software to a lot of other information industries. Also, not an industry, but I think that some mathematicians use category theory to translate insights from one domain to other. (Trying the recipe itself here to find a meta-recipe) I think an insight itself from category theory to a more general recipe could be: don't try to move "laterally" to other industry, but go first "up" from a spe…
I don't think this is valid. Which other field is there where you can revert changes to a previous version? Certainly not hardware manufacturing.
Versioning schematics and manuals is actually a great place for version control in manufacturing.
One of my first projects out of school was a web app where our engineers could document the assembly steps for a given sub-assenbly, then string those sub-assemblies together into a manual for a specific product. The sub-assembly instructions would be revision controlled, and products would be revision controlled. The model was conceptually similar to git submodules.
Re: Ask HN: What are some problems solved in unrelated domains?
#29Breath of knowledge is certainly useful. I'm sure there's a lot of redundant work across domains in universities, but here's a somewhat humorous example of someone recreating the trapezoidal method of approximating the area under a curve. They needed it in a medical context, and anyone who has done Calc 2 would tell you "that's an integral". It shows 402 citations on Google Scholar.
https://scholar.google.com/scholar?cluster=18129095207210817...
https://academia.stackexchange.com/questions/9602/rediscover...
Re: Ask HN: What are some problems solved in unrelated domains?
#30A real popular one would be QR codes. They were initially created to track manufacturing processes in the automotive industry. And you know how it is these days...
My wife said to me yesterday "How do I use a QR Code?". Keep in mind, she's a civil engineer and one of the smartest people I know. I said "In what context?" because really, I didn't know either. "I have to scan this QR code if I go to my office. It's apparently posted at the door, and will let them know I've been there, for contact tracing." After a lot of playing around, we finally found out her phone's camera coul…
It sounds like you aren't a fan of the way this QR code was used.
I went to a restaurant the other day and it had one of those Coke Freestyle soda machines. There was a QR code on the screen which I scanned with my phone. This opened a website with drink choices. I put my cup under the dispenser and pushed the Barq's Root Beer button on the website on my phone which dispensed the drink from the machine.
I was impressed.