Standardized shipping containers massively decreased the cost of global commerce which is perhaps the most important force in the modern world.
I’ve got an even simpler one: the standardized shipping pallet.
Ask HN: What’s the most important modern simple invention?
61–70 of 583 posts
Re: Ask HN: What’s the most important modern simple invention?
#62I read “modern” as “post-world-war-II” and suggest:
Drywall.
Re: Ask HN: What’s the most important modern simple invention?
#63The sanitation system.
Ours may be more sophisticated in various ways, but sanitation systems were invented long ago. https://www.harappa.com/lothal/14.html
Re: Ask HN: What’s the most important modern simple invention?
#64Re: Ask HN: What’s the most important modern simple invention?
#65Earlier quoted context omitted.
Bicycles may seem simple but took many decades to get it right. Your comment also reminded me of this gallery of drawings from people attempting to create a bicycle from memory which is pretty funny https://twistedsifter.com/2016/04/artist-asks-people-to-draw...
The most astounding thing about bicycles is that we did actually get it right. looking at the first ~100 years of iteration, you'd kind of assume that it was one of those things that would just keep evolving forever. But then they found the classic diamond frame design, and bikes have been fundamentally the same since then.
Feels kind of asymptotic to me: they got most of the basics right 100 years ago, but things like derailleurs are a pretty big improvement in terms of allowing an ordinary person to ride over varied terrain. Quick release skewers (grazie a Tullio Campagnolo), lighter materials, clipless pedals (for racers)... have all been incremental improvements. More recently, tubeless tires on mountain bikes are a big improvement in my enjoyment of riding off road.
Re: Ask HN: What’s the most important modern simple invention?
#66It'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").
Simplicity is only somewhat related to invention.
The compound bow was not invented until 1966, but any technically-inclined person from the early-modern era would immediately understand how it works from a picture.
Re: Ask HN: What’s the most important modern simple invention?
#67Earlier quoted context omitted.
Isn't that reversed? Instant Pot === hipster Rice Cooker
Well i'd say dossy is right. Because he's assigning "Rice cooker" to equal "hipster Instant Pot". Thus we know that they are the same value. You are only doing a test. We don't know for sure if your conditional returns true.
Rice cookers came out in the 1950s, instant pot was 2009
Re: Ask HN: What’s the most important modern simple invention?
#68Re: Ask HN: What’s the most important modern simple invention?
#69Condoms
How modern do you think they are?