The telegraph and the telephone. The enabled economies of scale and speed of decision making that were not possible before.
Ask HN: What’s the most important modern simple invention?
201–210 of 583 posts
Re: Ask HN: What’s the most important modern simple invention?
#202The surface plate. Modern precision all stems from the concept of a flat reference. However, the technique to make a surface as flat as possible (which is based on simple geometry) was first discussed in the early 19th c. In terms of profound impact on modernity, the metal screw-cutting lathe.
The 1751 Machine that Made Everything
Re: Ask HN: What’s the most important modern simple invention?
#2033D printing. I know, I know - overhyped. But you know what's a funny thing? It's incredibly basic tech. Stepper motors and thermoplastic. We could have had something like it at pretty much any time over the past century, and in its modern form from about 1960 or so. It has unquestionably revolutionized prototyping and short-run manufacturing, and we just didn't think of it . The idea was just too zany and expensive -…
But it’s not nearly as important in industry or manufacturing as say, precision machining or injection moulding.
Re: Ask HN: What’s the most important modern simple invention?
#204The Toyota Way. Totally transformed manufacturing.
Re: Ask HN: What’s the most important modern simple invention?
#205Washing Machine. Recent iterations are more complex( repair engineer could plug into ours and diagnose all sorts of things, including checking results of previous washes), however the principle behind it isn't that complex. It has made life easier for so many households.
On the number of hours saved by Washing machines and Dishwashers. Liberating women from having to do these tasks and instead contributing to the general economy instead.
Re: Ask HN: What’s the most important modern simple invention?
#206I’d like to recommend James Burke’s series “Connections”[1] and “The Day the Universe Changed”[2] from the late 70s early 80s. He was a bbc journalist covering NASA and doing science communication and one of his particular fascinations (and mine, having grown up with his work) is the cumulative effect of ideas and technology shape not only how we interact with the modern world, but how we perceive it. [1] https://m.i…
Just want to add that Connections and some of his other videos are available on the Internet Archive: https://archive.org/search.php?query=subject%3A%22james+burk...
Re: Ask HN: What’s the most important modern simple invention?
#207calculator
Re: Ask HN: What’s the most important modern simple invention?
#2083D printing. I know, I know - overhyped. But you know what's a funny thing? It's incredibly basic tech. Stepper motors and thermoplastic. We could have had something like it at pretty much any time over the past century, and in its modern form from about 1960 or so. It has unquestionably revolutionized prototyping and short-run manufacturing, and we just didn't think of it . The idea was just too zany and expensive -…
The assertion that "we just didn't think of it" is not even remotely correct. The late transition to the consumer market and the broad expansion in industry in the last 20 years has far more to do with the expiration of patents in the early 2000's than anything else. 3D printing for rapid prototyping has been around for decades.
Re: Ask HN: What’s the most important modern simple invention?
#209The process for making ammonia from air (nitrogen) and hydrogen. Allowed a huge increase in agricultural output that saved a few billion people from starvation. Haber-Bosch process.
Basically there would be ~2 times less people on Earth and over half of them would work in farming if not for this one invention.
Would the state of the Earth be better or worse if not for this development?
Re: Ask HN: What’s the most important modern simple invention?
#210It's not as simple as you'd like, but the little known Bosch-Haber process, which produces ammonia for farming, staved off mass famines and may be why many readers of HN are alive today.
After which, Haber went on to play a key role in helping Germany develop chemical weapons for World War I.