‘Which simple item is a masterpiece of ingenious engineering?’ – 21 everyday things that are being incredibly clever right under your nose

If you’d been told 30 years ago that as a society we’d become completely blasé about walking around with an incredibly powerful handheld computers in our pockets, your mind would have been blown.

And rightly so. We’re living in an episode of Tomorrow’s World. But what about the thousands of smaller, more everyday, but still incredible inventions we’re also overlooking?

They’ve been discussing this on the AskReddit page after Gourmet-Guy asked this:

Which simple item is a masterpiece of ingenious engineering?

Lots of people chipped in with their thoughts on the stuff we should spare a bit of our amazement for, like these…

1.

‘The ball point pen. Literal micrometers of accuracy required for the thing to work at all, and the way it keeps ink fresh while simultaneously working as a transfer device is just efficiency at its finest.’

2.

‘The toilet… it changed how humans lived.’
–ProgMusicSchizoidMan

3.

‘The zipper.’
-maybenotarobot429

4.

‘Scissors. Like a knife, with a knife friend, and they work together. Someone literally bolted to knives together for more accurate and consistent slicing/cutting. Brilliant.’
–Beard_Hero

5.

‘Glass. Without it no scientific glassware, no microscopes/cameras, no windows, no spectacles, no windscreens, no beer glass etc…’
–Gruntfutoc

6.

‘The bicycle. A machine that makes you go faster with the same amount of energy feels like magic.’
–horschdhorschd

7.

‘Braided rope, specifically, was an incredible advancement.’
–David_Bowie_Package

8.

‘A lot of great inventions in this thread, but hook-and-loop fastening (popularly made by the Velcro brand) is my personal favourite. It’s cheap, it has a thousand and one applications- as an adhesive, it’s strong, it works when wet, and is near-infinitely reusable. (It does wear down, but it takes a long time and it never stops working entirely.) I used to work in physical rehabilitation and the number of people helped by this easy-to-use invention is incalculable.’
–UltimaGabe

9.

‘The shutter system on British 3 pin plug sockets – pretty much makes them inherently child proof as standard.’
–goat_screamPS4

10.

‘A simple sewing machine. I love going really slow and watching it create the stitch. So beautiful in its simplicity to tie thread into a knot with just a needle and a wheel. No matter how fancy the machine, they all work just the same as an old manual machine from even 100 years ago.’
–ElsaRavenWillie

11.

‘A fuse. A simple piece of metal can save you from a massive fire.’
–AuDHDMDD

12.

‘The simple lock. We don’t really consider it anymore, but the way it changed the very concept of personal property and ownership is staggering.’
–ph33randloathing