Velcro? Inspired by nature’s invention
https://www.microphotonics.com/biomimicry-burr-invention-velcro/
Also outdoor grills don’t seem to have changed much other than the material used to keep the fire going.
I read your last sentence as “good girls” didn’t change much :3
I don’t think QR codes have changed at all. Only the tools we use to scan them have
Did you know that you can halftone dither two different but same size QR codes on top of each other?
I wish I had a link to the article handy, but yeah I’ve tried that myself and it totally works! You basically get a 50/50 chance of one or the other code scanning. It’s literally two QR codes in one!
And no, that’s not some new special QR code format either, it’s basically taking advantage of the nature of the scanners plus the built in error correction.
What’s a use for an ambiguous QR code panel where you can’t predict which of two codes may be scanned? I’m struggling to come up with anything that makes sense where the mechanism potentially slightly favours one or the other depending on the scanner/ tones used.
The new 50/50 lol
The two QR codes could be totally related, like two different versions of a rickroll, or two different versions of bad apple.
You just never know exactly which one you’re gonna get…
Hint, in my experience testing that, it partly depends what angle you’re holding your device when scanning such combo QR codes.
Oh, but they have, and they still are.
There are so many 2D barcode formats.
ramps
deep-frying
the D-pad
Since you mention the d-pad. It was patented, so all the big companies had their own legally distinct spins on it. Nintendo has their cross; sega had a circle thing; Sony had discrete buttons, Microsoft had a different circle thing.
The Nintendo patent actually expired a number of years ago now, so nowadays the cross is showing up more places.
It was patented? Fucking hell, today I learned
Less surprised it was Nintendo lol
The MIDI protocal. The technologies that use it have evolved in all sorts of ways, but the protocol has remained unchanged.
MPE and MIDI 2.0 would like a word zir
That’s fair. But the fact that MIDI 1.0 isn’t going away anytime soon shows how good it was from conception. From Sweetwater:
Because MIDI 2.0 coexists well with MIDI 1.0, it’s likely MIDI 1.0 devices will continue to be produced in the future if MIDI 2.0’s features are not needed for a particular application. In developing MIDI 2.0, backward compatibility with MIDI 1.0 was always a priority.
MIDI 2.0 is not about replacing the original specification but about adding features that enhance the spec with features users have wanted almost since MIDI 1.0 appeared.
The best inventions do progress with backwards compatibility
MIDI protocol for users might be good enough but for developers is a nightmare if you want to do advanced synthesis
[off topic?]
I can’t remember the exact quote, but Robert A. Heinlein said of the DC-3 that it was the best airplane ever built, and that the only way to improve it was to completely redesign it.
I just like the idea that some things are perfect the way they are.
I know Heinlein had his problems, but in highschool I loved his books.
The line is in ‘Glory Road,’ a great fantasy book that takes pretty much every fantasy trope and kicks it to the curb.
Potato peelers. The ergonomic handle was a big step forward, yes. But the basic design hasn’t (and likely won’t) change.
Wasn’t expecting this answer. Can you elaborate?
Show this to a person from 1900 and other than the plastic, nothing has changed.
I would happily argue that the plastic is a step down; metal potato peelers last a lot longer.
The metal ones last longer, but the Oxo ones (like above) don’t hurt as much.
Old refrigerators before all the ice makers were added.
But super energy inefficient in comparison to what we have today.
The pointed stick.
No, it was later improved by using different materials, better tools to make it and hardening it with fire.
Steel capped ends
Bendy sticks and string to launch them over 150m away.
Ah yes, trebuchets. A fine choice.
I’m surprised that I’m the first to say “p-trap” drain. Self-maintaining, no moving parts, affordable as anything, protects the indoors from sewer gas, catches rings. Chefs kiss 200 years old and still great
Maybe not perfect upon conception, but after a couple of decades from common adoption, the bycicle really didn’t change much. Sure, you can use lighter and more advanced materials, you can add an electric motor to it (though I wouldn’t classify it as a bycicle) but you can probably take a 100 years old bike and it would work just as good as a modern one.
It also too about 100 years to reach the modern design of rubber tyres and a drive train, with the rider sitting slightly forward of the rear axle and well behind the front wheel.
Have you seen belt drive bikes? Not the electric ones. Pretty cool stuff, much lower maintenance. Also internal gear hubs. There’s still innovation happening in bicycles to make them stronger against abuse
I did almost consider an internal gear hub for my bike but they are not common so not sure if parts of maintenance may be difficult to come by. Also not really sure how I could fit one myself. Maybe some day though, I think some can manage quite a few gears.
Fine with a chain though, mine is wax instead of oil lubricated.
I only bought it because it’s necessary for belt drive, and I wanted a maintenance free commuter. My coworker also has one as a daily commuter, though on a traditional chain drive, and hasn’t had any issues with it.
Mine is new so I can’t speak to maintenance
They are a pain if they ever break. You basically have to replace it or get a specialist to work on it.
Don’t they last a long time though? Presumably even more so if you are someone that benefits from a lower maintenance option. I use my bike multiple times a week, cleaning it after every use is just impractical and I often go out when it’s raining.
Yes they do last a long time. They can be a great option. Just not easy to fix if something goes wrong.
You don’t have to clean a regular chain that often, but it will last longer if you do. A regular chain is perfectly fine to use in the rain / snow/ etc.
In my mind, I know the chain and cassettes will wear out, so when they do, I would rather have ones I can replace myself. But an internal geared hub is a great option as well. It is lower maintenance, but with the trade off that it is difficult to work on.
I looked at prices for internal hubs with a decent number of gears, ahh fuck that! Its more than half the cost of my entire bike.
Think I will stick with what I have now then, I get the full gear range at like a tenth of the cost. Learning to do maintenance on it sometime might be a good idea though.
Well, my bike looks exactly like that. It’s just carbon all the way down now 😄
At least urban tank drivers can see you before they obliterate you
Who needs gears when you can build the mechanical reduction into the wheel size.
The six classical machines.
- Screw
- Inclined plane
- … I forget the others
You.
No, you are!
Transistor. It was so far ahead of its time it is still being argued to be alien tech to this day.
I mean this thread is about tech that was perfect from it’s inception to the point where it didn’t or barely improved. Nothing could be further from the truth, transistor tech has had literally trillions of dollars and millions of smart people’s careers poured into it, and semiconductor IC manufacturing is now the most complicated single activity that our species does.
Internet Protocol.
ipv4 remains dominant.
tcp and ip merged in like 1973, and it lived in labs till 82 or 83. after that its been 40 years of nearly perfect ip spec
Maybe FM synthesis, it revolutionised the sound of the 1980s and music production as a whole
