what should have been invented by now

Everlasting guitar strings.
Self cleaning fish tank.
A toaster that works properly.
A home Doner Kebab grill.
A tubeless system for bikes that works.
Self emptying cat litter tray.
A way to miniturise animals – I want herd of very small, house trained elephants.

E-mail in profile.

complete interoperability and communication of all consumer products – wirelessly if possible!

i.e switch on heating, oven and TV via tablet, stick pizza in oven, message on TV/tablet when pizza ready etc, you get the idea

It’s to encourage you to use the highly secure method of writing down your password on a post-it under your keyboard.

Some users are very resistant to that sort of thing – just forcing them to change their password isn’t enough (they might just use the same password but increment a digit in it to make it “new” but still easy to remember 😉 ). For such users they invented the computer generated password consisting of a sequence of random numbers and letters. IME even the hardiest of users who understands that the weakness in computer security is usually the human part rather than the nominal strength of the password tends to succumb to writing the password down in such circumstances. I such users found that the point you finally started to remember such a password without the need for your written record was a good way of predicting when you were going to be forced to change to a new one.

very true, it isnt just that if its been invented but also if its been developed to meet our requirements.

transporting one molecule clearly doesnt

perhaps we should be saying we should have invented the ability to feed the starving and live in peace. Both feasible but clearly its not meeting our requirements for everybody.

A way of destroying all chart music and killing all people who listen to it and then try to talk to you about it. Without making a mess of the kitchen.

Aracer, very good…

Home Doner Kebab grill opens up the possibility of Kebab Pie – or has DrP already invented it?

Concorde. Oh….

(Well, at least a means of travelling half way round the world that doesn’t take 24+ hours)

aracer – arthur dent would be so pleased! perfect summation for a hitch hikers guide ! The moment you succeed in remembering is the moment you fail because you need a new one, very funny. 🙂

Then what? Naff all since about 1970, just little improvements on existing things
Well I suppose if you call the internet a little improvement on existing things.

Packet switched networks such as ARPANET, Mark I at NPL in the UK, CYCLADES, Merit Network, Tymnet, and Telenet, were developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s using a variety of protocols.

😉

A way to miniturise animals – I want herd of very small, house trained elephants.

Fantastic idea!

How about keyless entry to houses (we have it for cars but then need to fumble for keys when we arrive home)

Different pumps for petrol and diesel so it is physically impossible to fill tank with wrong fuel (it really shouldn’t be difficult, I reckon primary school kids couls work this out).

Combined food mixer / microwave to stir scrambled eggs or porridge whilst cooking.

Toilets that have vertical side walls so it is impossible to leave skids.

A home Doner Kebab grill.

Best suggestion so far, by miles!

A way to miniturise animals – I want herd of very small, house trained elephants.

Rusty – you need a Shrink ray..

😆

teleportation for sure. That would answer so many of the world’s problems.

teleportation for sure. That would answer so many of the world’s problems.

and create so many more. For example, I would seriously consider having an affair with a sexy italian lady knowing that I could be back in time for tea!

Self cleaning fish tank.

almost there, my Biorb tank gets a new filter and 2 min glass clean only every 6-8 weeks

A microchip in my arm that is recognised by doors and cars and locks and my laptops and mobile devices instead of having to write down passwords.

Toilets that have vertical side walls so it is impossible to leave skids – that is indeed genius, but now it makes me ask why they are shaped the way they are, time to reinvent the crapper.

Naff all since about 1970

Hahahaha!

He says on the internet.. hehehehe 🙂

Since 1970 we’ve invented tons of incredible things, they just aren’t as schoolboy wow-factor as concorde. Which is a good example – we built it, we ran it, but not enough people wanted it. People realised that it was too expensive and impractical to fly people to New York for a few hours of meeting when you can either take a couple of days and do it in luxury, or just not do it at all. Because now you can work on planes and whilst travelling, or you can teleconference. Both of which use technology that make Concorde look like the Cutty Sark.

The challenge isn’t to make stuff, it’s to make stuff affordable and viable. Otherwise you’re just chucking money away.

but now it makes me ask why they are shaped the way they are

Well you need fast flowing water to smash the poo over the U bend. So you have to have a small hole in the bottom to funnel water through. In my experience the smaller the hole the better it flushes and the less water you need.

Of course there’s the American system where you do indeed drop bombs into a large pool of water. It can still leave skidmarks on the bottom of the pool though, and you get a lot more splashback on your anus.

Non-crumbing Weetabix.

Cycling clothing, especially arm-warmers, that are some colour other than black so can be easily found.

Toilets that have vertical side walls so it is impossible to leave skids.

How about a Tractor Beam?

http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/nstv/2013/01/first-video-reveals-working-tractor-beam-in-action.html

A way to miniturise animals – I want herd of very small, house trained elephants.

Sounds like Wonka Vision.

Different pumps for petrol and diesel so it is physically impossible to fill tank with wrong fuel (it really shouldn’t be difficult, I reckon primary school kids could work this out).

Already exists. The nozzles are already different sizes and in my wife’s new C-Max there is a flap that you have to push open with the correct nozzle. I can take a picture for you if you want.

A way to miniturise animals – I want herd of very small, house trained elephants.

Rusty Spanner, best you don’t read this BBC news article 🙁

Rare Pygmy Elephants Poisened

For example, I would seriously consider having an affair with a sexy italian lady knowing that I could be back in time for tea!

This doesn’t sound like a problem to me. 😉

A toaster with slots big enough to fit a slice of bread
Computers that don’t get slower with age
A universal charger plug.
Middle lane hogger warning signal as standard in all Nissans
Rear fog light sensor that limits the cars speed to 20mph so idiots don’t leave them on unless it is actually very foggy theory being if the fog really requires a fog light you shouldn’t be driving more than about 20 anyway.

love your foglight idea!

Faster flight travel. I’ve always wondered why we have not progressed in this area. Sure its become cheaper (to an extent, but now taxes have brought the prices back up) and bigger, but in my lifetime, planes have actually got slower now that there is no more Concorde.

Come on, sort it out!

Faster flight travel. I’ve always wondered why we have not progressed in this area. Sure its become cheaper (to an extent, but now taxes have brought the prices back up) and bigger, but in my lifetime, planes have actually got slower now that there is no more Concorde.

Come on, sort it out!

No point investing in this as teleportation will make flying a historical curiosity.

Why do we need to be faster though? Cheaper is far more important.

You seem to forget we HAD fast flight, and the market just wasn’t there. So why keep working on it, the people voted with their wallets.

Has anyone mentioned the hover boards from back to future.

If not then I’ve wanted one ever since. Make one dammit!!!

A toaster with slots big enough to fit a slice of bread
Computers that don’t get slower with age
A universal charger plug.

Been done
Been done if you know what you’re doing
Working on it

The last one is a good idea though.

The eradication of fossil fuels as an energy source, especially for cars.

I guess we’ll have to wait until the oil companies can control the patents for that one to happen

The Self Wiping Arse

Dogs have always been able to do that…it does ruin the carpet though.

When I was younger I was particularly disappointed that I was not born in an era that had Star Fleet. The generation that are alive when that’s invented will be able to go to Star Fleet Academy and become a crewman on the Enterprise, perhaps even have it away with T’Pol.

Although I do think that there have been some relatively impressive improvements in computer technologies in the past 40+ years…video games, computer processing power, tablets, mobile phones etc.

A reliable, individual, secure, online ID key.

That’d be a Spanish ID card, and we all know how popular ID cards are in the UK. You could also use something like LastPass[/url].

I want a lightsaber. Or a truly immersive, 3D internet.

Weaponized influenza that selectively targets people with genes predisposing them to hipsterism.

smart phones that charge with a solar cell in the screen (that you obviously can’t see)

I think the reason toilets are they way they are, is because of the pipe they must go into.
Now, it we had 24″ pipes, that might solve the problem.

Another way to maybe solve the problem is to suck the crap, rather than flush. As some Asian countries do (to my experience)

so to get around our piping problems. teflon coated toilet bowls?

A hair brush that at the touch if a button will change the colour of my hair as I brush it, and a device that puts on my makeup for me.

A system that picks up my clothes from the floor and puts them away in a wardrobe and cleans and irons them

A system that picks up my clothes from the floor and puts them away in a wardrobe and cleans and irons them

I have one of those, she’s awesome

A way to miniturise animals – I want herd of very small, house trained elephants.

Already been done, but apparently they’re being poisoned 🙁

Fourteen years late so far. FOURTEEN YEARS.