this post was submitted on 10 Oct 2025
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Asklemmy

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[–] dellish@lemmy.world 25 points 3 days ago

Lego. Lego from now will still mate with Lego from 40 years ago without a problem. Apart from a growing number of shapes, the basic blocks are still the foundation of everything sold today.

[–] Entertainmeonly@lemmy.blahaj.zone 7 points 2 days ago (1 children)

Transistor. It was so far ahead of its time it is still being argued to be alien tech to this day.

[–] nova_ad_vitum@lemmy.ca 2 points 2 days ago

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.

The headphone jack.

[–] kunaltyagi@programming.dev 16 points 3 days ago

🧷 Safety pin. There has been a little change in the safety cap but that's to save material not functionality or manufacturing.

The entire process is the same:

  1. Take wire, cut it
  2. Smash one end flat
  3. ?? (Bend the wire and fold the smashed end)
  4. Profit
[–] lemming741@lemmy.world 21 points 3 days ago

Solid body electric guitars- the first models have been in continuous production and are still available.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fender_Telecaster

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gibson_Les_Paul

There were earlier "electric guitars" but I'm thinking all inventions build on previous creations. I don't think you'll find many pure answers to OPs question. I think the closest you'll find is going to be an advancement that produced a single step change in design that flattened the innovation curve forever after. I think the microwave oven was a great example.

Electric fuses also come to mind. Little has changed since 1890.

[–] krysel@lemmy.ml 14 points 3 days ago (2 children)

Wireguard. I haven’t heard of any huge changes to it over the years. And it somehow just works

[–] mic_check_one_two@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 3 days ago (4 children)

My work WiFi blocks WireGuard and OpenVPN connections, which is a huge bummer. I just want to be able to connect to my NAS while I’m at work, but IT doesn’t want to hear that.

At least I can still use IKEv2 with my commercial VPN, so my employer can’t see how much I browse on Lemmy throughout the day.

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[–] birdwing@lemmy.blahaj.zone 25 points 3 days ago (2 children)
[–] AnotherUsername@lemmy.ml 10 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Ceramic might be better than wood

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[–] SpikedPunchVictim@lemmy.world 21 points 3 days ago (7 children)
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[–] AcidiclyBasicGlitch@sh.itjust.works 18 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (1 children)

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.

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[–] Bustedknuckles@lemmy.world 4 points 2 days ago

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

[–] balsoft@lemmy.ml 11 points 3 days ago

It's very niche, but the only thing I could come up with is Kvevri, a traditional Georgian winemaking vessel. They're sold today (and still used for their stated purpose, aging wine), I've personally seen kvevris with the exact same shape buried in a wine cellar of 12th century monastery, and at least going by the article they're like 8000 years old, and haven't changed much in that time.

My other ideas were:

  • Bricks (turns out the earliest sun-dried mudbricks, which are very different from modern ones)
  • Concrete (turns out it changed a whole lot since the Romans, modern concrete is much easier to pour, sets faster and is much stronger)
  • Nuts & bolts (initially were hand-crafted and non-interchangeable - yuck!)
  • Knives (I'll let knife enthusiasts speak about that one)
[–] Truscape@lemmy.blahaj.zone 105 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (3 children)

The 3.5mm audio jack. It's so fundamentally simplistic from a manufacturing standpoint and circuitry standpoint that any headset you throw at it will work identically without fail (the key innovation being the speakers or headphones where the analog signal is sent to).

[–] orygin@piefed.social 8 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago) (2 children)

I disagree. The connector is fragile, subject to dust, contacts can wear out and audio quality suffers. Faulty connection means you have to twist it the correct way to have audio. Tug on your cable the wrong way and the connector on your phone is broken. Multiple standards for pinout for microphone and stereo. May cause shorts because every ring touches when plugging in. Disconnects too easily if the connector is fatigued, no locking mechanism.
At this point it would be better to reserve a few pins on a USB C connector to pass audio data. But not sure if analog can transmit fine with all the serial cables around it.

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[–] Cyberflunk@lemmy.world 5 points 2 days ago

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

[–] Greddan@feddit.org 84 points 4 days ago (2 children)

Saw a post just today with a 1000 year old folding chair. Looked pretty much identical to the ones used today. Lost the post but kept the picture.

[–] Wahots@pawb.social 8 points 3 days ago

Wow, things really haven't changed all that much, haha. Pretty sure you can get essentially that exact same design at outdoor stores.

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[–] antrosapien@lemmy.ml 5 points 3 days ago

Alternator Since its invention, the basic principle remained same, we are just finding a fancier ways to rotate it

[–] sem@piefed.blahaj.zone 5 points 3 days ago

The six classical machines.

  • Screw
  • Inclined plane
  • ... I forget the others
[–] gray@lemmy.ml 7 points 3 days ago

Lots of weight-training equipment. Bars, manuals etc.

[–] ICastFist@programming.dev 27 points 4 days ago (1 children)

I think sewing machines would count? They certainly got a hell lot more "portable", but the basic design hasn't changed much since the 1880s. Those things are little mechanical marvels

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[–] BuboScandiacus@mander.xyz 27 points 4 days ago (4 children)
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[–] SethranKada@lemmy.ca 63 points 4 days ago (7 children)

The Bic pen. Sure, you can make it better, but then the price has to go up. You can still buy a nearly unchanged Bic pen from any office store for cheaper than any other writing tool, nearly identical to what they looked like when they were first invented.

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[–] NorthWestWind@lemmy.world 52 points 4 days ago (12 children)

Microwave oven. It sort of just...appeared, and the design didn't change much.

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[–] bobo1900@startrek.website 28 points 4 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (10 children)

Maybe not perfect upon conception, but after a couple of decades from common adoption, the bicycle 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.

Fire. No matter the fuel or the method, it still creates heat.

[–] loweffortname@lemmy.blahaj.zone 35 points 4 days ago (4 children)

Potato peelers. The ergonomic handle was a big step forward, yes. But the basic design hasn't (and likely won't) change.

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