LizzieMaine
Bartender
- Messages
- 33,766
- Location
- Where The Tourists Meet The Sea
Sure, we live in a world where progress is inevitable, blah blah blah, but even if that proves to be so, there are certain things that are so simply and perfectly designed that there is no reason for them to disappear anytime soon, no matter how old they are.
I expect to be rampant on the earth for another twenty-five years or so, give or take, and by the end of that span I expect the following items to be just as common and just as recognizable as they are now, and as they have been for many decades.
1. Corn Flakes. They've been around well over a century, and there's no reason to think, barring the catastrophic collapse of civilization, that they won't be around ad infinitum.
2. Fire hydrants. One of the most perfectly-designed items of the industrial age. Built for function not for form, they'll be completely recognizable in 2042, 2142, or as long as humans congregate in post-industrial cities.
3. The Pneumatic Tire. It might change in profile or material, but as long as there's a need for surface transportation, the simple inflatable tire remains the most efficient cushion between vehicle and road.
4. Zippers. Never mind space-age polymer garments with invisible fastenings, there'll always be a place and a need for the simple sewn-in zipper.
5. Aluminum Foil. A product of infinite utility with no need to evolve past its original form.
6. The mechanical pencil sharpener. Disposable mechanical pencils nonwithstanding, there will always be a place for the plain wooden pencil, and there will always need to be a simple, cheap, efficient way to sharpen it.
7. Spam. Not the email, the meat product. Cold or hot, Spam Hits The Spot. So there.
Others?
I expect to be rampant on the earth for another twenty-five years or so, give or take, and by the end of that span I expect the following items to be just as common and just as recognizable as they are now, and as they have been for many decades.
1. Corn Flakes. They've been around well over a century, and there's no reason to think, barring the catastrophic collapse of civilization, that they won't be around ad infinitum.
2. Fire hydrants. One of the most perfectly-designed items of the industrial age. Built for function not for form, they'll be completely recognizable in 2042, 2142, or as long as humans congregate in post-industrial cities.
3. The Pneumatic Tire. It might change in profile or material, but as long as there's a need for surface transportation, the simple inflatable tire remains the most efficient cushion between vehicle and road.
4. Zippers. Never mind space-age polymer garments with invisible fastenings, there'll always be a place and a need for the simple sewn-in zipper.
5. Aluminum Foil. A product of infinite utility with no need to evolve past its original form.
6. The mechanical pencil sharpener. Disposable mechanical pencils nonwithstanding, there will always be a place for the plain wooden pencil, and there will always need to be a simple, cheap, efficient way to sharpen it.
7. Spam. Not the email, the meat product. Cold or hot, Spam Hits The Spot. So there.
Others?
