# Things that could have been invented sooner ... but weren't **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 7, 2010, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-could-have-been-invented-sooner-but-werent/538607 "2010-05-07T05:50:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2010, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-could-have-been-invented-sooner-but-werent/538607/61 "2010-05-12T23:08:27Z")
At a guess, the balls would have been a touch smaller than the bore, and the patch (a small square of cloth) would take up the difference. ---
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2010, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-could-have-been-invented-sooner-but-werent/538607/62 "2010-05-12T23:59:45Z")
Industrial-level steam engines. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2010, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-could-have-been-invented-sooner-but-werent/538607/63 "2010-05-13T05:09:24Z")
> [@Imasquare](#): > > The first ATMs as we know them today were brought into use in the 1960s… > > [Automatic teller machine | encyclopedia article by TheFreeDictionary](http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Automatic%20Teller%20Machine) > > The first time I saw one was in 1980. Probably the banker I was recalling meant widespread use. I don’t recall seeing any until about 1980 either. I doubt I’d even heard of them. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2010, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-could-have-been-invented-sooner-but-werent/538607/64 "2010-05-13T13:23:17Z")
> [@](#): > > Probably the banker I was recalling meant widespread use. I don’t recall seeing any until about 1980 either. I doubt I’d even heard of them. > Reply With Quote My bank had them in 1976 – but not a lot of them, and they tended to run out of cash really fast. I left the area a year later, and didn’t have ATMs at any of my banks until 1983. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2010, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-could-have-been-invented-sooner-but-werent/538607/65 "2010-05-13T15:35:22Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > An all-time classic of this genre – wheeled luggage. How long have people had wheels? How long have people had luggage? GOD YES! The first “attempt” at this were tiny little rollerskate-esque wheels, and a fucking 6" pansy-ass strap of a handle. Naturally, they didn’t work for shit, so it seems like everyone kind of gave up on wheeled luggage until the mid 90’s when they all said “huh…why don’t we just make bigger, stronger wheels, and a longer handle? It can even telescope out so it’s out of the way when you don’t want it.” It took like 50 fucking years to come up with that? Wow… The comedian Jim Gaffigan also has a little joke about it took humans an embarassingly long time to come up with the upside-down ketchup bottle. “Oh, have people been complaining ketchup’s hard to get out of the bottle”? “For like a hundred years!” ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2010, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-could-have-been-invented-sooner-but-werent/538607/66 "2010-05-13T17:12:33Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > The comedian Jim Gaffigan also has a little joke about it took humans an embarassingly long time to come up with the upside-down ketchup bottle. > > “Oh, have people been complaining ketchup’s hard to get out of the bottle”? > “For like a hundred years!” Ah, but often, what people say they want is not what they actually want. Heinz has experimented with various forms of ketchup over the years, but always cam back to the tall, long-necked bottle of thick ketchup – because that is what people actually buy. They’ve tried thinner ketchup, that comes out of the bottle easier, wide-necked bottles where you can spoon the ketchup out, etc. None of them sold like the normal bottle. Even today, the upside-down bottles do NOT sell as well as the traditional ones. Even in the plastic squeeze bottles – the ones designed to look similar to the traditional bottles outsell the others. So despite what they may say, people still prefer the traditional ketchup bottle when buying. ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2010, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-could-have-been-invented-sooner-but-werent/538607/67 "2010-05-13T17:18:26Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > anal beads. > [@CalMeacham](#): > > **Laser** – it had to wait until the maser had been invented first, and was created by analogy, Thanks to the first post, I initially read the second post as “analogy” … the study of assholes. :smack: 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2010, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-could-have-been-invented-sooner-but-werent/538607/68 "2010-05-13T17:22:59Z")
> [@SlowMindThinking](#): > > So, I’m going to suggest the bikini. > **[File:Casale Bikini.jpg](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Casale_Bikini.jpg)** > > Famous "bikini girls" mosaic (found by archeological excavation of the ancient Roman villa near Piazza Armerina in Sicily), showing women exercising, running, or receiving the palm of victory and crown (for winning an athletic competition). > Click on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. > You cannot overwrite this file. The following 2 pages use this file: ---
**Author:** ![Bearflag70](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Bearflag70](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bearflag70)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2010, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-could-have-been-invented-sooner-but-werent/538607/69 "2010-05-13T17:24:20Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > paper-analogues Damn, I did it again! ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2010, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-could-have-been-invented-sooner-but-werent/538607/70 "2010-05-13T17:33:10Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > My bank had them in 1976 – but not a lot of them, and they tended to run out of cash really fast. I left the area a year later, and didn’t have ATMs at any of my banks until 1983. Still, I did read of a banker lamenting that ATMs had not been developed as fast as they could have been. He had a point. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-could-have-been-invented-sooner-but-werent/538607.md?page=3)