# Things that need to be invented **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 5, 2008, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-need-to-be-invented/466585 "2008-10-05T19:45:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Shamozzle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shamozzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shamozzle)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2008, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-need-to-be-invented/466585/61 "2008-10-07T02:10:42Z")
> [@Gorsnak](#): > > You realize there’s a fatal design flaw in this scheme, don’t you? Unless you have two remotes, I guess. I used to play a video game where you’d include a medic in your squad to repair wounded soldiers. But what if the medic got wounded? No problem, include two medics and you were golden. ---
**Author:** ![truthbot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@truthbot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/truthbot)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2008, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-need-to-be-invented/466585/62 "2008-10-07T02:12:50Z")
I use an electric mower on the smaller sections of my property. What I want is an electric cord reel that softly retracts when there’s no tug, and yet gracefully reels out cord when you’re going forward. Like those retractable dog leashes? I could get the mowing done in half the time with one of those thingy-mabobs. ---
**Author:** ![Shamozzle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shamozzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shamozzle)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2008, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-need-to-be-invented/466585/63 "2008-10-07T02:13:22Z")
> [@Kickback\_Joe](#): > > I would like someone to invent a way to interpret the hints my wife gives me and convert them into actual requests which can be followed. We’re talking about inventions here, not Babylonian sorcery. Jeesh. ---
**Author:** ![Shamozzle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shamozzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shamozzle)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2008, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-need-to-be-invented/466585/64 "2008-10-07T02:14:47Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > I’d love to have an IMDB function on DVDs and even broadcast TV – Click on an actor’s image on the screen and get their entire filmography displayed. Surely this is only a matter of time. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2008, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-need-to-be-invented/466585/65 "2008-10-07T02:17:41Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > You lose the remote. That is easily remedied. Buy two of them, so that they can find each other! 🙂 Another thing I’ve wanted ever since I was in electronics school is a removable extra pair of arms and hands that are directed by my brain and coordinate with my regular arms. There are some tasks that just require more than two arms to do easily; soldering is one of them. You need one hand to hold the circuit board, one hand to hold the electronic part you are inserting into it, one hand to hold the solder that will bond the two together, and a fourth hand to hold the soldering iron that will heat the solder and melt it into place. We have to make do with clamps and whatnot, but it just isn’t the same. The arms could be robotic or whatever, and I believe that brainwave interfaces for control are at a state that this is actually doable. ---
**Author:** ![danielmybrother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8c91f0/32.png) [@danielmybrother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danielmybrother)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2008, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-need-to-be-invented/466585/66 "2008-10-07T03:35:30Z")
I want a device that heats and cooks food quickly like a microwave but doesn’t leave it tasting (and looking) like it was microwaved. Something that will brown meats and breads, that won’t leave food soggy or hard and chewy. And no, I don’t want anything by Ronco, either. I also want a pen that doesn’t leak when I carry it in my pants pocket. And I want a stain remover that will actually remove dried up ink from my pants when I carry regular low-tech ink pens in my pants pockets, not to mention the greasy food stains I invariably spill on virtually every new shirt I buy. Sigh. If wishes were horses… ---
**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2008, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-need-to-be-invented/466585/67 "2008-10-07T04:36:58Z")
> [@jali](#): > > A microcool for my warm beverages. Pop it in… 30 seconds…drinking cool stuff. If you have the freezer space, I almost wonder if it might be worth experimenting with keeping a tub of saturated salt solution in the freezer. When you want to cool down a bottle or can of something, dunking it in that liquid should be a pretty efficient way of chilling it. ---
**Author:** ![MacTech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2008, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-need-to-be-invented/466585/68 "2008-10-07T05:24:23Z")
An actual Sonic Screwdriver, and all it has to do is drive/remove screws, I could do away with an entire toolbox full of screwdrivers, no hunting for that obscure TorxPhilipsFlatheadTriwing driver, one tool does it all, from the tiniest jewelers screws up to big automotive screws Of course, the Retcon-esque additional features would be more than welcome too With a Sonic Screwdriver, a Leatherman, a Spyderco knife, some duct tape, some WD-40 and a Stanley Fubar, I’d be set to take on the world ---
**Author:** ![phil417](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/6bbea6/32.png) [@phil417](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phil417)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2008, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-need-to-be-invented/466585/69 "2008-10-07T05:58:25Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > I wear socks. Sometimes, when I put on my shoes, my socks won’t slide properly, so the socks squash my toes. Someone needs to invent a tool for putting on shoes that prevent sock-sliding toe-squashes. > > You know what’s wrong, you just don’t know how to fix it. What things need to be invented in order to improve your quality of life? I’ve read through this thread, & I’ve four, no, maybe five ideas: 1. A key on the computer keyboard that changes the stupid thing you just did to the app you were working on to what you “meant” to do – a smart key, as it were. 2. At three months, my grandson is a night-time “super soaker” he wakes up his folks (all of us, actually) because he’s wet. “Overnight diapers” start at a few sizes larger than he is, so couldn’t someone come up with some sort of either overnight diaper or pad insert that could absorb up to, say, 15-20 times its own weight in moisture? 3. Working at Wallyworld, I’m on my feet 30-36 hrs per week. Can’t someone come up with a foot-massage insole that doesn’t take up the entire bottom of the shoe? Put a tiny battery into each heel, along with an on/off switch, and at the end of the night, I could do my job with a smile. 4. As Phyllis Diller once said, I’d really like an oven that flushes. 5. Finally, I want a time-out button for SD – often I tune after work, & post after the long, hard end of a long, hard day. I want a button that lets me delay a post until after I’ve had a night’s sleep. Love, Phil ---
**Author:** ![Gleena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b3f665/32.png) [@Gleena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gleena)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2008, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-need-to-be-invented/466585/70 "2008-10-07T11:20:38Z")
> [@delphica](#): > > Some sort of “pay per use” wireless internet access at a reasonable cost. I can’t believe I am the only person who occasionally needs internet access when traveling, but not often enough to make a monthly plan worthwhile. We have this in Australia, pre-paid wireless broadband. Optus, for example. [http://personal.optus.com.au/web/ocaportal.portal?\_nfpb=true&\_pageLabel=Template\_wRHS&FP=/personal/internet/prepaidwirelessbroadband&site=personal](http://personal.optus.com.au/web/ocaportal.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=Template_wRHS&FP=/personal/internet/prepaidwirelessbroadband&site=personal) Cheers, G ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2008, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-need-to-be-invented/466585/71 "2008-10-07T12:53:59Z")
> [@audient](#): > > magnetic card readers that don’t care which way you insert the card. > > (only implementation that occurs to me is to have 4 sensors in the slot) My work ID card doubles as a cashless payment card for vending machines, the canteen etc, and you can insert it in any of the four possible orientations into the reader and it still works. And it only goes into the machine about a quarter of the length of the card, so clearly both ends of both sides are “active”. I’m not sure how it actually works - it doesn’t have a visible magnetic strip. I suspect alchemy. > [@](#): > > at least on my phone, I’d still have to key the number in to a text message, & i’d have to type it into my contact list if I were the recipient. no shortcut to moving info from contacts to text message, or vice versa. My phone is at least 5 years old, and if I receive a text message with a phone number in it, one of the options is “Save number to address book”. ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2008, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-need-to-be-invented/466585/72 "2008-10-07T13:09:35Z")
I think we are well overdue something that will record our dreams so we can play them back at our leisure. As someone who seldom remembers the dreams I have, I feel I am being ripped off, and I want to know what I’m missing. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2008, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-need-to-be-invented/466585/73 "2008-10-07T13:10:35Z")
> [@audient](#): > > that doesn’t quite do the trick. > at least on my phone, I’d still have to key the number in to a text message, & i’d have to type it into my contact list if I were the recipient. no shortcut to moving info from contacts to text message, or vice versa. Mine and most I’ve seen have an option to send a number from the phonebook and also when you receive a number to cut it out and save it from a text. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2008, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-need-to-be-invented/466585/74 "2008-10-07T13:46:28Z")
> [@Justin\_Credible](#): > > A fertility on/off switch, so only planned pregnancies can occur. [Here](http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article4788191.ece)ya go. ---
**Author:** ![Labor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Labor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labor)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2008, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-need-to-be-invented/466585/75 "2008-10-07T14:07:06Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > If you work in the right kind of lab, liquid nitrogen serves this purpose quite well. 😃 I am in complete agrement with **jali** on this. I mentioned it to my brother and he had the same response as **silenus**. I am amazed that nobody has ever developed the “anti-microwave.” ---
**Author:** ![3acresandatruck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/e79b87/32.png) [@3acresandatruck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3acresandatruck)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2008, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-need-to-be-invented/466585/76 "2008-10-07T15:29:44Z")
This thread brought me good karma! I was about to post that I want a long-handled pick, so I don’t have to bend over for hours at a time. Who the heck likes those 3-foot handles they all have? They’re fine, if you’re digging on a rock wall in front of you, but they suck for digging in the ground. I’ve searched the internet, been to hardware stores, pestered the manager at the farm supply place - no luck. On a lark before I posted, I did a quick search as I’ve done countless times before and, lo! [Here it is](http://www.easydigging.com/Garden_Tool/pick_mattock.html)! I think I’m going to get the cutter mattock and the pick axe with the 45" handle. I already have one of their 6" [grubbing hoes](http://www.easydigging.com/Garden_Tool/Grub_Hoe_Grubbing.html), which I bought last year (the picks are a newer addition to the line-up), and it’s a dream to work with. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2008, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-need-to-be-invented/466585/77 "2008-10-07T15:53:40Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > You could always text them the number. no thanks, i refuse to have a texting plan, so it costs. Not everybody has texting… ---
**Author:** ![lightingtool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/57b2e6/32.png) [@lightingtool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lightingtool)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2008, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-need-to-be-invented/466585/78 "2008-10-07T15:58:17Z")
> [@truthbot](#): > > I use an electric mower on the smaller sections of my property. What I want is an electric cord reel that softly retracts when there’s no tug, and yet gracefully reels out cord when you’re going forward. Like those retractable dog leashes? > > I could get the mowing done in half the time with one of those thingy-mabobs. I modified something like [this](http://www.lkgoodwin.com/more_info/cord_reels/cord_reels.shtml) (it was a much cheaper version) to do that for a show I was working on. If you open one of these up and tinker around with it, it’s pretty easy to disable the locking mechanism. Once you’ve done that, the cable will just feed in and out as you move around. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2008, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-need-to-be-invented/466585/79 "2008-10-07T16:10:46Z")
> [@ivan\_astikov](#): > > I think we are well overdue something that will record our dreams so we can play them back at our leisure. As someone who seldom remembers the dreams I have, I feel I am being ripped off, and I want to know what I’m missing. I’ve wanted a video-out jack on my head for years. My dreams are… interesting. ---
**Author:** ![flight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbce88/32.png) [@flight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flight)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2008, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-need-to-be-invented/466585/80 "2008-10-07T19:58:24Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > That is easily remedied. Buy two of them, so that they can find each other! 🙂 > > Another thing I’ve wanted ever since I was in electronics school is a removable extra pair of arms and hands that are directed by my brain and coordinate with my regular arms. > > There are some tasks that just require more than two arms to do easily; soldering is one of them. You need one hand to hold the circuit board, one hand to hold the electronic part you are inserting into it, one hand to hold the solder that will bond the two together, and a fourth hand to hold the soldering iron that will heat the solder and melt it into place. We have to make do with clamps and whatnot, but it just isn’t the same. > > The arms could be robotic or whatever, and I believe that brainwave interfaces for control are at a state that this is actually doable. They already have [this](http://z.about.com/d/comicbooks/1/0/q/S/docock.jpg). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-need-to-be-invented/466585.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-that-need-to-be-invented/466585.md?page=5)