Mike,
I’m going to go out on a limb and say the most diverse, rugged, easiest and most used invention I know of to date in my opinion is ( Blue jeans)

Hi, maybe the toothbrush? Why: because I like to have fresh breath and clean white teeth.

The wheel?

Farming. Don’t think we would have made it on hunting and gathering alone. – Product Developer

Eyeglasses, because when creating it helps to be able to see what we are doing.

Mike:
The camera. It has captured and memorialized personal and world history as it actually existed. Prior to that it was artist renderings or written accounts that would give visual clues. “I wanna see”, a phrase we started speaking at a very early age. We now have billions of photos instantaneously via the internet, which would be choice #2.

I am a commercial insurance broker.

Is that photo of you Mike or Ed Begley Jr. ? LOL

Take care.

MRI machine!
Imagine how many lives it has helped.

Mike,

Will I win points with the Editor if I say the printing press? Tom Bobo new product development.

I have to agree with Don, Farming. Without farming we wouldn’t have had the time or means to make other inventions.

But I have to admit, the wheel came to mind first.

No question it just has to be the IRS or Government… Just kiddin’

I’ll go with anesthetics and the anesthesiologist . Anybody what to have surgery or major dental work without either one of them?

Mike,
Electricity which was discovered by Ben Franklin, but its use was harnested by other inventors.

Sorry meant harnest

Very good. You guys are on a roll.
Keep ’em coming. Tell a friend.

Hmmm, howabout the coffee pot? Sure makes injesting caffeine convenient.
I mean, don’t we need to be awake and alert to invent?

Alvin – maybe you meant “harnessed.” I’m a frustrated wanna-be-English teacher.(;^)

I also bless whoever (or whomever??) invented indoor plumbing.

Mike, I would also add fossil fuel. There is no dispute, it help produce most of the innovations we enjoy today. Every invention above has used it in one form or another… But, like a good steward we should move away from them… when possible.

Linda,
Cattycatranch. Is that a flavor of salad dressing? :) Indoor plumbing is good. I suppose the plunger is a good invention too!

Mike, I would have to pick the steam engine because it started the Industrial Revolution. April Venegas Nurse

I just asked my husband what he thought the best invention ever created was. His answer….ice cream!

Here are some of my favorites I use everyday!!!
Velcro
Thumb drive
radio
Duct Tape
World Wide Web
YouTube
Cell Phone
sewing machine
Houdini Cork Screw
Doppler Radar (weather)
disposable diaper – Marion Donovan in 1950
CamelBak Hydration system
Glue DOTs
DVD + player
electric tea pot

Tami, I agree, youtube is amoung humanity’s best inventions – I marvel everyday at what I see there.

Youtube is also amoung the worst – such a timesucker!

Chris, I’m ignoring your catty remark. Not funny. I didn’t laugh. Much, anyway. Ok, I laughed. So did my hubby. He started singing,“The cats in the kettle at the Hu Flung Poo,” to the tune of Cat Stephen’s “The Cats in the Cradle.”(;^)

What about the ability to start fire? Or would that fall under discovery?

These aren’t the greatest inventions, but I sure do appreciate them!
Beer…Pepsi…and I sure do love our gas grill! lol
I also agree with Linda…indoor plumbing

-Telephone
-Telephone answering machine
-Caller ID
-Popcorn
-Dental floss
-Birth control (all forms)
-eyeglasses

We are a plumbing contractor that invented a plumbing product.
Indoor plumbing is a given. Denny went to China that will make
you appreciate any plumbing piping!!!!

Linda Linda,

Your husband is okay by me…

How about satellite radio? I am enjoying some 70s music right now. Bob Welch, Ebony Eyes. Does that date anybody here?

Mike, seriously, How about refrigeration / freezer? Carol’s husband likes it.

I’d have to say the telescope – without it we would still believe we were the center of the universe and have the ‘everything has already been invented’ attitude stalling all future progress.

document management/imaging/programmer

Electricity, i can’t imagine where we would be without.

Devin White
high school student

It has to be the wheel. It’s what got this whole idea thing rolling!! ;)

it has to be the doorknob.because everybody gets a turn.

Well, if it wasn’t for the printing press and books and the need to read, we’d all be staring at a blank screen!

Lets not forget about
Tivo
or
DVR
I can watch what I want to when I have time!!
We taped “Pitchmen” last night it was better then I thought it would be.

I think I’ve mentioned this somewhere here before. My vote goes to toilet paper. I’m glad it was invented before I was born :)

Concrete is a good one too.

No one is mentioning the PC…but then again it may be too early in history to evaluate. Maybe we can say the PC informed the world, made it faster, pulled it closer…or we may find it caused friction, made everything move too fast, let everyone know every one else’s business, no one came out of the house anymore after the PC. I’m not sure how good of an invention it is yet. I guess we have to include it in the best inventions ever though.

I’m not sure who gets the most credit though. Is it Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak that started Apple in a garage? How much did Michael Dell innovate? There was another inventor years ago that made strides for the PC…forgot his name.

Ron,

The PC is a great invention, for most applications. It is one of those innovations that I believe has created countless jobs and eliminated a few. Just like the automobile did to the carriage manufacturers.

In addition to the PC, Ron, I would reinforce it with the Internet, created by Tim Berners Lee. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Berners-Lee The Internet really brought the PC front and center. So, I think they compliment each other as great innovations. Of course, the PC can be used for evil, like many inventions. Except, the PC allows it come from half way around the world in seconds.

Michael Dell, I think was a great marketer of the PC and help bring it the masses, but not sure how much more he did. Yeah, I forgot that other guy’s name too. I know he founded a company called something like MacroPlush

The pencil by far, it led eventually to the computer by a roundabout way, and without one or the other our inventions couldnt be drawn or documented easily.

Shawn P. Galloway, Nurse and design engineer

“There was another inventor years ago that made strides for the PC…forgot his name.”

“Who invented the computer?” is not a question with a simple answer. The real answer is that many nventors contributed to the history of computers and that a computer is a complex piece of machinery made up of many parts, each of which can be considered a separate invention.

This series covers many of the major milestones in computer history (but not all of them) with a concentration on the history of personal home computers.

The History of Computers
http://inventors.about.com/library/blcoindex.htm

Yes Ed…like many inventions, the public does not considerr the final invention was made up by many inventors and their contributions.

Even the light bulb. Many people made light bulbs at the time. Thomas Edison made the one that lasted the longest.

I mention the PC because on many lists for the greatest invention the PC is always in the top 10.

“Even the light bulb. Many people made light bulbs at the time. Thomas Edison made the one that lasted the longest.”

True, Ron, along with the many historic inaccuracies that are still taught in our government school system’s history books, regarding just about every aspect of American History…No one’s never heard of guys like Humphrey Davy and/or Joseph Swan…

WHO?!

Phillip Avery mentioned money in the worst invention thread. I think it could possibly be the greatest! Just immagine having a world of high population, productivity, and technology and trying to run it on a barter system.

I’d like to add: Language(s)

what about medicine? without medicine we’ll all be coughing all over our new PC’s and will even get the light bulb infected, then it won’t light anymore LOL

PENNY CROWDER, PAGING PENNY CROWDER COULD YOU PLEASE GIVE ME A CALL 708.906.4854 ASAP THAT IS ALL

For the record, fire is a discovery, not an invention.
Now, matches or the butane lighter, those are inventions. I probably never would have started smoking if it weren’t for them … I’ve since kicked that habit – coming up on three weeks!

Keep up the good work Mike. I know how hard quitting smoking is. I did it 20 years ago and don’t regret it one bit. If you are a drinking man, staying away from the alcohol for a few weeks helps too. Cigarettes need to be on the worst inventions list.

Democracy and free markets! Without it, we might not be as advanced as we are today.

All medical technologies….It’s amazing what can be done today!!

There again…..Alot of the technology does require a power supply….So it goes back to electricity!!

Bike! Clean fun; calories burner in such non-boring way; quality family time: “Mom, dad, let’s go for a bike ride!”

I would have to say hand tools. Without them nothing else would be made.

Free, limitless, and clean energy! Oh wait, we haven’t invented that yet..
Come on people! Let’s work on this. If we can figure this one out, many of the world’s problems will be eliminated. Just think of all the wars we won’t have to get into if we don’t need oil! We’d be able to spend money on eliminating hunger, disease, etc… Just an idea!

John, while that’s a great ideal it’s not likely to happen. Why? No profit in it. It’s just human nature.

Now, cheap, limitless and clean energy might go somewhere!

Now, if we could just tap into the earths magnetic field or use dark energy to make energy that would be great! But how to do it? That’s the question.

Roger, I love hand tools! Now, if I could just find my sawsall….