Greatest American Invention?

wsuffa

wsuffa

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Bill S.
So, what's your vote for the greatest American invention? And why?

I think my vote goes to duct tape (aka duck tape, speed tape).

Why? Because America could not run without it. It keeps our homes together, our cars running, and our planes flying. Our boys in uniform use it. And some clothing makers have even made clothes out of it. Need a temporary repair that can be permanent? It's there to help you.

So, what would you think is the greatest?
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
The commode!
(wasn't it american?)
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I believe an Englishman by the man of Tom Crapper gets this distinction

My vote goes to the microchip
 
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The electric guitar.

I believe, according to the "Ensucklopedia" by Beavis and Butthead, it was discovered by accident.

"One day, a guy, I think his name was Jimi Hendrix, picked up his guitar, followed the chord, and wow, I'll be damned, it was plugged in."
 
In keeping with Bill's theme, I vote for JB Weld. Can't keep my tractors together without it!
 
wsuffa said:
So, what's your vote for the greatest American invention? And why?

I think my vote goes to duct tape (aka duck tape, speed tape).

Why? Because America could not run without it. It keeps our homes together, our cars running, and our planes flying. Our boys in uniform use it. And some clothing makers have even made clothes out of it. Need a temporary repair that can be permanent? It's there to help you.

So, what would you think is the greatest?
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LOL! I just knocked the passenger mirror off my car again. (I've always had a problem with allowing enough room on the right.) The black "duck" tape to fix it was $2.99. It's holding pretty well. I might look for a replacement in a junkyard but maybe I won't have to. If it costs me $50 it's more than the car is worth.
 
Although I do think one of the greater inventions is the inductorless dual balanced mixer and the ceramic resonator quadature detector, but that my be just for personal reasons.
 
smigaldi said:
Brook nailed it!!!
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It's probably poor form to argue about the airplane as the greatest invention on this forum, but I humbly suggest that one consider either (a) the steamboat, or (b) the telegraph. The former was the first quantum advance in transportation since the invention of the sail and the wheel, the latter was the start of the digital age. Both inventions have long since been obscured by their progeny, yet they set in motion technologies which have fundamentally changed our world.

OK, OK, all you analog freaks out there. You can add to the list (c), the telephone.

Regards,
Joe
 
Smoke less gun powder.
Propeller (marine & Aircraft)
Assembly line mass production.
Movies
TV
Computers
 
It would be different to me at different stages in my life: when I was younger, American Music; specifically, the song, "American Woman"!!

Best,

Dave
 
Dave Siciliano said:
American Music; specifically, the song, "American Woman"!!
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I hate to have to point this out, but "American Woman" was not American Music. :( It was recorded by Guess Who, which is a Canadian band....
 
- Effective motorcycle crash gear (personal preference)
- Interchangeable parts (aka mass production - though I loathe the concept of no originality that mass production has created)
- High quality tools
- Saturn V

- All that little stuff you simply don't think about because it's so common that it's invisible...but very very useful. (toilet paper, light bulbs, bolts, fire extinguishers, wire, etc)
 
wsuffa said:
I hate to have to point this out, but "American Woman" was not American Music. :( It was recorded by Guess Who, which is a Canadian band....
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OMG :rofl:

Another life long belief destroyed :P Like thinkin American car are made of American parts.

O.K. Now please don't tell me 867 5309 had an international pre-fix :no:

Dave
 
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I think my vote goes to the transistor, which begat the integrated circuit, and that's the basis for 99.9% of every electronic gadget in the world. Some might say we'd be better off without all the gismos, but not me. Few aspects of our daily lives would be the same without the transistor and most of the changes are for our benefit.
 
actually dave, its 867-5309 with a 712 area code is wallingford, iowa. im pretty sure there is no one with that number though.

and 362-4364 from Dirty Deeds, Done Dirt Cheap (AC/DC), is Estherville, IA, my hometown, with a 712 area code. also pretty sure that no one has that number.
 
Tony:

When it came out; lost of calls to Gastonia, N.C. Folks there had to change their number--right 867 (I changed it above).

Dave
 
What about electricity itself. Didn't Thomas Edison have something to do with that?
I do agree on duct tape though. A waitress at the coffee told me that Cowboy Viagra was pop cycle sticks and duct tape.
 
Dave Siciliano said:
OMG :rofl:

Another life long belief destroyed :P Like thinkin American car are made of American parts.
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Sure, that's what duct tape is for....

O.K. Now please don't tell me 867 5309 had an international pre-fix :no:

Dave
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Tommy Tutone was a San Francisco band, so I doubt it was int'l....

Don't tell me you called the number.... :no:
 
kevin47881 said:
Baling wire, JB weld and duct tape...what else does a guy need?:D
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I gotta add WD40 to that list. Aside from it's fantastic lubricating properties it also does wonders to stainless steel appliances and sinks and it smells so good!
 
The Model of the Army, 1911 by John Browning.

I'm not sure if the microprocessor was invented here, but that certainly changed our lives.
 
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wsuffa said:
Don't tell me you called the number.... :no:
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Haha - that number used to be real in Rio Rancho, NM. I used to call about 6 times a day with "Is Jennie there?"

I guess I wasn't the only one, it only lasted a few months and then the number was disconnected.
 
lancefisher said:
I think my vote goes to the transistor, which begat the integrated circuit, and that's the basis for 99.9% of every electronic gadget in the world. Some might say we'd be better off without all the gismos, but not me. Few aspects of our daily lives would be the same without the transistor and most of the changes are for our benefit.
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Aw c'mon Lance, you coulda done all that with some 3CX Triodes (about 35,000 of them). But thank heaven for Bardeen and Brattain!
 
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IIRC, The band got sued by someone who kept getting called. I think 867-5309 was an active number in several places.
 
Actually, the greatest American invention has been a method by which to carry out an age old idea. The idea is that all men are created equal and the method is our democracy. This is no less tangible than any of the material items so far mentioned. In fact, I would say that all we have has been the result of this mechanism. I don't know why none of you metioned it.
 
1. The airplane. Duh.
2. The breast implant LOL :D :goofy:

--Kent (who likes 'em real, thankyouverymuch)
 
Dave Siciliano said:
O.K. Now please don't tell me 867 5309 had an international pre-fix :no:

Dave
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867 was the prefix for Kennedy Space Center in the Florida area code that encompasses that geographic region. The full phone number also happened to be one of the phone in the firing room of the launch control center (LCC) on complex 39. Drove everyone nuts for a few weeks until the number was changed and inactivated.
 
lancefisher said:
I think my vote goes to the transistor, which begat the integrated circuit,
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Actually there were integrated circuits long before the transistor. The first solid state integrated circuit showed up in 1961. But in the 1920's at the peak of vacuum tube design there were several radio stages included into a single vacuum tube. So technically the first integrated circuits were from the 1920's.
 
Anthony said:
I'm not sure if the microprocessor was invented here, but that certainly changed our lives.
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It was. And the model number was 4004. Made by a small Silicon Valley startup by the name of Intel. They've made a few enhancements to the design since then. :D
 
Richard said:
Actually, the greatest American invention has been a method by which to carry out an age old idea. The idea is that all men are created equal and the method is our democracy. This is no less tangible than any of the material items so far mentioned. In fact, I would say that all we have has been the result of this mechanism. I don't know why none of you metioned it.
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Ok, but WD40 is definitely second then.

:goofy:
 
thanks you guys...i now have 867 5309 stuck in my head now. At one of my jobs I was caught singing that song over the intercom. At least teh customer thought it was funny and even offered me a tip for the free entertainment. Hah hah hah.
 
speaking of, VH1 has top 100 songs of the 80's on tonight. 867-5309 was 30ish i think. Also said something about a lawyer in NY put that number up for auction on Ebay and the bidding went into the 100,000's. wow.
 
Laurie said:
I gotta add WD40 to that list. Aside from it's fantastic lubricating properties it also does wonders to stainless steel appliances and sinks and it smells so good!
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I stand corrected :D
 
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