More recent inventions and evolutions I love: LEDs, rechargeable batteries, soft close/removable toilet seats & more
Below are some things that I love that have come into being, or massively improved in the last, few decades.
The Open Source Renaissance
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_School_Renaissance
The OSR was not really a thing until ca. 2004. I believe it to be vastly: superior, cheaper, grass-roots and open source way to play D&D or all kinds of Table-Top RPGs, it was both an invention of sorts, as well as an evolution, re-imagining and perhaps a type of revolution. I have written about both the OSR and importance of playing these types of games in many places in my blog.
Crocs
Crocs were invented in 2002. They are unique in what they offer:
https://anon0.bearblog.dev/crocs-11-reasons-why-they-are-useful-worth-having/
Electric blankets
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_blanket
We could not have gotten through the last two winters here at all pleasantly without electric blankets. Before I bought them, I had no idea how much they helped, nor that for along time now they are very safe. I just knew all the stories of them being absolute fire hazards. They have improved massively and evolved.
"Newer electric blankets have a shutoff mechanism to prevent the blanket from overheating or catching fire. Older blankets (prior to about 2001) may not have a shut-off mechanism; users run the risk of overheating. Older blankets are considered fire hazards."
Compared to almost every other method of staying warm, they consumer very little power, between 15 and 115 watts.
Slow-close, removable toilet seats
It is almost absurd to me that these were only invented around around 1994. When toilet seats have been around for 100s of years and nobody likes a noisy, slamming seat at night. Likely this feature has also prevented so many arguments about the seat being up or down. Put it down is so trivial with these, that I can imagine many more men became better at putting them down. I always sit to pee, but I still really appreciate the lid also being quiet and slow-close.
Removable toilet seats are also such an upgrade. Whenever I feel the seat can use it, I remove the whole thing and clean it fast and thoroughly in the shower. Cleaning the top part of the bowl also becomes much easier that way.
I can't imagine ever not having both these functions.
There is a lot to say about all kinds of (aftermarket) bidets, spray- guns and bidet equipped toilet seats as well, but those have been around and popular much longer.
USB plugs
I highly doubt anybody that has used them all would suggest the evolution of USB plugs and standards has not been a massive improvement.
Who would want to go back to earlier iterations? Or even worse, go back to using countless plugs and cables that were common before USB?
I never liked Lightning bolt, Thunderbolt or Firewire for their proprietary nature and high cost. It am glad they never saw wide adoption.
LED lamps / bulbs
Compact fluorescent bulbs for at home were a big upgrade and money-saving leap compared to incandescent bulbs. They did have their issues however. LED bulbs fixed essentially all those issues while representing even more energy efficiency and electricity bill savings, they have become common in households since about 2010.
Not only are they superior to all lamps that came before them, they have also improved massively in their efficiency and their cost has plummeted.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haitz%27s_law
Rechargeable batteries
Since these first became common, they now have higher Milli-amp capacities, have come way down in price, charge faster and do not discharge nearly as fast or much as they once did.
They are a no-brainer for a long time now, both in terms of the environment and your wallet.
