What do you think SHOULD have been invented by now?

[BelfastSmile]

Yet again, I set the Sky box to record a programme, it says it's done it, but when I go to watch it, all that's been recorded is half an hour of over-run news.

Surely we must by now have the technology for the Sky box to know that the previous programme has gone on longer than it was scheduled for, and to wait until the programme I want has actually started before recording?

Likewise, it shouldn't need to record 5 minutes at the start and end of everything.

Drives me nuts!

Does anyone else have any things that they think "We MUST be able to do that by now!"? I don't so much mean things that we wish had been invented, just things that we think should have been.

A finding machine. Like a sort of physical Google. So if you lose your keys or whatever, you tell it to find them and it does. I suppose it would have to be a robot type thing.

Much easier slicker public transport

Sun cream that you can put on in the shower like shower gel

A shower that also dries. I hate getting out the shower wet in the winter.

@flamingofridays a cure for common colds / sickness bugs. I feel like in this day and age we should not be bed bound for 3 days with norovirus!

They're developing a norovirus vaccine at the moment - apparently it's nearly ready.

@vinegarqueen A way to biodegrade plastic.

A bacteria has been found which does this! I saw a video about it yesterday. It eats the plastic and breaks it down into slime which can then be reused and made into new plastic (including better grades of plastic, which is important in recycling because most recycled stuff is of slightly poorer quality than the original material).

Batteries for mobile phones and laptops that don't need charging every day/few hours.

Much easier slicker public transport

In some areas, ANY public transport would be good!

Phone signal should be everywhere.

Teleportation would be amazing.

Deflate I was going to say a cubicle you step into that zaps body hair for good!

If it could also teleport you anywhere you wanted to go that would be excellent (after you get dressed!).

A cream/ointment for permanent hair removal!!!

I think the hair removal companies make too much money from us poor hirsuit women for it to ever be invented/available. Who knows, these companies probably own the patent for such an invention so that it never goes on the market!

A tablet that contains enough calories and nutrition for a day. Would save millions

GPS microchips for cats so we know where the little buggers are at all times. (I'm told the gps collars don't work.)

Would be quite useful for children too.

A program for airlines so that when you book flights and are travelling with a child under the age of 12 you are automatically seated next to them. Would eliminate so much stress!

A printer that actually fucking prints something the first time you ask it to. None of this 'insert paper' when the tray is full, 'check ink levels' when they're fine, 'printer is offline' when the little connection light is green bullshit yes I have had to print important documents recently, could you tell?

A car windscreen which never gets icy and tyres which keep their pressure.

Pram with a booster - like an ebike ( live at top of a huge hill )
Car seats for all stages built into cars instead of the hell that means swapping car seats into the other car....

Ironing machines or robots for all household chores and mundane tasks. Three day working weeks for a living wage.

Electric cars which are as a good as and as practical and the same price as diesel models.

Machine that washes, dries, irons and folds for you.

@TruffleShuffles

They do! My friend got me one after a similar whine: www.amazon.co.uk/Breville-2-Slice-Toaster-Perfect-Warburtons/dp/B00TPM40JQ/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?psc=1&keywords=warburtons+toaster&tag=mumsnetforum-21&ie=UTF8&qid=1548336833&sr=8-1-spons

Soooooo many of these HAVE been invented just various political issues are preventing them from being properly developed/implemented.

"Reliable, pollution free, renewable energy source. That's also cheap." There's several but 'big oil' put pressure on those who could invest/implement so it never really comes to fruition. We need politicians - worldwide - who aren't beholden to 'big oil' in any way.

"Traffic lights that can read sensors/transmitters in the vehicle so that they can be "smart" and change according to traffic volumes." As pp has said already exists just not prevalent yet.

"A completely waterproof mobile phone with a shatter/crack proof screen." Already exist or certainly could but would make them last longer & not need replacing/repaired as much which I suspect is where mobile phone companies make a lot of their money.

"also, another form of contraception that is 100% effective, is not intrusive (ie coil) and does not make you bleed erratically (ie implant, injection) (in an ideal world, no bleeding at all please!)" I take noriday back to back so no bleeding with Drs support BUT it's taken over 30 years to get the support! There's no medical reason for bleeding being necessary but...patriarchy, medical sexism...

"A toaster that actually fits in slices of bread fully. I shouldn’t have to stand around turning the bread whilst using something that was designed for convenience." There was a thread on this recently (yours?) that I almost replied to then dropped phone & lost it. Many toasters (even my £5 one) WILL take the full slice if it's put in the toaster landscape orientation rather than portrait.

"A contraceptive pill for men" again, already invented, didn't make it past first stage of human trials because the men couldn't WOULDN'T cope with the MINOR side effects (which were the same as those BILLIONS of women out up with and are EXPECTED to tolerate)...again patriarchy and medical sexism

"A shower that also dries. I hate getting out the shower wet in the winter." Again, already exists, my friend has one... But currently £££££ you turn shower off, hit a button and get blasted with warm air like a body sized warm air hand dryer. Lovely.

Personally as an OCD sufferer I'd like a self cleaning home inc especially self emptying bins and self cleaning toilet! My most hated jobs.

A tablet you can take that means that the lining of the uterus is shed instantly with out the annoying 3/4+ days of having a period.

Shoes that you don’t have to break in i don’t want to spend two weeks covered in plasters.
Nail polish that adheres to nails and not skin so cackle handed idiots like me can apply it

CAPITAL/lower case changer on computers - if you type in CAPS by mistake you can highlight the text and change to lower case, rather than having to delete and re-type.
A simple, inexpensive and environmentally safe solution to hard water and limescale.

Re the self drying shower. James Dyson should make a body size version of his hand dryer, a little tunnel that you walk through then 'hey presto'.
bet he does in Singapore

self-cleaning surfaces and floors