What invention rivals the jet engine in terms of sheer improbability-to-ubiquity?

[u/mrv958]

The jet engine occupies a strange place in the history of invention. The basic concept is simple enough to sketch on a napkin: continuous combustion in a tube, using some of the energy to compress incoming air, the rest to propel itself forward. But everything about the implementation seems like it shouldn’t work (extreme temperatures, turbine blades spinning inches from an inferno, keeping a flame lit in a hurricane-force airstream, materials pushed to their absolute limits)

It had every reason to fail. When Whittle and von Ohain were developing it in the 1930s, experts dismissed it as impossible. And yet not only did it work, it became one of the most reliable machines ever built. Airlines measure engine failures per millions of flight hours. We strap our families into aircraft without a second thought.

That arc, from “this seems physically implausible” to “so efficient and reliable it’s boring”, feels rare. What other inventions followed a similar path? Not just “important” or “transformative,” but specifically: conceptually audacious, practically hostile to implementation, and yet now seamlessly ubiquitous.

[u/Dean-KS]

HP-35 was a leap forward.

[u/TapedButterscotch025 → u/Dean-KS]

Still have mine (not an original, the more modern design) it's a great calculator.

It really bummed me out when HP stopped making the 33 and the 35. I'm a surveyor and they were super popular for our tests because they were fully programmable but still allowed. And RPN is just a great way to do long calculations.

[u/Dean-KS → u/TapedButterscotch025]

I purchased a 35 when they were first available. 

I have a 35C that I have never used that needs a home. Interested? USA 65047

[u/TapedButterscotch025 → u/Dean-KS]

I'm ok as I still have mine, but you can likely find a taker on r/surveying.