Technologies that Have Exceeded Their Expectations?

drfunch asks: "With the recent 'passing' of Pioneer 10 after over 30 years of service, I wonder what other technologies have far exceeded expectations. One example from my own experience is my trusty HP calculator, which is still going strong after 21 years. What technologies or devices have gone far beyond your expectations?"

Comments

Re:pants

[decipher_saint]

My problem with the current implementation of pants is the stupid "one leg at a time" protocol, I should be able to enter the pant leg routine in parallel to save on time!

I think the main reason a pants-free market is being held back is because of patents (and subsequent patent-battles) held by the Scots and the Greeks over kilts and togas, it seems like only college kids ever get into togas and there seems to be some kind of European stranglehold on the whole kilt technology...

I tell ya...