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“Does Your Country Have An Invention That Never Made It To The Outside World?” (38 Answers)
Sometimes we take things we have around for granted. Basically, we assume that this one useful thing we always have available will be like this whenever we travel around the world. And then we learn how wrong we were.
Just like these inventions named in today's listicle. Apparently, they're only popular among people from certain countries and not elsewhere. So, just imagine getting used to utilizing in your day-to-day life only to learn that doing that outside of your country's borders is nearly impossible, because it simply doesn't exist there.
More info: Reddit
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#1
The „Superfest“ Glass. Scientists in the GDR developed it, trying to make standard glass more durable. They used the ion exchange method, replacing sodium ions on the glasses surface with potassium ions, this is the same method Gorilla Glass is fastened with. The glass was 15 times more durable than normal glass. When they tried to sell the glasses to other companies and into other (western) countries, they failed, because no one wanted to sell glasses that don’t break. After the reunion of Germany the production got stopped, but today there are still plenty of glasses (mostly in eastern Germany) in use, just because they are so durable.
Mel in Georgia 6 days ago
It's ridiculous that we buy so many products that are made to break quickly. I guess it keeps the world's economic machine running, but it's so wasteful and expensive in the long run.
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#2
The *harrumph* "Eierschalensollbruchstellenverursacher", a device for people with OCD who also like a boiled egg in the morning. You place it on the egg, pull the ball up and let it *clack* fall down. Creates a perfectly round defined breaking circle to lift the head of the egg...☝️😀...!
Moving Enigma 6 days ago
I have one (and have given them as presents often). They are awesome although it takes a while until you get the technique right but when you do only the top shell is removed leaving a perfect white dome to dig in to.
#3
Sauna sausage pipe. You put the sausage in the stone cylinder, place it on the sauna stones and you get a cooked sausage as a post-sauna snack.
Maybe the reason it didn't become an international success is that it makes the whole sauna smell of sausage grease.
Quite a lot of people dream of being the inventors of something big and meaningful, especially when they’re little. In the young days, such a dream seemed like an inviting career path.
Then, over time, you start realizing that, in reality, becoming a renowned inventor might not be as easy as it looked, and you start looking for other career opportunities. And yet, for many, his dream remains in the back of their minds, even if it is an unrealistic one.
#4
Automatic pasta machine. Guzzles flour and eggs, craps tagliatelle.
#5
The dish drying cabinet was developed in Finland in the 40s. It was build in practically every kitchen but has declined a bit in popularity since dish washing machines have become popular. Still very useful for non-machine-washable stuff.
#6
In Australia (predominantly in South Australia), we have the 'Stobie Pole' - it is a utility/power line pole that is made of two steel beams with a slab of concrete in between them. It was invented out of necessity due to a lack of suitable timber. You can ask permission from the power company to paint artwork onto the pole.
In fact, some even go out of their way to try to make it a reality. Whether doing that in their free time or in their job, sometimes giving up on a dream might seem more impossible than realizing it. And it’s not like no one is successful in doing that – some people do make it as inventors.
Then, they have to go through with filing a patent, which would grant them exclusive rights for their invention, so no one else could take the credit for it, make, use, or sell the creation. Of course, the process of patent filing depends from country to country, but the general idea of it still stands.
#7
The Minitel, used before internet became mainstream. Minitel made it possible to use services (like book train tickets, buy stuff, chat, check opening hours etc., all this just through the telephone lines. As far as I know it never took off outside of France...
Rick Murray 6 days ago (edited)
Most of the Minitel I've seen (and the two I own) are Minitel 1B and 2. One has a keyboard that folds up to cover the screen, the other has the keyboard slide in underneath the screen. Neither look quite as ancient and dated as this thing.
Bjørn Langbakk 4 days ago
Minitel var en fransk onlineservice for teledata (fransk: Vidéotex) som var tilgjengelig via telefonnettet. Den blir ansett for å ha vært en av verdens mest suksessfulle onlinetjenester før World Wide Web. Testing av Minitel begynte i 1978 i Bretagne og bredte seg til hele Frankrike i 1982 med hjelp av Poste, Téléphone et Télécommunications (PTT). Det ble utviklet en egen terminal med sort-hvit skjerm, tastatur og modem, som ble gitt bort til kundene. I Norge ble det gjort testforsøk med et minitel-prosjekt på Gjøvik, Lillehammer og Rjukan i Tinn kommune, der det ble delt ut et stort antall gratis terminaler. Disse byene kunne således kommunisere med hverandre via Minitel i prosjektet. Det norske prøveprosjektet var et forskningsprosjekt i regi av Teledirektoratet, og terminalene ble produsert av Alcatel STK i en norsk utgave, for øvrig omtalt i et hefte "Minitel i husstander : Minitelprosjektet på Rjukan og Lillehammer", utgitt av Televerkets forskningsinstitutt i 1992.
howdylee 5 days ago
Why is the keyboard messed up? Do keyboards in France typically use this layout, as opposed to QWERTY?
Giraffe Sitter 5 days ago (edited)
The AZERTY keyboard was common in France and Belgium and was specifically optimized for the French language.
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Ace 6 days ago
Yeah, the French were still using these, or a later variant of, well into the 2000s. One of the reasons they were, and still are IMO, so much behind the rest of the world in internet usage.
Rick Murray 6 days ago
On the other hand, there wasn't much call for internet in France as this service existed long before the internet was a thing. The problem was that due to the huge number of old tech terminals around (it is basically built around a very simple modem, an 8051 all-in-one chip and an ED9345 video chip), they never really managed to get beyond the treacle slow 1200/75 behaviour. Some enhancements were made and later models could do vector graphics and JPEGs, but few people had compatible units. Had it enhanced itself to keep pace with contemporary technology it would have been phenomenal, but it stayed "something from the early 80s" until sometime around 2010 when it was clear that people were using the internet.
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#9
The famous Dutch 'trekmuur' (pull-wall). Deep fried snacks that are kept warm like this. You pay with coins (or card for modern ones) and you pull on the lid to open and get an unhealthy snack. Found in cities, amusement parks etc. Really popular at 02:00 in the night with all the drunk folk looking for some food.
Just as the possibility of patent rejection. Just because you think you invented something big, doesn’t mean that the people who are responsible for giving out patents will think the same thing.
The fault in getting the patent might fall to inadequate disclosure while filling out the application, or a lack of utility to be patentable. The creation might be viewed as not enough of an “improvement” of the existing creations or just as not a novel thing at all.
#10
Girolle.
While a lot have some kind of Fondue pot or Raclette device, I never saw this in a private household outside of Switzerland.
Ace 6 days ago
Famously from the Jura area, which I often pass. There's a restaurant up there whose name I can't remember, in an old monastery, which I think lays claim to being the original source of this cheese and the spiral device to scrape it off into fan-shaped circles. Ah, here we go maisondelatetedemoine dot ch
#11
Ham Holder/Stand. Don’t really know how to call it in English. It is very common here in Spain to buy and cut ham legs yourself. For that purpose, we have this ham holder to cut ham confortably. Also we have specific ham knifes that I don’t know if they are useful besides cutting hum.
Edit: hahaha I’m sorry friends.I definitely failed in my “Spanish-only device”. Looks like this device is all around the world.🤣.
sturmwesen 6 days ago
big supermarkets sell them around christmas in Germany. mostly with one bacon included
#12
Bottle scraper. You use it to scrape the contents out of a bottle or jar that you normally would throw away along with the bottle. Purest example of Dutch thrift.
Yet, this shouldn’t be taken as a discouragement – after all, we live during the times where a few innovation booms have passed. Here, solely from 1900 to 1949, many groundbreaking inventions, such as airplanes, radios, and safety razors, were made. Not to mention the boom of technology innovations in the second half of the 20th century and the first part of the 21st century.
And that’s just taking into account the most well-known innovations. Besides them, there are plenty of others that are known only in certain contexts. Just take a look at the list we’re serving you today.
#13
I guess this tortilla press. You use it literally to make homemade tortillas. Surely they exist in the southern US or something but I would imagine nobody else has it.
#14
Hjell. Wooden rack used for drying fish outdoors in cold, windy coastal climates.
#15
The lunch dabba! There’s a whole network of workers called [dabbawalas]
It’s full of people listing things that are a grand creation in the countries they’re from, but not really anywhere else. Sometimes, some innovations shouldn’t be groundbreaking on a global scale; just a nationwide scale is more than enough.
Does your country have anything that you have never seen anywhere else? What is it?
#16
I was very surprised to not see this so often outside of post-Soviet countries
Not particularly an invention but still
edit with explanation: it's a champagne/ vine cork putten into a metal lid handle. It doesn't take heat so you can take a lid off without using pot holder
edit2: I was told that champagne ones work much better so here is some more knowledge for you
Auntriarch 5 days ago
I've got two lids with metal handles and it's a pain to keep picking up a cloth to lift them, excuse me while I open a couple of bottles...
#17
In Poland when we go to the beach we take that thing called "parawan" and make our own small private spaces. Not only that but it also stops wind which is common on beaches at the Baltic sea. I don't think I ever saw something like this anywhere else.
#18
Behold the Brazilian eletric shower.
#21
The Robertson screw/fastener. Henry Ford wanted to use the Robertson screw because it was faster and better for assembly, but the inventor wouldn’t give Ford control over manufacturing. The deal collapsed, Ford adopted Phillips instead, and the Robertson never became a global standard.
#22
The electric cargo bicycle. Commonly used to pick up kids from school, or transporting larger cargo. It's cheap to use, easier to navigate in a busy city than a car, and parking is always available and free.
#23
Probably this thing: the Poffertjespan. The best ones are made of cast iron. It's sole purpose is to be able to bake one of our national sweet dishes: poffertjes.
Edit: this is NOT the same as an æbleskiver pan. Poffertjes are shallow diskshaped, not ballshaped like æbleskiver, so the pan's shape is different.
You can't make ballshaped dishes in a poffertjespan, and you can't make decent æbleskiver using a poffertjespan. Trust me, I know 😅
#24
"Spätzlepresse" Noodle maker common in southern Germany.
#25
This is a water filter made of clay.
Very popular in Brazilian homes.
It keeps the water fresh, but with a questionable taste. They say the older the better.
#26
Although there are similar items in certain zones of Portugal, the "botijo" or "búcaro" is one of the most Spaniard things you can have. It keeps water cold even in the worst of Summer.
#27
Cuscuzeira. It's a specific type of kitchen utensil used to make Brazilian-style couscous (known as "cuscuz"), most prevalent in the Northeast region of the country.
#28
The traditional South Indian coffee maker. Makes creamy, mellow coffee that would probably send black coffee drinkers into conniptions but is very tasty and easy on the stomach.
sturmwesen 6 days ago
I looked it up and it works like a vietnamese filter basically. a tin with tiny holes, filled with coffee followed by a metall plate with holes as a weight. you pour the water over the metall plate into the tin, so it seeps through the coffee and the bottom of the tin into a container
#29
Turkey deep-fry pots
Why wait hours for your turkey to roast in the oven when you can turn it into a piece of charcoal in 30 minutes?
It’s of the most disaster-prone cooking vessels ever invented. Every Thanksgiving there are reports of people setting fire to their yards, decks, and homes.
Pandaodboredem22 6 days ago
Honestly you'd have to be pretty stupid to start a fire with a turkey deep fryer. Add the cold turkey to the fryer after patting off water, add oil to measure, pull the turkey out, heat oil, and very slowly drop in. It says it right in the manual!!!
#30
Biltong maker. Make dried meats, like Biltong and Droëwors at home. Just a box with a fan and light. I feel like dried meat is popular kinda everywhere, but not a lot of countries have this in thier homes.
Deta Rossiter 5 days ago
yes yes. Some people make their own drynig racks at home! South Africa BTW
#31
For the UK
Sinclair C5 Perfect exhaust pipe inhalation height
Ace 6 days ago
It never made it in the UK either. Was viewed as a joke by most people. Sir Clive Sinclair, pictured, did have a lot of notable successes, such as some of the earliest pocket calculators, back in the early-mid 1970s. And the first digital watches too, now I come to think about it.
#32
Half Boiled Egg maker from Malaysia.
We eat our eggs here on the runnier side, with soy sauce and black pepper. This invention makes the perfect version of Malaysian Half Boiled eggs. Theres no guessing or timing. Just follow the water.
#34
Swans that made from tires, I guess. Used for decoration
Update: today I learned that this thing is much more common across the world than I thought. Cool
Huddo's sister 6 days ago
Again, which country? They are super common in Australia, but I imagine them also being found in places like America. We also make children's swings from tyres and many other things.
#35
Rumour has it, is this is quite unique in Germany: The „egg piercer“. You pinch an tiny hole into the bottom part of the shell an it reduces the risk of cracking open while cooking the eggs in a pot of boiling water. Easy physics 😉
There is also the egg-slicer and ofc the „Sollbruchstellen“-tool that earned some popularity in internet puns. But both are more gimmicky, while the piercer is very common in most households.
#36
Freaking "Videoke" machines. Basically a karaoke machine with a tv built in. There's one in every tio's house.
#37
Technically it wasn't legal anywhere but "The Cornballer" was successfully marketed in Mexico.
What do you think ?
LakotaWolf (she/her) 6 days ago
I want the Bulgarian pepper roasting cylinder XD I was raised in a Mexican/Hispanic family and that would come in handy roasting poblanos and Anaheim peppers for a single person's meal (me!) XD
Sam Trudeau 4 days ago
In Canada we have milk bags. The story is that when the metric switch happened, they used bags a bit as well as jugs and cartons
M O'Connell 5 days ago
I submit the Presto Hot-Dogger. Heats your hotdogs through the direct application of mains current, and probably introduces some metal contamination from the electrodes.
LakotaWolf (she/her) 6 days ago
I want the Bulgarian pepper roasting cylinder XD I was raised in a Mexican/Hispanic family and that would come in handy roasting poblanos and Anaheim peppers for a single person's meal (me!) XD
Sam Trudeau 4 days ago
In Canada we have milk bags. The story is that when the metric switch happened, they used bags a bit as well as jugs and cartons
M O'Connell 5 days ago
I submit the Presto Hot-Dogger. Heats your hotdogs through the direct application of mains current, and probably introduces some metal contamination from the electrodes.
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