This week’s symposium………… Neutral technology??

How many products exist that are used most commonly for a purpose other than the intended? Orange is the New Black instantly springs to mind (after finishing season 2 last week I’ll take any chance to bring it up as I grieve the season’s ending). On the show, set in a women’s prison, the resources available to the inmates are obviously limited. They (or the creators of the show) are incredibly imaginative with what they come up with – using sanitary pads as slippers, food as beauty products, and Poussé’s funnel invention that allows inmates to avoid touching the toilet seat on cold Winter’s mornings.

Outside of the TV-prison world, there are countless inventions used everyday that were originally designed for other purposes. For example, Coca-Cola was originally designed as an alternative to morphine addiction (whaaaat?), and to treat headaches and anxiety.

This Buzzfeed list is a twist on this idea – with a list of inventions that we haven’t quite been using to their potential all this time.