Fryers vs phones

At her school interview, my daughter was asked to name the most important technology of the modern age. I’m proud to say she answered ‘sewerage’. Some historians now claim the washing machine was, in economic terms, a far more revolutionary innovation than the internet or the mobile phone: it was this which enabled women to enter the workforce.

Yet in the past 30 years, aside from the microwave, progress in home appliances seems slow. Dyson’s washing machine went nowhere. In some ways this kind of innovation is difficult: few people replace their washing machine every two years as they do their mobile phones.

In the kitchen, counter space is limited; many people have had disappointing experiences with nine-day wonders such as yoghurt or ice-cream makers which, once consigned to gadget purgatory at the back of the cupboard, leave their owners cynical about such novelties. Yet there are brilliant ideas out there. A year ago I bought something called the Philips Air Fryer (available at Amazon for about £125). In a saner world, every home would have one — since it magically ‘fries’ food without using any oil at all. We use it almost daily. But I have yet to persuade anyone I know to buy one. Imagine how frustrating it must be for the person who invented the Air Fryer to see TV reports showing crowds queuing round the block to buy the ‘revolutionary’ new iPhone: a slightly elongated version of the iPhone which preceded it. And which they already own.

True, such gadgets take up little space. And it is easy to offload your old iPad or iPhone (the usual practice is for the male in the household to decide, with scant supporting evidence, that his outdated iPad would make a perfect present for his wife).