20 Surprising Original Uses For Modern Products

Things just don't always turn out the way you thought they might. A dim view of that is Junior Kimbrough's classic album, “Most Things Haven't Worked Out,” but another, sunny-side way to look at it is that often things change for the better. People that create things are obviously aiming for a certain outcome, but they'll tell you: it certainly doesn't always turn out the way they planned.

And that's just fine - it's all about taking the process from beginning to end and learning along the way. You cannot be wedded to a certain outcome. That kind of inflexibility is going to ultimately drive you nuts when something doesn’t follow the intended trajectory.

So yeah, party people - the process of innovation isn't always a straight line; sometimes it's more of a scribble. Here are 20 products whose intended purposes were completely different than their modern uses. Hopefully the inventors were still just as proud.

21

Product AUTO-TUNE Original SEISMIC WAVE Purpose ANALYSIS Seldt PAUs Raf May 9l 8s De Tes K Lang Pnnt Lornic 3 V an AUTO-TUNE EVO recon 10 Create rol NSource: Vice

20

Product SYNTHETICDYE Original MALARIA CURE Purpose When a chemist was trying to develop an artificial form of quinine, he instead saw the color mauve,Source: Gizmodo

19

Product SLINKY Original BOAT SPRING Purpose A navy engineer knocked over a boat spring prototype when he saw that it fell in a graceful way. CRACKED.CSource: Popular Science

18

Product DUCT TAPE Original SEALING AMMUNITION Purpose CASES o'S EJOS Duct tape is the unhandy man's complete toolbox, but before it became the fix-it Source: USA Today

17

Product STETHOSCOPE Original TO AVOID TOUCHING A Purpose FEMALE PATIENT'S CHEST The doctor wanted to examine a woman's heartbeat but didn't want to puSource: Past Medical History

16

Product VIAGRA Original HEART DISEASE Purpose SYMPTONS pjuer The medicene was ineffective against the intended issues, such as hypertension and anginaSource: Mental Floss

15

Product PACEMAKER Original HEART MONITOR Purpose OS-1 ST. JUDE MEDICAL Syimar. CA USA VICToRY SR 5610 SSIR SNN 1723182 When building an instrument to Source: Gizmodo

14

Product BRANDY Original A WAY TO AVOID Purpose TAXES Since customs were decided by volume, merchants would boil water out of wine to save money duringSource: Mental Floss

13

Product SILLY PUTTY Original RUBBER SUBSTITUTE Purpose During WW2, the U.S. asked manufacturers to develop a new form of rubber since their supply wasSource: USA Today

12

Product LISTERINE Original SURGICAL ANTISEPTIC Purpose Listerine was invented in 1879. Since then, it has advertised a lot of potential uses, includinSource: Mental Floss

11

Product POP ROCKS Original INSTANT SODA Purpose ROxS TASTE TASTE berry ORED ME dberry DED William A. Mitchell was experimenting on an instant soft driSource: LA Times

10

Product LYSOL Original DOUCHE Purpose nees -440 tes wk 4at 4 1tls 4sei4 yeu bertes .4 6 -70 O aree 0- e4 --4- 441 .4.0 t e 44 4201040 o af llse 99EA vSource: Mother Jones

9

Product MICROWAVE Original MILITARY RADAR Purpose 12:22: 2 3 S SAT sroP During WW2, scientists developed microwave radar ability to locate enemies. OnSource: USA Today

8

Product WD-40 Original NUCLEAR MISSILE Purpose PROTECTANT SMART PIT NOI UGER Fress Orves *Loosens EE Remaves WD-40 LAMP LOSE RUMMABL Sticky Stops OF CRead More: The 5 Most Insane Original Uses For Famous Products

5

Product BUBBLE WRAP Original WALLPAPER Purpose Alfred W. Fielding and Mark Chavannes invented a sealed-air wallpaper allaporthia  was toa n that was tRead More: The 5 Most Insane Original Uses For Famous Products

4

Product EPIPEN Original NERVE AGENT Purpose ANTIDOTE UON REPLACE 10-INJE PIPEN 2 10 25 C) P.NE RALLSA Mylan BEFRIGERATE noes FROM Morgrbe E8'TOTT'F 1Source: USA Today

3

Product KOTEX PADS Original SURGICAL DRESSING Purpose How War Nurses Found a New Use for Cellucotton KOTEX NTECESSITY being the mother of invention, oSource: Mental Floss

2

Product METAL DETECTOR Original BULLET LOCATER Purpose Alexander Graham Bell (of telephone fame) made the first crude metal detector to (unsuccessfullSource: Alexander Graham Bell

1

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