Something Different for Today

I have a question I want you guys to think about. Don't feel like you have to answer, because I'm not sure an answer even exists.

This is the first steam engine. It was built in the first century AD. It was considered a toy; no one could think of a practical use for it. We wouldn't build a useful steam engine for at least 1500 years after.

This is a magic spoon, which is basically another way of saying "ancient Chinese compass." It was built in the 200s BC; it was used to help lay out buildings, because for some reason every ancient culture thought buildings needed to point exactly north or south or whatever. The Chinese wouldn't build a compass specifically for navigation for about 1200 years.

So my question, which you probably already guessed, is this: is there a similar technology today, something trivial that, if we only used it in a different way would change the world, like the steam engine changed transportation and the compass changed navigation?

P.S. Happy Towel Day!