Ever hear the phrase “The best thing since sliced bread?” While it may seem like an exaggeration, the bread-slicing machine could be considered right up there with the iPhone. Both took an ordinary product (bread or cell phone) and with a game-changing invention, transformed the way we interact with the basic product and even created demand for other products.

For the bread-slicing machine, the uniform and thinner slices of bread meant people ate more slices at a time and ate bread more frequently. The increased consumption of bread resulted in the increased consumption of jam and other spreads to put on the bread.