Sometimes I think about how crude silverware is — even the most modern, elegant Scandinavian-designed flatware.

Forks, knives and spoons are primitive tools at their core. They’re made of metal, and we use them to pin down, cut, scrape and scoop up food, and then we insert them into our mouths. It doesn’t keep me awake at night, but I do think it’s strange that we so willingly lick various forms of metal — often the same material we use to make bridges and trailer hitches — on a regular basis.

But flatware would be tough to improve on, which is probably why its basic structure hasn’t changed in so many years. This brings me to another simple-at-its-core tool that, for some reason, companies think they can make better: the corkscrew. But do you really need any of the sequels out there?

One device that regularly finds its way into my hands at family parties is the electric wine opener. It requires the operator to simply press a button and hold it down, sending the screw (aka the worm) down into the cork and then back up, extracting the cork. It works pretty well. Until it loses its charge. And there’s a power outage. And your generator is out of fuel, and it’s a major holiday, and all of the gas stations are closed. It could happen.