Standardization
It occurred to me recently that our lives are made infinitely more difficult because of a lack of standardization. Think of ink cartridges for computer printers, for example. Or forms that almost every business asks for. Some ask for first name first, others last name first, etc, etc. Why not standardize basic information forms so that the fields appear in the same order and in the same format everywhere? How many wheels do we need to re-invent, anyway?