I'm not saying it's the best example of what design is, and even less that it's revolutionary. But I do think that it is a good example in that it is simple and effective and I hope people can easily see what I mean when given this example. Of course the best design example would be the wheel, but it is so good/great/awesome that most people can't see how amazing it is and how it shows the power of abstraction of the human mind, which is in big part what design is about (whether it is for objects or programming or whatever). This is because the best ideas seems natural and obvious after someone had them and said it. This is why I think this Clip thing is a good example, it's much more simple and way less obvious than the wheel.

About the price, I mainly agree with you on that, but it was not my point.