If the wheel is the most important invention of all time, you can argue that subsequent inventions have sought to perfect it: “The Price is Right” Showcase Showdown wheel, the iPod click wheel, the CyRide midnight shuttle, and, now, home beer delivery.

That’s right — before you do anything silly this weekend, like leave your apartment to buy beer, you should know that SnappysDelivers, formerly MonkeyThis, now sells beer that can be delivered right to your door. Now exiting your home can be an action reserved only for emergencies, such as attending class on test days.

Even if you don’t drink, this development looks good for a couple of reasons.

For one, home deliveries means fewer beer runs after the drivers have already had a few. All Snappys asks is that you’re sober enough to make a few clicks on a Web site and correctly brandish your ID and credit card when the delivery person arrives. This means fewer potential drunk drivers on the road, which is always a good thing.

Second, it appears to be a secure process, if the delivery person does his or her job correctly. Snappys pledges to check personal information before the beer is delivered, and again at the residence by ensuring the buyer’s drivers license matches up with his or her credit card.

We do see some small potential for abuse here, however. The ID-checking method relies on the diligence of sales persons to do their job right, but no more than in a grocery store or gas station. And because Snappys requires you pay with a credit card and not cash, the electronic paper trail means bad news for anyone who knowingly abuses the system.

Finally, as the Editorial Board contains a scant two smokers, we have to bring up our confusion over why cigarettes are still a no-go for the delivery site.

Early last year, the Daily reported that the business got shot down for cigarette sales by the Iowa Department of Revenue. The DoR states that delivery services are ineligible for cigarette and tobacco sales because only specific places of business can be licensed, to ensure proper age verification and compliance with Iowa tax law.

Are underage alcohol sales less of a concern to the state than underage tobacco sales? It’s an issue of convenience, not necessity, to be sure. But it smacks of double standards.