system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: what makes quartz crystals so useful?

As far as I understand they are being used in clocks and computer technology - what makes them so special?
gpt
One major aspect of quartz is that it is piezoelectric. This is when a material will produce a tiny amount of electricity when deformed by physical force. Such a behavior is very useful in things like sensors for microphones, guitar pickups, and ultrasound sensors for medical imaging.

Another major use is that the piezoelectric behavior works in reverse where the crystals will slightly deform when electricity is applied to them. A sort of "tuning fork" can then be constructed that will resonate at a specific frequency and kept resonating by applying a small electric charge. That resonance then can be used to keep time with high accuracy, hence the concept of a "quartz watch". There are other obvious uses for timekeeping in electronic devices.