(Actually, my first choice is the "boob radio," but I was afraid to post a picture of it here.)
Posted on 05/03/2016 3:27:49 PM PDT by Swordmaker
The Tech that forever changed the way we live, work, and play.
Think of the gear you can’t live without: The smartphone you constantly check. The camera that goes with you on every vacation. The TV that serves as a portal to binge-watching and -gaming. Each owes its influence to one model that changed the course of technology for good.
It’s those devices we’re recognizing in this list of the 50 most influential gadgets of all time.
Think of the gear you can’t live without: The smartphone you constantly check. The camera that goes with you on every vacation. The TV that serves as a portal to binge-watching and -gaming. Each owes its influence to one model that changed the course of technology for good.
It’s those devices we’re recognizing in this list of the 50 most influential gadgets of all time.
Some of these, like Sony’s Walkman, were the first of their kind. Others, such as the iPod, propelled an existing idea into the mainstream. Some were unsuccessful commercially, but influential nonetheless. And a few represent exciting but unproven new concepts (looking at you Oculus Rift).
Rather than rank technologies—writing, electricity, and so on—we chose to rank gadgets, the devices by with consumers let the future creep into their present. The list—which is ordered by influence—was assembled and deliberated on at (extreme) length by TIME’s technology and business editors, writers and reporters. What did we miss?
(Excerpt) Read more at time.com ...
gawd, i hate lazy writers and sloppy thinkers.
here’s a quick list of THE MOST influential gadgets OF ALL TIME:
- wheel
- axle
- pencil
- modern pen
- typewriter
- printing press
- microscope
- cotton gin
- textile loom
- battery
- combustion engine
- refrigeration
- time (proper watches)
- hypodermic needle
i could easily go on. so many things were FAR more influential on the world then an iphone.
idiots.
I see you found Huma’s helper.
You left off the most important one. The number 1 invention/discovery of all time:
Fire
(Actually, my first choice is the "boob radio," but I was afraid to post a picture of it here.)
One of our neighbors had one of those Zenith remotes with the little four chime Xylophones inside to Control the TV functions. He grew to hate it because every time the dog came through the room the TV either changed channels, the TV turned on or off, or the sound muted.
They finally figured it out. The dog's license tags were jangling in keys that were similar enough to the tones the little chimes the Zenith remote would out put and the TV was picking up the under and overtones and interpreting them as commands! The took the expired tags off the dog's collar and the TV problems went away!
I didn't tell it to the Wright brothers, but I DID tell it to their cousin, who was an air traffic controller at Sacramento International airport.
Wheel, axle, cotton gin, textile loom, battery, refrigeration, (internal) combustion engine, all do not meet the definition of "Gadget" which I posted above. Some of these are concepts or true general inventions, and some are merely components of larger devices or instrumentalities, but they are not gadgets, per se, useful in and of themselves, or are too large to qualify as gadgets.
All such lists are controversial by nature but this one is the worst I have ever seen.
How about the zipper?
Fire may have been a discovery, not an invention, but it is certainly not a "gadget." I would support adding gadgets for easy fire starting to the list. . . Say a Zippo or Bic lighter, but those are no longer "politically correct" for inclusion.
The peanut
Not in and of itself useful with out attaching itself to another object. Thus it is not a gadget. Great invention though.
Not a gadget. Good eating though.
Well you’re right, it’s not a “gadget” per se.
But I still think it is the single most important invention/discovery of all time.
Controlled fire.
Warmth.
Light.
Cooking.
Metalworking.
On and on and on...
Just Think, we once were a nation of free men.
I used to have a girl friend that rode one of those like a motorcycle.
I hear you, but I think among the historically underrated gadgets are the mechanical screw and eyeglasses.
I remember forty years ago when SEARS used to sell those things through their catalogs.
I would put the HP-35 as the killer of slide rulers.
Well Said!
Don’t remind me about early scientific calculators and sliderules.. Had to suffer through too many tests with my sliderule while all the students that had calculators whipped through the problems. Just could not afford one at the time.
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