Posted on 12/24/2023 8:38:13 AM PST by dennisw
All-TIME 100 Gadgets TIME technology editor Peter Ha picks the 100 greatest and most influential gadgets from 1923 to the present ---- (2010)
How We Chose the List
Picking humanity's 100 greatest gadgets is no easy task. If we were starting from the beginning of humanity itself, the list would actually be a lot easier to compile: the wheel, the lever, the telescope, the syringe, movable type — the roster practically writes itself. But we're masochists and decided to limit the list to the 100 most influential personal gadgets created since 1923 — the year TIME started publishing. You'll see a lot of items that get the nod simply because they were the first of their kind.
First may not always be best, but it's surely a sign of smart innovation. We're sure you won't agree with all of our choices, but what kind of list would it be without some controversy? Oh, and one thing we left completely up to you: our list is in no particular order, so feel free to pick your own No. 1.
(Excerpt) Read more at content.time.com ...
i have to agree the pocket fisherman was over looked. The George forman grill, the lp record, the transistor, magnetic tape, antilock brakes, radial ply tires ,safety glass, the laser, night vison. flir.
I don’t know. Probably. But my MP3 library is just over a terabyte. Digitally I’m a massive hoarder. In meat space it’s only a mild case.
Not one of those are really necessary for society nor do they really help society.
*********************************************
ball-point pen
smoke detector
pacemaker
The HP-35 belongs on the list, not the 65.
3D printers which now cost a couple hundred bucks
Electronic stud finder
Bagless vacuum cleaner
Clip-on digital guitar tuner
Portable jumpstart boosters for your car which are now tiny thanks to Li batteries
Car backup camera
Guessing the author isn't much familiar w/ nail guns. It would be great entertainment to give him one, and watch him nail his hand to a board though.
Conspicuous by it’s absence is the 1959 Philco Safari, the first transistor portable TV.
My uncle got a bunch of the pocket fisherman at a yard sale and brought them to a family outing at Bedford Lake in Virginia. First thing that happened was my cousin snagged himself in the back trying to cast. My aunt, a registered nurse, used a fillet knife to cut it out of his shoulder.
I quickly scanned the whole list and did not see the following: Bell Labs - the transistor. Many items on the list would not have been possible without the transistor and from there the IC, microprocessor, CPU - all because of the transistor.
Zamfir the master of the pan-flute
I don't have a Kindle either, but I do have an app for my phone to read my library with.
Remember this list was 2010, and the Kindle was brand new, being barely 3 years old. It's claim to fame was it's display that gave a crisp paper-white display while using power only when changing pages.
My wife has a Kindle Fire that she uses to play games on. It's just a color tablet with conventional LCD backlit screen.
I considered the transistor, but as world-changing as it was, the list focused on “gadgets”, not basic inventions.
A friend requested coat hooks in my outhouse. I added tp in a tobacco can and a bucket of lime along with a foam seat on my own. (And a stick to erase spider webs)
#1 should be the “Handicapped License Plate/Permit.
Here are a couple things left off the list:
Kaleshnakov AK-47
And this item from prior to 1923:
Colt 1911
Both of them had a profound effect on the world.
Maybe as much as the Smart Phone
Well, if you have a bad heart the pacemaker might make a difference.
Or Dan Akroyd’s “Bass-O-Matic” (SNL)? LOL.
I want one that can flush a pregnant dachshund.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.