Top 100 Gadgets of All Time

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Posted by CmdrTaco on Tuesday February 22, 2005 @05:43AM from the com'on-rubiks-cube dept.

akintayo writes "Mobile PC released its list of the top 100 gadgets of all time. The number one gadget was the Apple Powerbook 100. And the list does include some older gadgets, most notably the Abacus at #60. The BBC also has an article on the list."

25 of 415 comments (clear)

#79 is the best one by nizo · 2005-02-22 05:44 · Score: 5, Funny

I prefer #79 (TASER X26, 2003) If you have one of these you can probably eventually get everything else on the list.

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I Am My Own Worst Enemy
1. Re:#79 is the best one by ackthpt · 2005-02-22 05:49 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  I prefer #79 (TASER X26, 2003) If you have one of these you can probably eventually get everything else on the list.
  Pfft! Build your 0wn! All you need is a small high current cell, a high voltage transformer, an cheep motor to switch between charge/discharge of the primary coil, some light guage twisted pair and some bait stickers. (Test it on people who irritate you first, to make sure you don't have it set to deadly.)
  
  --
  
  A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
2. Re:#79 is the best one by Anonymous Coward · 2005-02-22 05:56 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  What's a cheep motor? Does it work with bird power?
3. Re:#79 is the best one by Anonymous Coward · 2005-02-22 06:13 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  Usually when I have to go #2, I go #1 first.
swingline stapler by oscast · 2005-02-22 05:45 · Score: 4, Funny

personally, I would have opted for the red swingline stapler.
1. Re:swingline stapler by sgant · 2005-02-22 06:38 · Score: 4, Funny
  
  My top gadgets? Yeah yeah, it's a cliche now, but I still can't live without these:
  
  1. Duct Tape - nuff said
  2. WD-40
  3. A Sharpie, black
  4. slot-head and phillips head screwdriver
  
  Drop me on an island and I'll build an empire!
  
  --
  
  "Leo Fender was in a 'state of grace' when he designed the Stratocaster." -- Paul Reed Smith
Top Gadgets? by ackthpt · 2005-02-22 05:45 · Score: 5, Funny

I thought this looked an awful lot like a geeks Christmas list...
d33r 54nt4, 1 b33n v3ry 1337 th15 y34r..

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A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
1. Re:Top Gadgets? by EnronHaliburton2004 · 2005-02-22 06:12 · Score: 5, Funny
  
  d33r 54nt4, 1 b33n v3ry 1337 th15 y34r..
  
  Dear Kid,
  
  There will be no presents for you until you learn how to use a fucking keyboard, you dimwit.
  
  -- Santa Claus
  
  --
  94% of Repubs and 21% of Dems voted to renew the Patriot Act
Jeez, Slashdotted already... by aendeuryu · 2005-02-22 05:46 · Score: 5, Funny

They might as well be running their webserver on #50...

This might get modded funny if people could actually get to the site and figure out which one #50 is.
Well! by Anonymous Coward · 2005-02-22 05:47 · Score: 5, Funny

The BBC also has an article on the list.
Congratulations to the BBC for making the gadets list!
could only read 9 by frovingslosh · 2005-02-22 05:52 · Score: 4, Funny

Any list that includes the POPEIL POCKET FISHERMAN in a list of greates gadgets isn't worth reading any further.

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I'm an American. I love this country and the freedoms that we used to have.
bad list by Anonymous Coward · 2005-02-22 05:53 · Score: 3, Funny

what, no sex toys? the hitachi magic wand at least deserves a nod.
What - no Rabbit? by The+Steely+Dan · 2005-02-22 05:54 · Score: 5, Funny

My SO swears by hers!
1. Re:What - no Rabbit? by RichDice · 2005-02-22 06:41 · Score: 3, Funny
  
  Everyone else just swears at it. Hang up and drive!
  
  You have no idea what the original poster is talking about, do you?
  Original poster -- sounds like you've got some work to do on the home front!
  Cheers,
  Richard
Forgot the P-P-P-Powerbook! by Evil+W1zard · 2005-02-22 06:00 · Score: 4, Funny

Now that is a gadget that deserves some recognition in the top 100! http://www.p-p-p-powerbook.com/

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News Reporters Make Tasty Polar Bear Treats!
Re:Cosmonaut use of pencil myth yet again by the+pickle · 2005-02-22 06:00 · Score: 4, Funny

If the Soviet cosmonauts thought pencil lead actually contained "metal lead particles," it's no wonder they lost the Cold War...

p

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In Korea, long hair is for old people!
Re:Abacus by brilinux · 2005-02-22 06:03 · Score: 4, Funny

But I'd consider an abacus to be a pretty damned effective mobile computing device
When I was a boy, our abaci took up an entire wall, and we had to move the stones with donkeys, ropes, and pullies. Mobile computing my ass!
Dildo? by Himring · 2005-02-22 06:21 · Score: 3, Funny

Gadgets needed moving parts and/or electronics to warrant inclusion.

And no dildo? You call this news for nerds?...

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"All great things are simple & expressed in a single word: freedom, justice, honor, duty, mercy, hope." --Churchill
Re:When I was a boy... by TimeTraveler1884 · 2005-02-22 06:22 · Score: 4, Funny

When I was a boy, the Greeks attacked and killed the Latins only to steal thier words.
Re:Cosmonaut use of pencil myth yet again by Mattintosh · 2005-02-22 06:38 · Score: 3, Funny

'Tang is even less well known on /.

Sorry, I had to...
Re:Portable massagers by morzel · 2005-02-22 06:45 · Score: 4, Funny

I can think of at least one "portable device" that many women would think is THE best invention ever...
The credit card?

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Okay... I'll do the stupid things first, then you shy people follow.
[Zappa]
Re:Abacus by Have+Blue · 2005-02-22 06:50 · Score: 5, Funny

I agree that my abacus has a very intuitive interface and gets awesome battery life, but it seems to be taking a long time to compile a kernel. Anyone have tips for optimizing this?
Re:Recent biases by dr_dank · 2005-02-22 07:20 · Score: 3, Funny

And the sextant and chronometer arguably affected long-distance travel more than Bose noise-canceling headphones...

Hell no. Ships back then were very loud. The noise cancelling headphones allowed the likes of Magellan and Cortez to listen to their Ye Olde 50 Pence albums in peace.

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Where does the school board find them and why do they keep sending them to ME?
Plenty O Gadgets missing by technopinion · 2005-02-22 07:46 · Score: 3, Funny

Where's my grandmother's clamp-on-the-counter hand-cranked apple peeler? That thing could peel an apple in 5 seconds flat. Certainly more innovative than half the stuff on that list.
Re:Centuries? Try millenia! by Nefarious+Wheel · 2005-02-22 07:55 · Score: 4, Funny

I'd say the oldest calculating machine, and most used even today, can be found at the end of your arm.
And the oldest digital calculator too.

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Do not mock my vision of impractical footwear