Top 100 Gadgets of All Time

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."

Comments

here's the list

[Jane_the_Great]

100. nsi bedazzler, 1970s filler characters
99. swingline 747 stapler, 2002 filler characters
98. pez dispenser, 1927 filler characters
97. mattel intellivision, 1980 filler characters
96. olympus zuiko pearlcorder, 1970 filler characters
95. carl zeiss victory 8 x 42 t*fl binoculars, 2004 filler characters
94. schick electric razor, 1931 filler characters
93. columbia graphophone dictaphone, 1907 filler characters
92. popeil pocket fisherman, 1950s filler characters
91. polar wireless heart rate monitor, 1977 filler characters
90. maelzel metronome, 1816 filler characters
89. rubik's cube, 1974 filler characters
88. black & decker dustbuster, 1979 filler characters
87. radio shack trs-80 model 100, 1983 filler characters
86. tamagotchi, 1996 filler characters
85. hohner harmonica, 1857 filler characters
84. ronco inside-the-shell egg scrambler, 1978 filler characters
83. accusplit memory stopwatch, 1972 filler characters
82. alliance genie garage door opener, 1954 filler characters
81. zippo windproof lighter, 1932 filler characters
80. fisher space pen, 1967 filler characters
79. taser x26, 2003 filler characters
78. korg wt-10 electronic tuner, 1975 filler characters
77. hasbro lite-brite, 1967 filler characters
76. hp omnibook 300, 1993 filler characters
75. laser pointer, 1980s filler characters
74. lux minute timer, 1936 filler characters
73. traxxas t-maxx rc car, 1999 filler characters
72. master lock padlock, 1924 filler characters
71. tyco toys tickle me elmo, 1996 filler characters
70. atari pong c-100, 1976 filler characters
69. cuisinart food processor, 1973 filler characters
68. nokia 5100 series cell phone, 1998 filler characters
67. leatherman pst, 1983 filler characters
66. iridium satellite phone, 1998 filler characters
65. mattel football ii, 1978 filler characters
64. u.s. army p-38 can opener, 1942 filler characters
63. maglite flashlight, 1979 filler characters
62. sony wm-f5 sports walkman, 1983 filler characters
61. motorola bravo numeric pager, 1986 filler characters
60. abacus, 190 a.d. filler characters
59. sextant, 1731 filler characters
58. panasonic toughbook 18, 2003 filler characters
57. mattel magic 8-ball, 1946 filler characters
56. polaroid polavision land video camera, 1978 filler characters
55. super scissors, 1990s filler characters
54. the car alarm key fob, 1990s filler characters
53. powell & lealand compound microscope, 1861 filler characters
52. sony cfs-5000 boom box, 1980s filler characters
51. irobot roomba, 2002 filler characters
50. etch-a-sketch, 1960 filler characters
49. casio cassiopeia e-10, 1996 filler characters
48. sony digital mavica mvc-hd5, 1997 filler characters
47. canadian signal corps c-58 walkie talkie, 1943 filler characters
46. texas instruments speak & spell, 1978 filler characters
45. silva compass, 1933 filler characters
44. fuzzbuster, 1968 filler characters
43. handspring visor, 1999 filler characters
42. h4 marine chronometer, 1761 filler characters
41. rim interactive pager, 1996 filler characters
40. falcon dust-off, early 1970s filler characters
39. apple newton messagepad 120, 1994 filler characters
38. sandisk compactflash card, 1994 filler characters
37. jvc gr-c1 camcorder, 1984 filler characters
36. pulsar quartz digital watch, 1972 filler characters
35. screwpull corkscrew, 1979 filler characters
34. garmin gpscom 170, 1997 filler characters
33. bose quietcomfort headphones, 2000 filler characters
32. radiolan backbonelink and pc cardlink, 1997 filler characters
31. trek thumbdrive, 1999 filler characters
30. jvc hr-3300 vhs vcr, 1976 filler cha

Mirror

[Anonymous Coward]

In case of slashdotting, break mirror:

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Page 2: http://www.mobilepcmag.com.nyud.net:8090/features/ 2005_03/top100gadgets-2.html
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Page 5: http://www.mobilepcmag.com.nyud.net:8090/features/ 2005_03/top100gadgets-5.html

Re:Abacus

[Carbonite]

Keep in mind that this list was in Mobile PC magazine.

Re:Abacus

[cyngus]

All ratings of this type tend to be biased towards the present. I think this is because how good a thing is roughly equates to someone considering how their life was prior to invention of product and how their life was after invention. In the case of the abacus, we can only speculate at the effect the device had on the lives of people when it was invented. With things that are more recent, we do not need to speculate, we know. Additionally newer things tend to have more funcitonality than previous items, and therefore are more useful in an absolute sense (I can only do math with my abacus, but with my PowerBook 100, I can play solitaire).

Re:how about a list of pre-1700 gadgets?

[temojen]

Plough
Threshing machine
Clay pot
grist mill
irrigation wheel
waterwheel
hammermill
rotary forge blower
Compass (for measuring distances on a map)
Compass (direction finding)
Theodelite
Semaphore
Telescope
Pot-in -Pot
water pump
sanitary latrine
sewers
Aquaduct

(not all in use in "developed" countries)

always with the space pen myth

[MustardMan]

God damn do I hate the stupid space pen myth. Fischer developed the pen at his own expense, as graphite pencils had the potential to cause problems in the cabin. Remember, kids, graphite conducts electricity, and a tiny little pencil tip floating around the cabin could be a very bad thing. It takes all of ten seconds googling to debunk this stupid urban legend, but I constantly see it brought up over and over again.

Re:Cosmonaut use of pencil myth yet again

[SharpFang]

Sorry to say, but Snopes.com is extremely biased pro-american conservative site. (just compare the proportion of pro-Bush "Trues" and anti-Bush "falses")

1) Pencil leads made of actual lead don't snap. Their writing properties are worse than those made of graphite (still readable enough though), but they are practically unbreakable. So no risk of snapping off, no lead particles, no burning either. A metal-cased graphite pencil is perfectly fire-proof and pretty much break-proof. True both graphite and lead are conductors, but so are almost all items made of metal, and there were quite a few of them. Only snap-off pieces could eventually get into the electronics, but lead doesn't snap so no problem.
2) There was enough of easily flammable materials in the cabin so they would catch fire by themselves in atmosphere of pure oxygen. Not that it would matter, the astronaut wouldn't live long in pure oxygen either.

And before you start about how poisonous lead is, people were using lead-based pencils for hundreds of years before they were replaced by graphite ones.