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Top 100 Gadgets of All Time

Posted by CmdrTaco on 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."

15 of 415 comments (clear)

  1. Abacus by Infonaut · · Score: 5, Insightful
    So the abacus, in use for centuries, comes in at #60 of all time, but the PowerBook 100, which was in production for a few short years is ranked #1?

    The PowerBook 100 was a great machine and all, but let's be serious.

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    Read the EFF's Fair Use FAQ
    1. Re:Abacus by Infonaut · · Score: 5, Insightful
      Keep in mind that this list was in Mobile PC magazine.

      Quite true. But I'd consider an abacus to be a pretty damned effective mobile computing device. It's certainly a better mobile PC than, say, a taser.

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      Read the EFF's Fair Use FAQ
    2. Re:Abacus by Carbonite · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I completely agree. I was just pointing out the most likely reason for the obvious bias in this list. Three different laptops ranked above the telephone? Absurd.

      --
      ich muß mehr Kuhglocke haben
  2. Absolute ZERO to see here. Move along now by essreenim · · Score: 3, Insightful
    86. TAMAGOTCHI, 1996 Could the overwhelming success of this pocket-size virtual pet -- 40 million were sold worldwide -- make this the strangest cultural phenomenon ever? I mean WTF? It's was nothing new then it it's nothing new now.

    An also, they feature a satellite wireless mobile phone developed by a company that flopped through the ground. Well done! Worst list EVER. These lists should be seious. It looks like a list Barbie would have made.

  3. Re:Recent biases by Carbonite · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It would also seem sensible to rank the telephone above the ipod.

    --
    ich muß mehr Kuhglocke haben
  4. Definition of Gadget? by dostert · · Score: 3, Insightful

    A gadget is "a device that is very useful for a particular job" (http://www.wordreference.com/definition/gadget) Things by Ronco, space pen, laser pointer, etc are gadgets. A general laptop is NOT a gadget. Unless you define your job as 'using a computer' which as we all know if much more than just a single thing. Similarly, abacus and calculator are used for mathematics, engineering, etc, which again I think the 'field of mathematics' is much more than a single particular thing. If you want to make a list of the most useful inventions, many of these will go on there, but at least in my mind, a Powerbook is not a gadget.

  5. How about.. by J+x · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ..the printing press? I'm pretty sure most of this list couldn't exist without the proliferation of knowledge this allowed.

  6. No Commodore Products? by vjmurphy · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Seems like the Vic-20 or Commodore 64 would be in there somewhere. Certainly they were much better gadgets than something like a Panasonic Toughbook or two flavors of Apple laptops.

    --
    Vincent J. Murphy
    Spandex Justice
  7. Re:Recent biases by Otter · · Score: 5, Insightful

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

    --
    What I'm listening to now on Pandora...
  8. Centuries? Try millenia! by jd · · Score: 4, Insightful
    The abacus is unquestionably the oldest calculating machine still in use today, and it is positively ancient. It also has no buffer overflow problems, doesn't require software patches, and isn't subject to patents.


    However, it is not the only gadget that is misplaced or missing. There is no mention of the Babbage Difference Engine. Where are all of Sinclair's devices and gizmos? Where's all the award winners of the Prince of Wales Awards for Innovation?


    Where's 99.9% of the stuff invented between 10,000 BC and 1970 AD?

    --
    It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
    1. Re:Centuries? Try millenia! by shotfeel · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The abacus is unquestionably the oldest calculating machine still in use today

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

  9. What about... by eno2001 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ...the wheel? Most of the gadgets in the world could't live without one.

    --
    -"...bad old ideas look confusingly fresh when they are packaged as technology" - Jaron Lanier (Digital Maoism on Edge.o
  10. What a biased load of crap by prgrmr · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The sextant and the abacus did more to shape the whole of humanity than the rest of the list combined. The abacus is still in use today, and probably by more people than there were Powerbooks made, let alone sold and still in use.

    The top ten items on the list are almost all entertainment based or related rather than scientific acheivements or technical enablers. They ought to have split this into two lists: one for "fun" stuff and one for science and industry.

  11. Re:powerbook 100? by sulli · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I would have chosen the 140/170 instead of the 100. The 100 was a one-time design that was never used again, made by Sony. The 140/145/150/160/165/170/180 was a design that redefined portable computing and was available for years.

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    sulli
    RTFJ.
  12. Magic 8-Ball?! by wcrowe · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Magic 8-Ball? Tickle-Me-Elmo? WTF?! How about the ratchet wrench? The cordless drill? The Simpson P260 Multimeter?

    Hey, next time your wife, girlfriend, or kid asks you to fix something, try waving your magic 8-ball at it, Sparky.

    (Sheesh!)

    --
    Proverbs 21:19