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Slashdot Asks: What Do You Think Is The Most Influential Gadget Of All Time? (macrumors.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the life-changing dept.

TIME has published a list ranking the 50 most influential gadgets of all time, from cameras and TVs to music players, smartphones, and drones. Can you guess what was the number one most influential gadget on the list? That's right, the Apple iPhone. "Apple was the first company to put a truly powerful computer in the pockets of millions when it launched the iPhone in 2007," according to TIME. "The iPhone popularized the mobile app, forever changing how we communicate, play games, shop, work, and complete many everyday tasks."

There's a lot of interesting gadgets on the list that have had a profound impact on mankind in some form or another, for better or worse. Do you agree with TIME's number one choice? What do you think is the most influential gadget of all time?

15 of 397 comments (clear)

  1. the gun by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    the gun

  2. Thanks! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    A Refrigerator. Next crap question.

    1. Re:Thanks! by Locke2005 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Refrigeration in general, which includes both refrigerators and air conditioning.

      --
      I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
    2. Re:Thanks! by xevioso · · Score: 4, Insightful

      A refrigerator is not a "gadget" in the traditionally understood use of the term. it's an appliance. if we allow appliances, then we must allow the air conditioner, which is could easily be argued as more important. A TV is also an appliance, which is why I don't understand #2 on this list.

  3. Easy by Locke2005 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Air conditioning. Made possible the industrialization of the south, and the popularity of Arizona for retirees, so basically A/C has triggered mass migrations of people to hotter climates, with an accompanying huge energy cost. Also made possible modern architecture, which is basically huge glass greenhouses with no opening windows -- try working in something like that without A/C!!!

    --
    I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
    1. Re:Easy by AmiMoJo · · Score: 4, Insightful

      A/C set us back a long way. We already had ways to manage temperature in buildings, we just wanted inefficient architecture (like the greenhouse buildings you describe) and A/C compensates. A/C also has a number of down-sides compared to passive cooling, like the chill factor if you are too near to it, and of course the running cost.

      Refrigeration for food, now that was a big step forwards.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
  4. Here's another totally meaningless question... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Hey Slashdotters!

    Which is the most influential letter in the alphabet of all time? Not just the one that's had the most impact through the years, but the letter whose combination of style, utility, and inspiration will take us through the early part of the 21st century and beyond!

    My pick? You might think it's going to be a vowel, but I'm going to surprise "u" and go with... "C". A little "controversial", maybe, but hey, I think it's a "classy" "choice"!

    Well, now you know my pick. What's yours?!! And don't forget to tell us "y"!

  5. List by 20-somethings? by FrankSchwab · · Score: 5, Insightful

    As much as I admire the quality and intentions of the iPhone, I don't see it as being that important. People were texting, calling, and (gasp!) yes, even browsing the web before an iPhone ever showed up. The locked-in experience of the time was vastly inferior to what the iPhone brought to the game, which is of course the main reason that it did so well. But, without the iPhone, the smartphone market would still have developed, and people still would be carrying tiny but powerful little computers in their pockets.

    --
    And the worms ate into his brain.
  6. The printing press by Roger+W+Moore · · Score: 5, Insightful

    the gun

    Seems to me that the printing press has probably brought down more governments and effected more change that the gun. Indeed if it had not been for the gun it would probably have done this with fewer people dying.

    1. Re:The printing press by Roger+W+Moore · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The question is, what is the most influential, not the most beneficial.

      ...and I would still argue that this is the printing press. Part of the reason I would say that it is far more influential than the iPhone is that it has been around for longer which has given it more of a chance to influence society.

    2. Re:The printing press by nukenerd · · Score: 5, Insightful

      People voting the iPhone in this reminds me of a similar poll for the worst film of all time. They came up with ones like "The War of the Worlds" (Tom Cruise version), "Terminator", "Forest Gump" etc. In other words they voted for films they had seen recently and did not happen to like themselves. They showed their complete ignorance of just how bad films can really be, such as "Plan 9 from Outer Space", "Manos, the Hands of Fate", and "The attack of the 50 foot Woman". These iFans have got their noses too close to their little screens.

  7. Re:The wheel by UnknownSoldier · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Agreed. The 4 most influential gadgets have been:

    * Wheel
    * Gun
    * Printing Press
    * Computer

    How would one even begin to quantify "how much" influence they have had though??

  8. Oh god. List by idiots by Harlequin80 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I feel like my brain just got dumber reading that list. The Wii? Fit bit? Oculus rift? Nest Thermostat? Roku Netflixs?

    None of those things should even make the top 10,000 let alone the top 50. Initially I thought they were limiting it to post 1970s stuff and then they throw in an 1850s record player.

  9. Re:The wheel by 140Mandak262Jamuna · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Flint, that started fire. Best gadget ever. Also the fire starting kit made of a couple of sticks and piece of string.

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    sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
  10. Plough, stirrup, wheel, boat, sail, steam engine.. by EmperorOfCanada · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Plough, spear, cooking pot, shoe, clothing, stirrup, wheel, compass, boat, sail, steam engine, sextant, knife, lightbulb, refrigeration, fishing hook, vacuum cleaner, broom, roof, walls, toothbrush, doors, scissors, calculator, windows, saw, axe, lathe, printing press, telescope, telegraph, slide rule, mirrors, drill, screw, radio, TV, to name a few.

    I was reading for example that the bicycle literally changed the DNA of England in a measurable way when people could now find mates a few villages over. The train would have had a similar type impact but might not qualify as a gadget.

    As for the iPhone (which I have one of) they will be something quaint we find in yard sales in 10 years. Basically like having a kickass VCR in 1982.

    I would say that the iPhone mostly just shook up the complacency of the telcos more than anything else. The iPhone was one of these technological developments that was inevitable. Just like ever improving battery technology makes the electric car inevitable. Tesla may very well move things along a bit more quickly but the electric car pretty much completely depends upon modern processors, batteries, and brushless motors.