1 Decade, 10 Technologies that Changed Our Lives

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I think that, if nothing else, 9/11 changed the cellphone market forever. I have no data to back this up, but I know that pre-9/11 most of the people I knew had no cellphone, post 9/11 almost all did. Not just for the fear of terrorism per se, but the ability to quickly communicate to any loved one in any situation, it showed us how important that was. Would cellphone sale penetration be just as much today if it hadn't happened? Of course! But I think it certainly sped things up quite a bit.
 
Really? The Wii motion sensor is not on there? The accessible game console that allowed families to begin to game together and work out with?

Even my mom owns and uses a Wii regularly now.
 
I can't wait untill 2020, when we look back form 2011 to 2019 and what many people have generated for our society. Next stop, research into HEALTHY 3D, or true 3D as what I have heard it be called.
 
If you have the microprocessor on this list then #1 on this list should be compact flash memory. Its paved the way for the smartphones we have today, as well as allowing large storage in small space for everything from cars, gps units, and new refrigerators.
 
"notebooks deliver vastly more processing and graphics horsepower in relation to the desktop computer"
What? Are you kidding me? Since when have notebooks ever offered more power then a desktop? I enjoy the mobility of my laptop, but it will never match the power of my desktop or even the power of a mediocre desktop.
 
[citation][nom]toolinthemist[/nom]"notebooks deliver vastly more processing and graphics horsepower in relation to the desktop computer"What? Are you kidding me? Since when have notebooks ever offered more power then a desktop? I enjoy the mobility of my laptop, but it will never match the power of my desktop or even the power of a mediocre desktop.[/citation]

What I think he means (though he stated it badly) is that the gulf between notebooks and desktops in both price and performance has shrunk. Consolitis and even mediocre hardware being powerful enough for Joe User have aided immensely in this, as has Intel and AMD both putting focus on power efficiency.

Notebooks are still far less powerful, it's just less obvious now with high end desktop hardware being such overkill for Joe User.
 
Which technology would I miss the most probably Class IV Lasers-liberation from tyranny and authoritarianism by technological means.
However I think that on the peaceful side of things probably the rise of broadband Internet access (although it did exist but was not as common before in the 90's) along with more powerful desktops,laptops etc.
 
[citation][nom]LORD_ORION[/nom]Really? The Wii motion sensor is not on there? The accessible game console that allowed families to begin to game together and work out with?Even my mom owns and uses a Wii regularly now.[/citation]
If you haven't noticed, the technology has been around for over 20 years... The NES had the Power Glove, which was basically the early incarnation of the Wii.
 
Global high speed internet access, wireless or not.

Many of the above technologies wouldn't be the life changers they are now without common high speed access. The internet evolved from just a collection of web pages to the life-integrated network it is today because of the amount of data we are able to transmit and receive.
 
[citation][nom]c0oim4n[/nom]If you haven't noticed, the technology has been around for over 20 years... The NES had the Power Glove, which was basically the early incarnation of the Wii.[/citation]
The technology behind everything on the list originates from last century: digital cameras, streaming data, microprocessors, bulletin board services (think Facebook of 1990), digital audio files, notebook computers, Google, and cell phones.

You ever use the NES PowerGlove? If it worked so great, why did everybody that had a glove, have almost no games for it? Everybody with a Wii has a whole library of motion controlled games.
 
@toolinthemist -- You are dead on right! The advent of Flash memory has made most of the other innovations (cellphone, notebook, camera) possible. Not just in capacity, but durability and shock resistance. In a decade from now, we'll look at rotating mechanical disks as an anachronism.
 
[citation][nom]ProDigit10[/nom]Netbooks, microprocessor, wifi, LED tv's[/citation]

That's another one... high def, big screen TVs.... even if you don't own one, they forced the carriers to force you to digital. That's a significant impact.
 
The cellphone/mobile phone market must be different in the UK compared to the US. By the late 90's everyone apart from pre-teens had one, and used it for voice and SMS, which is almost exactly what everyone is still using their phones for today, most people still don't own a smartphone or use half the functions their more basic phone even has.
 
Most of that list is complete garbage. Even the good ones are either too specific or too generic.

PS2, Netflix, Facebook, iPod, etc. How did those change our lives? Sure some people spend way too much time on Facebook, but that's not exactly a life changer for most people. The PS2 was just a PS1 with better graphics and vibrating controllers. Netflix is only used by a small percentage of people. If you wanted to pick streaming video, how about sites like Youtube etc, they have had an enormous impact on our daily lives. The iPod is just an MP3 player. What Apple has done is to make huge strides in technology MARKETING, not technology itself (exception: first gen iphone).

Some of the list was good. Smartphones, Google, digital cameras, microprocessors (which I'd classify as just the continued explosion of computer performance). If I was going to pick a top ten I'd have to include:

1) Broadband internet penetration
2) Blogs and the decentralization of the media (TomsHardware). This has changed the way people get their information.
3) Torrents and to a lesser degree p2p software (Napster and then Kazaa were huge back in the day).
3-1) Free porn.
4) Emergence of eCommerce. Ten years ago very few people would ever buy anything online. This year my parents (in their 60s) bought most of their Christmas presents online.
 
I think I actually liked the internet better in 2000. Yeah sure I didn't have high speed and it was a lot less evolved, but there was a heck of a lot less fake websites, or useless websites. I can't tell you how many times I've gone to a search engine, typed something in and either get 50+ pages of reviews on whatever it is that I could care less about, or sites that are basically spam, claiming they have what you want but are just other fake meta-search sites or empty sites that took your search request and put it on their page riddled with ads and no actual information.

Things like that weren't around in 2000 and it was much more enjoyable.

And on another note, what's with everything going mainstream nowadays, it's all about how much profit a company can make. Specialized entertainment by certain "unpopular" genres are going the way of the dinosaur because not everyone watches it. Not to mention on another front; I don't ever want to see another MMOG.
 
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