10 Most Influential Tech Products ZT

Before even discussing the most influential, important developments of the technology age, the simple transistor must claim its rank near the top. Or, more accurately, the incredible shrink-ability of said transistor.

The first transistorIn 1947, the world's first working example of a transistor, a crude-looking assembly seemingly made up of various bits of wire, assorted spare parts, ample doses of solder, and what looks like an ancient Indian arrowhead, sprang to life in a nondescript room at Bell Labs' Murray Hill, New Jersey facility. That transistor would evolve – and shrink – quite substantially over the course of the next three decades, and by 1979, Intel engineers had figured a way to incorporate an astounding 29,000 of them into its landmark 8088 processor. But that number positively pales in comparison with today's Intel Core 2 Duo CPU, which features 10,000 times as many (291 million), and Intel's upcoming eight-core processors, which will sport an astounding 2.3 billion.

But we won’t bore you with a lengthy discussion of the transistor, nor the silicon chips upon which they reside. Instead, we're going to offer up a look at what we feel are the most revolutionary products of the miniaturized transistor age – those benchmark tech-related hardware goods that have helped shape the world in which we live today. One prerequisite: Each item must have been available to the average consumer via regular retail channels. So, despite the fact that we think the invention of USB was pretty damn cool, USB ports were generally attached to other devices, and so they won’t make the list.

Granted, your list may be quite a bit different than ours. After all, there's a ton of stuff from which to choose. Nevertheless, when it comes to popularity, adoption, revolution, and evolution, there's little doubt the following ten products played – and in many cases, continue to play – lead roles.


Apple II MicrocomputerThe Desktop Computer

Prior to the late 1970’s, when upstart Apple Computer, Inc. released its Apple II microcomputer, and early 1980’s when Intel finished development of its now-famed 80286 processor (known colloquially by many as the "286"), home computers were generally incapable of serious tasks or serious entertainment. The oft-used term "glorified calculator" may be overstating the simplicity of early machines such as the Tandy TRS-80 and Commodore PET 2001, but with rinky-dink processors, pint-size keyboards, puny monochrome displays, software compatibility issues, and a distinct absence of a pointing device, they were far removed from the multitasking, fully-connected powerhouses of the following two decades.

In the course of the next three decades, as desktop computers became infinitely more powerful and capable, increasingly easier to use, and substantially more affordable, there was a momentous shift in the way they were viewed. Somewhere along the way – around about the turn of the millennium, when Microsoft released Windows XP and surveys showed that women made up the majority of new Internet users – they became less an option and more a necessity. Though laptops and smartphones have already supplanted the desktop computer for some folks, there's no denying how it has forever altered our society.



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