We are at the end of a significant decade for technology. Probably more than any previous decade, technology has shaped our society and culture. Wolfgang Gruener, Tomshardware.com, has listed what he thinks are the top 10 technologies that have most affected us since 2000. I am not sure I agree totally with his list, but here’s the list from Gruener.
10 Top Technologies That Shaped This Decade
10. Digital Camera – Back in the day (2000) 2.2 MP Kodak cameras were costing us about $700 and stored 20MB of data. The $1000 Sony
Mavica FD97 (2MP) with a 20x optical zoom, stored 3 pictures on a standard floppy disk. For professional photographers, DSL cameras were tens of thousands of dollars or they stuck with cameras that used film. Now, 10 years later, of course you can get a 12.0 MP point-and-shoot camera for less than $100 that comes with a minimum of 2 GB memory card. Most digital cameras also will record high definition video as well.
9. Netflix - Netflix was founded in 1997 and revolutionized renting DVDs. No longer did we have to stop by our video store and then pay exorbitant fees if we were late getting the DVDs back to the store. Netflix now offers a library of more than 100,000 titles and has more than 10 million subscribers.
8. Microprocessor - The rivalry between AMD and Intel for the fastest and most stable PC processor may not have been too exciting to many, but the last 10 years have seen the processors go from 1 GHz to 3.33 GHz.
7. Facebook – Facebook was founded in 2004 and literally taken over the virtual world. Even your grandmother is on Facebook. I joined Facebook about 3 years ago so that I could see photos posted by my son who was a little slow in sending me pictures. Since then I have begun using it for marketing purposes and now have over 4,000 “friends.” According to Gruener, more than 550 million people now use the network to communicate with friends and colleagues, share images and videos and play games. It is one of the top reasons people use the Internet these days, besides email and Google searching.
6. iPod - Apple has sold more than 260 million units so far and holds about 70% of the market. The iPod Touch can browse the Internet as well as send text messages. It is synonymous with MP3 player for most of us. Of course in addition to listening to music, you can also watch videos and “podcasts.” Who would have thunk it?
5. PS2 – The Playstation 2 has sold over 150 million units to date, and is even more popular than its newer version, the PS3. The gaming console literally changed how we viewed our games with its amazing graphics.
4. Wi-Fi – IN 2000 you were lucky to find a hotel that had Internet access, and usually had to pay for it in addition to your hotel room charges. The connection was the old dial-up, which as we may remember, was extremely slow. Today most hotels, coffee shops and libraries offer Wi-Fi at lightning speeds.
3. Notebooks – With the advent of the notebook computers came the freedom to move about. With Wi-Fi connectivity, webcams, expanded storage, many of switched to notebook computing even at home. Video conferencing is a common business practice these days. The notebook prices range anywhere from $200 to more than $4000.
2. Google – Google wasn’t taken seriously in early 2000, but the world has had to sit up and take notice now. Google is on its way to be the next Microsoft with search and advertising at its core, a mobile operating system that is leading the world market and a software services ecosystem that may be leading the way into cloud computing for the consumer. “I’ll Google it” is a phrase known by most everyone that uses the Internet.
1. Cell Phone – Back in 2000, the cell phone was a simple little device that cost a lot of money to use. It is now our MP3 player, a mobile video player, a digital camera, a video camera, a mobile game console, an Internet device, as well as a universal communication device. I no longer have a landline phone and am strictly a wireless kind of gal. This is true for many folks around the world.
Hold onto your hats because the next decade will prove to be even more amazing technologically. 10 years is a long time in the technology world. With the pace of technology expanding in medicine, communications, and travel, we will see wonders that we cannot even imagine in the next 10 years. I say “Bring it on!”
