Most significant technical innovation in your lifetime
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With Mike Mullikin celebrating 55 years on this earth it has made me think about my lifetime and particularly the technical innovations I have seen and experienced. I have a few years on Mike so I go back a little further. For example I can remember Sputnik in 1957 and TV beginning in my home city of Perth in 1959. I saw a microwave oven in about 1966 (Philips). The first computer I encountered was an IBM 1620 and I ran a Basic program on it in 1968. This sat in a room next to a huge Cyber. Of course I watched the moon landing live in 1969. Hand held calculators arrived and I reveled in my HP-25. As a post-grad student I fired a Q switched dye laser to burn a hole in a razor blade late one night. About the same time optical fibre communications commenced. I built a Z-80 based micro from a kit in about 1981. The IBM PC came and with it with PC software (database, spreadsheet etc). Then came BBS and acoustic modems. The internet, cds, ink jet printers, flat screen displays, digital cameras, cnc machines, gps, wifi, cellphones and many other things have followed. When I think about all these innovations my personal choice as the most amazing in my lifetime is the global positioning system (gps) which relies on many of the above technologies as well as Einstein. Fibre optics a close second. What do others think? I am especially curious about which recent innovations have grabbed people.
Peter Wasser "The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts." - Bertrand Russell
Most significant technological innovation in my lifetime? That's an easy one -- the personal computer.
I live in Oregon, and I'm an engineer.
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With Mike Mullikin celebrating 55 years on this earth it has made me think about my lifetime and particularly the technical innovations I have seen and experienced. I have a few years on Mike so I go back a little further. For example I can remember Sputnik in 1957 and TV beginning in my home city of Perth in 1959. I saw a microwave oven in about 1966 (Philips). The first computer I encountered was an IBM 1620 and I ran a Basic program on it in 1968. This sat in a room next to a huge Cyber. Of course I watched the moon landing live in 1969. Hand held calculators arrived and I reveled in my HP-25. As a post-grad student I fired a Q switched dye laser to burn a hole in a razor blade late one night. About the same time optical fibre communications commenced. I built a Z-80 based micro from a kit in about 1981. The IBM PC came and with it with PC software (database, spreadsheet etc). Then came BBS and acoustic modems. The internet, cds, ink jet printers, flat screen displays, digital cameras, cnc machines, gps, wifi, cellphones and many other things have followed. When I think about all these innovations my personal choice as the most amazing in my lifetime is the global positioning system (gps) which relies on many of the above technologies as well as Einstein. Fibre optics a close second. What do others think? I am especially curious about which recent innovations have grabbed people.
Peter Wasser "The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts." - Bertrand Russell
Gene therapy.
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Gene therapy.
Yes I forgot to mention the medical advances. Heart transplants, NMR and particularly DNA technologies. That is a big one for sure.
Peter Wasser "The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts." - Bertrand Russell
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With Mike Mullikin celebrating 55 years on this earth it has made me think about my lifetime and particularly the technical innovations I have seen and experienced. I have a few years on Mike so I go back a little further. For example I can remember Sputnik in 1957 and TV beginning in my home city of Perth in 1959. I saw a microwave oven in about 1966 (Philips). The first computer I encountered was an IBM 1620 and I ran a Basic program on it in 1968. This sat in a room next to a huge Cyber. Of course I watched the moon landing live in 1969. Hand held calculators arrived and I reveled in my HP-25. As a post-grad student I fired a Q switched dye laser to burn a hole in a razor blade late one night. About the same time optical fibre communications commenced. I built a Z-80 based micro from a kit in about 1981. The IBM PC came and with it with PC software (database, spreadsheet etc). Then came BBS and acoustic modems. The internet, cds, ink jet printers, flat screen displays, digital cameras, cnc machines, gps, wifi, cellphones and many other things have followed. When I think about all these innovations my personal choice as the most amazing in my lifetime is the global positioning system (gps) which relies on many of the above technologies as well as Einstein. Fibre optics a close second. What do others think? I am especially curious about which recent innovations have grabbed people.
Peter Wasser "The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts." - Bertrand Russell
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With Mike Mullikin celebrating 55 years on this earth it has made me think about my lifetime and particularly the technical innovations I have seen and experienced. I have a few years on Mike so I go back a little further. For example I can remember Sputnik in 1957 and TV beginning in my home city of Perth in 1959. I saw a microwave oven in about 1966 (Philips). The first computer I encountered was an IBM 1620 and I ran a Basic program on it in 1968. This sat in a room next to a huge Cyber. Of course I watched the moon landing live in 1969. Hand held calculators arrived and I reveled in my HP-25. As a post-grad student I fired a Q switched dye laser to burn a hole in a razor blade late one night. About the same time optical fibre communications commenced. I built a Z-80 based micro from a kit in about 1981. The IBM PC came and with it with PC software (database, spreadsheet etc). Then came BBS and acoustic modems. The internet, cds, ink jet printers, flat screen displays, digital cameras, cnc machines, gps, wifi, cellphones and many other things have followed. When I think about all these innovations my personal choice as the most amazing in my lifetime is the global positioning system (gps) which relies on many of the above technologies as well as Einstein. Fibre optics a close second. What do others think? I am especially curious about which recent innovations have grabbed people.
Peter Wasser "The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts." - Bertrand Russell
Most people around here are far too young to remember Sputnik. (I remember Apollo 11!) But lots of the inventions people would mention as made in their own life time, are not - they are much older. Like the microwave: As a boy, I read about these in my parents' old science books dated 1951 and 1952. These books also explained how color TV was made, with a photo of a color TV screen. And of optical "fibers" - they were glass pipes, not fibers, but the principle explained in the article is that of optical fibers. The first IC came in 1949. The first digital computers were developed during WW2. FM radio was patented in 1935, the field-effect transistor in 1925. Of my own "firsts" worth mentioning that I did play around programming APL on what I believe was the first commercial portable (/luggable) personal computer, the IBM 5100, back in 1975 - but it wasn't an "invention", just a smaller form factor. Some times I have fun with my younger colleagues, when a crash leads to a core dump, I ask if they have ever seen a real core dump - and then I show them my old 1152 bit core memory. Or I dig up my old card decks, or punched paper tape. Even flapping floppies, 8 in size, is something new and unknown to younger people today. Now that you mention calculators: The first generation came as four-function (+-/*) or five-function (with square root as well) variants - the latter quite a lot more expensive. A friend of mine wanted to save money by buying the cheaper one, hoping that it actually could do sqrt, if you found the solder connections for the button. He digged out a scalpel to cut an opening in the plastic case where the 5-fn model had its sqrt button ... and the button popped up! Even the button itself was there, inside the case! No soldering required, no button needed. Making an opening in the case was all that was required.
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With Mike Mullikin celebrating 55 years on this earth it has made me think about my lifetime and particularly the technical innovations I have seen and experienced. I have a few years on Mike so I go back a little further. For example I can remember Sputnik in 1957 and TV beginning in my home city of Perth in 1959. I saw a microwave oven in about 1966 (Philips). The first computer I encountered was an IBM 1620 and I ran a Basic program on it in 1968. This sat in a room next to a huge Cyber. Of course I watched the moon landing live in 1969. Hand held calculators arrived and I reveled in my HP-25. As a post-grad student I fired a Q switched dye laser to burn a hole in a razor blade late one night. About the same time optical fibre communications commenced. I built a Z-80 based micro from a kit in about 1981. The IBM PC came and with it with PC software (database, spreadsheet etc). Then came BBS and acoustic modems. The internet, cds, ink jet printers, flat screen displays, digital cameras, cnc machines, gps, wifi, cellphones and many other things have followed. When I think about all these innovations my personal choice as the most amazing in my lifetime is the global positioning system (gps) which relies on many of the above technologies as well as Einstein. Fibre optics a close second. What do others think? I am especially curious about which recent innovations have grabbed people.
Peter Wasser "The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts." - Bertrand Russell
I might be about the same age as Peter Wasser - I am 67 and, like him, from Australia. My first computer was my university's IBM 7040 in 1969 which I programmed in assembly language. I have been programming ever since, although now semi-retired. These days I make apps for Android phones using Java. And while I agree on GPS and fibre optics as being significant I think I have to agree with others here that computers, especially as personal devices, and the internet are the innovations with the greatest impact. However a close contender is the mobile phone and another is the commercial use of jet aircraft.
David Shillito
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With Mike Mullikin celebrating 55 years on this earth it has made me think about my lifetime and particularly the technical innovations I have seen and experienced. I have a few years on Mike so I go back a little further. For example I can remember Sputnik in 1957 and TV beginning in my home city of Perth in 1959. I saw a microwave oven in about 1966 (Philips). The first computer I encountered was an IBM 1620 and I ran a Basic program on it in 1968. This sat in a room next to a huge Cyber. Of course I watched the moon landing live in 1969. Hand held calculators arrived and I reveled in my HP-25. As a post-grad student I fired a Q switched dye laser to burn a hole in a razor blade late one night. About the same time optical fibre communications commenced. I built a Z-80 based micro from a kit in about 1981. The IBM PC came and with it with PC software (database, spreadsheet etc). Then came BBS and acoustic modems. The internet, cds, ink jet printers, flat screen displays, digital cameras, cnc machines, gps, wifi, cellphones and many other things have followed. When I think about all these innovations my personal choice as the most amazing in my lifetime is the global positioning system (gps) which relies on many of the above technologies as well as Einstein. Fibre optics a close second. What do others think? I am especially curious about which recent innovations have grabbed people.
Peter Wasser "The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts." - Bertrand Russell
Invented a while before I was born but anyway. The late Hans Rosling said that the most important invention was the washing machine. Because that freed up a lot of time for the women not having to stand in some frozen creek in the middle of the winter washing clothes. Instead they could read to their kids, help them with homework and make higher education possible for a greater part of the population.
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With Mike Mullikin celebrating 55 years on this earth it has made me think about my lifetime and particularly the technical innovations I have seen and experienced. I have a few years on Mike so I go back a little further. For example I can remember Sputnik in 1957 and TV beginning in my home city of Perth in 1959. I saw a microwave oven in about 1966 (Philips). The first computer I encountered was an IBM 1620 and I ran a Basic program on it in 1968. This sat in a room next to a huge Cyber. Of course I watched the moon landing live in 1969. Hand held calculators arrived and I reveled in my HP-25. As a post-grad student I fired a Q switched dye laser to burn a hole in a razor blade late one night. About the same time optical fibre communications commenced. I built a Z-80 based micro from a kit in about 1981. The IBM PC came and with it with PC software (database, spreadsheet etc). Then came BBS and acoustic modems. The internet, cds, ink jet printers, flat screen displays, digital cameras, cnc machines, gps, wifi, cellphones and many other things have followed. When I think about all these innovations my personal choice as the most amazing in my lifetime is the global positioning system (gps) which relies on many of the above technologies as well as Einstein. Fibre optics a close second. What do others think? I am especially curious about which recent innovations have grabbed people.
Peter Wasser "The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts." - Bertrand Russell
I'll go another route. In the area of music, the electric guitar. At 55, I can't say it was invented in my lifetime but it certainly flourished and was refined by further inventions during the time. Utilization is possibly more important than initial invention. Richard Daniels in The Heavy Guitar Bible, Volume II makes an excellent point about the extensive sustain providing guitarists playing options far beyond what was available before. A revolution akin to what the violin provided for classical music. BTW, if you are a guitarist, this is a great read from the formative years of rock.
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Most people around here are far too young to remember Sputnik. (I remember Apollo 11!) But lots of the inventions people would mention as made in their own life time, are not - they are much older. Like the microwave: As a boy, I read about these in my parents' old science books dated 1951 and 1952. These books also explained how color TV was made, with a photo of a color TV screen. And of optical "fibers" - they were glass pipes, not fibers, but the principle explained in the article is that of optical fibers. The first IC came in 1949. The first digital computers were developed during WW2. FM radio was patented in 1935, the field-effect transistor in 1925. Of my own "firsts" worth mentioning that I did play around programming APL on what I believe was the first commercial portable (/luggable) personal computer, the IBM 5100, back in 1975 - but it wasn't an "invention", just a smaller form factor. Some times I have fun with my younger colleagues, when a crash leads to a core dump, I ask if they have ever seen a real core dump - and then I show them my old 1152 bit core memory. Or I dig up my old card decks, or punched paper tape. Even flapping floppies, 8 in size, is something new and unknown to younger people today. Now that you mention calculators: The first generation came as four-function (+-/*) or five-function (with square root as well) variants - the latter quite a lot more expensive. A friend of mine wanted to save money by buying the cheaper one, hoping that it actually could do sqrt, if you found the solder connections for the button. He digged out a scalpel to cut an opening in the plastic case where the 5-fn model had its sqrt button ... and the button popped up! Even the button itself was there, inside the case! No soldering required, no button needed. Making an opening in the case was all that was required.
Talking about IBM 5100, have you seen "Compaq Portable 1" restoration videos made by 8-bit guy? One of the hardest restoration projects he has done yet. Going back on topic, 3D printer is a really cool relatively recent invention. Even they are not as significant like the other things mentioned here, I think it's pretty amazing to see your computer generated 3d model come to life. What do you think? Do you think 3D printers could become big deal in a few years and even reach general consumer market?
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With Mike Mullikin celebrating 55 years on this earth it has made me think about my lifetime and particularly the technical innovations I have seen and experienced. I have a few years on Mike so I go back a little further. For example I can remember Sputnik in 1957 and TV beginning in my home city of Perth in 1959. I saw a microwave oven in about 1966 (Philips). The first computer I encountered was an IBM 1620 and I ran a Basic program on it in 1968. This sat in a room next to a huge Cyber. Of course I watched the moon landing live in 1969. Hand held calculators arrived and I reveled in my HP-25. As a post-grad student I fired a Q switched dye laser to burn a hole in a razor blade late one night. About the same time optical fibre communications commenced. I built a Z-80 based micro from a kit in about 1981. The IBM PC came and with it with PC software (database, spreadsheet etc). Then came BBS and acoustic modems. The internet, cds, ink jet printers, flat screen displays, digital cameras, cnc machines, gps, wifi, cellphones and many other things have followed. When I think about all these innovations my personal choice as the most amazing in my lifetime is the global positioning system (gps) which relies on many of the above technologies as well as Einstein. Fibre optics a close second. What do others think? I am especially curious about which recent innovations have grabbed people.
Peter Wasser "The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts." - Bertrand Russell
A colleague asked his grandfather, who responded quickly: "Barbed wire, screen wire, and indoor plumbing." In my lifetime, I'd say it would be the internet communication protocol which has changed how we do work and play, and makes it possible for this question to be asked of so many so quickly. Albert Einstein spoke highly of compound interest, though. ;)
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With Mike Mullikin celebrating 55 years on this earth it has made me think about my lifetime and particularly the technical innovations I have seen and experienced. I have a few years on Mike so I go back a little further. For example I can remember Sputnik in 1957 and TV beginning in my home city of Perth in 1959. I saw a microwave oven in about 1966 (Philips). The first computer I encountered was an IBM 1620 and I ran a Basic program on it in 1968. This sat in a room next to a huge Cyber. Of course I watched the moon landing live in 1969. Hand held calculators arrived and I reveled in my HP-25. As a post-grad student I fired a Q switched dye laser to burn a hole in a razor blade late one night. About the same time optical fibre communications commenced. I built a Z-80 based micro from a kit in about 1981. The IBM PC came and with it with PC software (database, spreadsheet etc). Then came BBS and acoustic modems. The internet, cds, ink jet printers, flat screen displays, digital cameras, cnc machines, gps, wifi, cellphones and many other things have followed. When I think about all these innovations my personal choice as the most amazing in my lifetime is the global positioning system (gps) which relies on many of the above technologies as well as Einstein. Fibre optics a close second. What do others think? I am especially curious about which recent innovations have grabbed people.
Peter Wasser "The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts." - Bertrand Russell
Genetically Modified Organics. Biggest issue facing mankind is overpopulation and increasing the food supply is the best bandaid (plaster) we have.
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The most important innovation ever, was probably the Smallpox vaccine from Edward Jenner,. but aas that as 1796 it probably doesn't count... In my lifetime? The integrated circuit which was patented 18 days before I was born (but 8 1/2 months after I was conceived, so I'm counting it) Without that, almost nothing in our modern lives would be the same ... cars, planes, mobiles, computers, medicine, electric power supplies, logistics; everything relies on them to work, or to be designed and / or built.
Sent from my Amstrad PC 1640 Never throw anything away, Griff Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay... AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
If you are going back in time, then Agriculture would trump the smallpox vaccine and just about everything else except Fire.... and those are in a photo finish, depending on whether you like the veggies or the chargrilled steak better... :laugh:
"new" isn't better, just different
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With Mike Mullikin celebrating 55 years on this earth it has made me think about my lifetime and particularly the technical innovations I have seen and experienced. I have a few years on Mike so I go back a little further. For example I can remember Sputnik in 1957 and TV beginning in my home city of Perth in 1959. I saw a microwave oven in about 1966 (Philips). The first computer I encountered was an IBM 1620 and I ran a Basic program on it in 1968. This sat in a room next to a huge Cyber. Of course I watched the moon landing live in 1969. Hand held calculators arrived and I reveled in my HP-25. As a post-grad student I fired a Q switched dye laser to burn a hole in a razor blade late one night. About the same time optical fibre communications commenced. I built a Z-80 based micro from a kit in about 1981. The IBM PC came and with it with PC software (database, spreadsheet etc). Then came BBS and acoustic modems. The internet, cds, ink jet printers, flat screen displays, digital cameras, cnc machines, gps, wifi, cellphones and many other things have followed. When I think about all these innovations my personal choice as the most amazing in my lifetime is the global positioning system (gps) which relies on many of the above technologies as well as Einstein. Fibre optics a close second. What do others think? I am especially curious about which recent innovations have grabbed people.
Peter Wasser "The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts." - Bertrand Russell
My first "computer" was a huge block of electro-mechanical relays and the next was a large chassis full of thyratrons. The first program I wrote was on a 256 byte Univac digital trainer circa 1964. My vote for the most important technological innovation in my lifetime is the transistor without which there could be no integrated circuit or any of the more recent innovations.
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Most people around here are far too young to remember Sputnik. (I remember Apollo 11!) But lots of the inventions people would mention as made in their own life time, are not - they are much older. Like the microwave: As a boy, I read about these in my parents' old science books dated 1951 and 1952. These books also explained how color TV was made, with a photo of a color TV screen. And of optical "fibers" - they were glass pipes, not fibers, but the principle explained in the article is that of optical fibers. The first IC came in 1949. The first digital computers were developed during WW2. FM radio was patented in 1935, the field-effect transistor in 1925. Of my own "firsts" worth mentioning that I did play around programming APL on what I believe was the first commercial portable (/luggable) personal computer, the IBM 5100, back in 1975 - but it wasn't an "invention", just a smaller form factor. Some times I have fun with my younger colleagues, when a crash leads to a core dump, I ask if they have ever seen a real core dump - and then I show them my old 1152 bit core memory. Or I dig up my old card decks, or punched paper tape. Even flapping floppies, 8 in size, is something new and unknown to younger people today. Now that you mention calculators: The first generation came as four-function (+-/*) or five-function (with square root as well) variants - the latter quite a lot more expensive. A friend of mine wanted to save money by buying the cheaper one, hoping that it actually could do sqrt, if you found the solder connections for the button. He digged out a scalpel to cut an opening in the plastic case where the 5-fn model had its sqrt button ... and the button popped up! Even the button itself was there, inside the case! No soldering required, no button needed. Making an opening in the case was all that was required.
An IBM 5100 (or IBN 5100) is the only computer that can derail the coming distopia! :)
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Most people around here are far too young to remember Sputnik. (I remember Apollo 11!) But lots of the inventions people would mention as made in their own life time, are not - they are much older. Like the microwave: As a boy, I read about these in my parents' old science books dated 1951 and 1952. These books also explained how color TV was made, with a photo of a color TV screen. And of optical "fibers" - they were glass pipes, not fibers, but the principle explained in the article is that of optical fibers. The first IC came in 1949. The first digital computers were developed during WW2. FM radio was patented in 1935, the field-effect transistor in 1925. Of my own "firsts" worth mentioning that I did play around programming APL on what I believe was the first commercial portable (/luggable) personal computer, the IBM 5100, back in 1975 - but it wasn't an "invention", just a smaller form factor. Some times I have fun with my younger colleagues, when a crash leads to a core dump, I ask if they have ever seen a real core dump - and then I show them my old 1152 bit core memory. Or I dig up my old card decks, or punched paper tape. Even flapping floppies, 8 in size, is something new and unknown to younger people today. Now that you mention calculators: The first generation came as four-function (+-/*) or five-function (with square root as well) variants - the latter quite a lot more expensive. A friend of mine wanted to save money by buying the cheaper one, hoping that it actually could do sqrt, if you found the solder connections for the button. He digged out a scalpel to cut an opening in the plastic case where the 5-fn model had its sqrt button ... and the button popped up! Even the button itself was there, inside the case! No soldering required, no button needed. Making an opening in the case was all that was required.
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A colleague asked his grandfather, who responded quickly: "Barbed wire, screen wire, and indoor plumbing." In my lifetime, I'd say it would be the internet communication protocol which has changed how we do work and play, and makes it possible for this question to be asked of so many so quickly. Albert Einstein spoke highly of compound interest, though. ;)
TCP/IP gets my vote too...just within my lifetime, I believe. Although, I do miss those random "Pub/Playground facts" that people would spout, that you just couldn't verify immediately....the original, original "Fake News" :-D
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With Mike Mullikin celebrating 55 years on this earth it has made me think about my lifetime and particularly the technical innovations I have seen and experienced. I have a few years on Mike so I go back a little further. For example I can remember Sputnik in 1957 and TV beginning in my home city of Perth in 1959. I saw a microwave oven in about 1966 (Philips). The first computer I encountered was an IBM 1620 and I ran a Basic program on it in 1968. This sat in a room next to a huge Cyber. Of course I watched the moon landing live in 1969. Hand held calculators arrived and I reveled in my HP-25. As a post-grad student I fired a Q switched dye laser to burn a hole in a razor blade late one night. About the same time optical fibre communications commenced. I built a Z-80 based micro from a kit in about 1981. The IBM PC came and with it with PC software (database, spreadsheet etc). Then came BBS and acoustic modems. The internet, cds, ink jet printers, flat screen displays, digital cameras, cnc machines, gps, wifi, cellphones and many other things have followed. When I think about all these innovations my personal choice as the most amazing in my lifetime is the global positioning system (gps) which relies on many of the above technologies as well as Einstein. Fibre optics a close second. What do others think? I am especially curious about which recent innovations have grabbed people.
Peter Wasser "The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts." - Bertrand Russell
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If you are going back in time, then Agriculture would trump the smallpox vaccine and just about everything else except Fire.... and those are in a photo finish, depending on whether you like the veggies or the chargrilled steak better... :laugh:
"new" isn't better, just different
Many, including Jared Diamond (author of "Guns, Germs, and Steel"), think that agriculture was the worst thing that ever happened to humankind. The increase in carbs (wheat, rice, etc.) has really done a number on us. From another perspective, it introduced "profit" which freed up people to innovate and develop other skills. My jury is still out.
Cheers, Mike Fidler "I intend to live forever - so far, so good." Steven Wright "I almost had a psychic girlfriend but she left me before we met." Also Steven Wright "I'm addicted to placebos. I could quit, but it wouldn't matter." Steven Wright yet again.
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With Mike Mullikin celebrating 55 years on this earth it has made me think about my lifetime and particularly the technical innovations I have seen and experienced. I have a few years on Mike so I go back a little further. For example I can remember Sputnik in 1957 and TV beginning in my home city of Perth in 1959. I saw a microwave oven in about 1966 (Philips). The first computer I encountered was an IBM 1620 and I ran a Basic program on it in 1968. This sat in a room next to a huge Cyber. Of course I watched the moon landing live in 1969. Hand held calculators arrived and I reveled in my HP-25. As a post-grad student I fired a Q switched dye laser to burn a hole in a razor blade late one night. About the same time optical fibre communications commenced. I built a Z-80 based micro from a kit in about 1981. The IBM PC came and with it with PC software (database, spreadsheet etc). Then came BBS and acoustic modems. The internet, cds, ink jet printers, flat screen displays, digital cameras, cnc machines, gps, wifi, cellphones and many other things have followed. When I think about all these innovations my personal choice as the most amazing in my lifetime is the global positioning system (gps) which relies on many of the above technologies as well as Einstein. Fibre optics a close second. What do others think? I am especially curious about which recent innovations have grabbed people.
Peter Wasser "The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts." - Bertrand Russell
I have to concur with many of the other respondents here: the personal computer. When I think how it's morphed into the many forms it takes now from PCs to phones to watches to IoT and how the computing engine has shrunk and is in so many objects, I marvel at how much we take this immersion for granted. It's had so many impacts on our lives, too many of them not so good but many that are.
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With Mike Mullikin celebrating 55 years on this earth it has made me think about my lifetime and particularly the technical innovations I have seen and experienced. I have a few years on Mike so I go back a little further. For example I can remember Sputnik in 1957 and TV beginning in my home city of Perth in 1959. I saw a microwave oven in about 1966 (Philips). The first computer I encountered was an IBM 1620 and I ran a Basic program on it in 1968. This sat in a room next to a huge Cyber. Of course I watched the moon landing live in 1969. Hand held calculators arrived and I reveled in my HP-25. As a post-grad student I fired a Q switched dye laser to burn a hole in a razor blade late one night. About the same time optical fibre communications commenced. I built a Z-80 based micro from a kit in about 1981. The IBM PC came and with it with PC software (database, spreadsheet etc). Then came BBS and acoustic modems. The internet, cds, ink jet printers, flat screen displays, digital cameras, cnc machines, gps, wifi, cellphones and many other things have followed. When I think about all these innovations my personal choice as the most amazing in my lifetime is the global positioning system (gps) which relies on many of the above technologies as well as Einstein. Fibre optics a close second. What do others think? I am especially curious about which recent innovations have grabbed people.
Peter Wasser "The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts." - Bertrand Russell
From a technical innovation, as being on the more consumer receiving end, I will mention some things which were made avaialble at a consumer level in my lifetime. Yes GPS and gyroscopes were made available at a enterprise level in the 70's and 80's, but the iPhone brought these into a mass availability. First Compact Disk player. Then MiniDisc Then MP3 - Oh wow, I can put 4x as much music on 1 disk now! PS2 (PlayStation 2 and not the port) - Old enough to realise the sigificant step change in technology. Had MegaDrive, Gameboy, n64 but memory being more as entertainment. First PC - win 95 (Magic School bus was a great game) Zip Drive My first external hard disk drive storage. 500MB external storage. (5inch HDD in in case, power brick just as big as the drive and case) First USB drive - 20MB in such a small thing, oh wow. First USB drive with 1 GB ISDN internet - you mean i can be on the internet all the time now! :-D my first mobile phone my first mp3 player (30 gb of storage - i was a Creative fan, nomad jukebox, instead of ipod) iPhone (my first smart phone would be a sony years later, but this was a big step in the consumer space. I think blackberry was more popular in the business space. Dont recall seeing sidekick out in europe?) Chrome with auto updating software. my first SSD drive Nothing outstanding in a while. Improved driving safety features I think still in the upper middle class section (tesla AutoPilot, lane assist, car follow) Carbon Nano tubes - lots of hype, 4k - its great, but until 80% of the computers in the office MUST require it, I dont think a stand out need. (semi)Contact-less credit card payments - has a very high usage in such a short period of time. QR codes kind boom and busted in Europe. I understand they are massive and still growing in Asia due to "old" less "smart" phones (nokia pre 2006 type phones, which have more then cable camera to scan QR)
