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The Top 100 Gadgets of All Time

post #1 of 9
Thread Starter 
mobile pc mag

Quote:
Whether they're strapped to our belts, sitting on our desks, or jammed in an overstuffed closet, we absolutely love our gadgets.

So it wasn't exactly easy coming up with the definitive list of the 100 best gadgets ever unleashed. In the weeks we spent debating the entries, tempers were flared, fingers were pointed, chairs were smashed over heads, and feelings were hurt. But we emerged, like Moses from the mountain, with the world's most authoritative ranking of the best gadgets of all time.

But let's lay some ground rules before we get started. What defines a "gadget" anyway?

* It has to have electronic and/or moving parts of some kind. Scissors count, but the knife does not.
* It has to be a self-contained apparatus that can be used on its own, not a subset of another device. The flashlight counts; the light bulb does not. The notebook counts, but the hard drive doesn't.
* It has to be smaller than the proverbial bread box. This is the most flexible of the categories, since gadgets have gotten inexorably smaller over time. But in general we included only items that were potentially mobile: The Dustbuster counts; the vacuum cleaner doesn't.

In the end, we tried to get to the heart of what really makes a gadget a gadget.

THE TOP TEN:

10. TIVO SERIES1, 1999
9. ATARI 2600, 1977
8. DIAMOND MULTIMEDIA RIO 300, 1998
7. U.S. ROBOTICS PILOT 1000, 1996
6. CASIO QV-10 DIGITAL CAMERA, 1996
5. CDI MECHANICAL MOUSE MODEL 4-101, 1970
4. MOTOROLA STARTAC, 1996
3. SONY WALKMAN, 1979
2. ZENITH SPACE COMMAND TV REMOTE CONTROL, 1956
1. APPLE POWERBOOK 100, 1991
The Apple I-Pod came in #12 and my personal favorite, the Nintendo Game Boy, came in at #25.
post #2 of 9
No folding fingernail clippers, little bullet vibrator or hacky-sack? This list is incomplete, I say!
post #3 of 9


This fits the criteria. It should be #1.
post #4 of 9
post #5 of 9


And all of it's various multi-tool offspring.
post #6 of 9


Oh, shit is this thing on?!
post #7 of 9
Quote:
Originally Posted by Capt. Eucalyptus


And all of it's various multi-tool offspring.
That, and they should have picked up on the first functional revolvers. They changed the west.
post #8 of 9
Quote:
20. SWISS ARMY KNIFE, 1891
Spoke too soon on the swiss army knife.


Ohh, and where's the wire saw?
post #9 of 9
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