The Three Most Important Inventions since 1900

[DonRocks]

I know the automobile was technically "invented" pre-1900, but my votes are (in no particular order):

* Automobile

* Television

* Internet

My 4th and 5th choices might be:

* Airplane

* Anesthetics

but I'm not sure, and I did these off the top of my head. What I'm curious about is this question:

How much technology carried over between "television" and "internet?" The computer scientist in me says, "not much," but is that true?

[Count Bobulescu]

Beyond the use of screens and electricity for power, I don't believe there's much overlap. The original TV's were radio for pictures, more like current wifi in deployment, tower to antenna The interwebs initially needed direct hardline connections. I'm sure there are some similarities I don't know about.

Coincidentally, this Sunday's NYT Mag.......

A cover to break the internet

Photo illustration by Maurizio Cattelan and Pierpaolo Ferrari for The New York Times The N.Y. Times Magazine's annual Tech & Design issue explores the wild web, with an opening essay by deputy editor Bill Wasik, "The Future of the Internet": Perhaps the most profound force at work upon the internet right now is the simple passage of time. Everyone raised in a pre-internet era continues to age and disappear, while new generations grow up not merely as ‘"digital natives’’ but as life- long witnesses to the internet’s best and worst effects. ... For teenagers today, the internet is both a stage onto which to step boldly and a minefield through which to step gingerly — a double bind that has given rise to whole new habits of living online, in which self-expression and self-protection are inextricably linked. The issue includes looks at the heavily-regulated Chinese internet, by Yiren Lu ... the odd phenomenon of internet fandom, by Jamie Lauren Keiles ... and internet inequality, by Kevin Roose.

[DonRocks]

5 hours ago, Count Bobulescu said:

Beyond the use of screens and electricity for power, I don't believe there's much overlap. The original TV's were radio for pictures, more like current wifi in deployment, tower to antenna The interwebs initially needed direct hardline connections. I'm sure there are some similarities I don't know about.

I'm looking forward to reading that article. I was also hoping to stimulate discussion, as I put literally less than one-minute of thought into my list.

I just thought of "cell phones," and looking at the list, I think they might need to replace "television," which has really gone archaic in only seventy years. 

An interesting way to approach this is to think, "Would I trade X for Y?" I'd rather have cell phones than television.

Certainly, you could also say "computers," but I'm curious what others think (this is obviously a non-binding list). 

Anyone who wouldn't include anesthetics has never had surgery before.  This is an incredible tale.

Maybe something to do with breathing, drinking (affordable water purification and distribution would certainly be a candidate, assuming it even exists), eating, and shelter?

I'm pretty sure this list would look very different fifty years from now.

[zgast]

23 hours ago, DonRocks said:

I'm looking forward to reading that article. I was also hoping to stimulate discussion, as I put literally less than one-minute of thought into my list.

I just thought of "cell phones," and looking at the list, I think they might need to replace "television," which has really gone archaic in only seventy years. 

An interesting way to approach this is to think, "Would I trade X for Y?" I'd rather have cell phones than television.

Certainly, you could also say "computers," but I'm curious what others think (this is obviously a non-binding list). 

Anyone who wouldn't include anesthetics has never had surgery before.  This is an incredible tale.

Maybe something to do with breathing, drinking (affordable water purification and distribution would certainly be a candidate, assuming it even exists), eating, and shelter?

I'm pretty sure this list would look very different fifty years from now.

Perhaps semiconductor replaces television?  Flip phones aren't what you're talking about - you're talking about the personal computer your friends use to talk to you (I think -maybe I'm being presumptuous here).  

[DonRocks]

50 minutes ago, zgast said:

Perhaps semiconductor replaces television?  Flip phones aren't what you're talking about - you're talking about the personal computer your friends use to talk to you (I think -maybe I'm being presumptuous here).  

(Personal communication devices that are controlled via satellite, I would think - being able to communicate from Antarctica, etc.)

[zgast]

23 minutes ago, DonRocks said:

(Personal communication devices that are controlled via satellite, I would think - being able to communicate from Antarctica, etc.)

I'd always thought cell phones were different than the Sat phones you take to those remote areas where there isn't cell service.  Actually, having covered the companies that own the cell towers, I'm almost positive they're different.  But point taken - mobile communication.