Slashdot Asks: What Do You Think Is The Most Influential Gadget Of All Time? (macrumors.com) 397
TIME has published a list ranking the 50 most influential gadgets of all time, from cameras and TVs to music players, smartphones, and drones. Can you guess what was the number one most influential gadget on the list? That's right, the Apple iPhone. "Apple was the first company to put a truly powerful computer in the pockets of millions when it launched the iPhone in 2007," according to TIME. "The iPhone popularized the mobile app, forever changing how we communicate, play games, shop, work, and complete many everyday tasks."
There's a lot of interesting gadgets on the list that have had a profound impact on mankind in some form or another, for better or worse. Do you agree with TIME's number one choice? What do you think is the most influential gadget of all time?
There's a lot of interesting gadgets on the list that have had a profound impact on mankind in some form or another, for better or worse. Do you agree with TIME's number one choice? What do you think is the most influential gadget of all time?
the gun (Score:2, Insightful)
the gun
The printing press (Score:5, Insightful)
the gun
Seems to me that the printing press has probably brought down more governments and effected more change that the gun. Indeed if it had not been for the gun it would probably have done this with fewer people dying.
Re:The printing press (Score:4, Funny)
But no gadget has brought as many click-throughs to a dying publisher as the iPhone.
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Indeed if it had not been for the gun it would probably have done this with fewer people dying.
The question is, what is the most influential, not the most beneficial.
I vote for the flint firestarter over the iPhone.
Re:The printing press (Score:5, Insightful)
The question is, what is the most influential, not the most beneficial.
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Before the iPhone there was the Palm. While Palm OS was a bit funky, some of the later (still pre-iPhone) devices like the Tungsten were definitely full-blown pocket computers. You could get apps for them, read and write MS Office documents, spreadsheets, and databases, and even play Bejeweled 2 in high-res. full color with good sound. And browse the Internet.
Before the Palm was the HP programmable calculator. The HP 28S was definitely a general-p
Re:The printing press (Score:5, Insightful)
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> These iFans have got their noses too close to their little screens.
They're looking to see if they can still pick out individual pixels.
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I understand them liking the iPhone, but it was nowhere near the first viable pocket computer. Not even the first good one.
Their rationale was that it was the first successful pocket computer (i.e. in the pockets of millions), but even that is somewhat debatable. A lot of the success of the iPhone came from launching it just at the time when the technology was ready. Capacitive touch screens made a huge difference to the UI (being able to use your fingers and not just a stylus). Screens big enough and processors fast enough that you could run a real web browser (not WAP crap) and have it actually be useful made a big differe
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The original Palm Pilot did make the list, though not at #1. It was influential, but ultimately was a device and a category of devices that wasn't quite good enough to achieve the kind of mass acceptance that the smartphone has.
And no, the iPhone is not the first smartphone. Various Palm and Windows-based devices, the BlackBerry, and Nokia's Symbian phones preceded it. But it was the first one to be accepted by more people and used as a smartphone by more than just a small tech-oriented elite. Lots of Symbi
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Indeed if it had not been for the gun it would probably have done this with fewer people dying.
The question is, what is the most influential, not the most beneficial.
Pointing a gun at someone can be very influential.
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The gun is a tool, not a gadget. It's like a hammer.
Also, this list is a list of specific gadgets. So if you really wanted to make a point, you would have said something like a Spencer Repeater, a Colt 45, or a Winchester Model 1873 "The Gun that Won the West". Not just "a gun."
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a small mechanical device or tool, especially an ingenious or novel one.
Both the gun and (my first choice) hammer qualify.
The knife beats both. Self-defense and attack, killing and skinning and cutting supper into bite-size chunks, It would later be lengthened into short swords and incorporated into rifles (bayonet). The needle is right up there, allowing for piercing animal skins so they could be laced or sewn together, allowing humans to spread much further than would have been possible with just loose animal furs, and making the
Re:not the gun, but close (Score:5, Funny)
Penis.
No wonder you posted anonymously. A gadget is a small tool.
Thanks! (Score:5, Insightful)
A Refrigerator. Next crap question.
Re:Thanks! (Score:5, Insightful)
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But:
Food has been dried, smoked, and salted to preserve it's lifespan as nourishment for humans as long as humans have been the dominant life on the blue planet. Refrigeration extends the life of the most perishable items, but in turn, affords us dietary alternatives to the staple foods our metabolisms are best at burning for fuel.
Sleeping in the comfort of controlled temperature and humidity makes every man a
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like the other mammals.
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Sorry, but refrigeration would be impossible without that little rotating electric thingy called an electric motor.
Re:Thanks! (Score:4, Interesting)
It probably has never been built, but it should be possible to build pneumatic-start into a mechanical-injected diesel truck, with a full-time, clutchless, belt-driven AC compressor, and with a belt and shaft-driven cabin fan, with a belt-driven compressor to recharge the compressed-air tank to drive the starter.
Obviously there isn't a benefit in doing this, electrical technology is ubiquitous enough to where we generally can get away without having to go nuts to avoid it, but we could if we really, really wanted to.
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Re:Thanks! (Score:4, Insightful)
A refrigerator is not a "gadget" in the traditionally understood use of the term. it's an appliance. if we allow appliances, then we must allow the air conditioner, which is could easily be argued as more important. A TV is also an appliance, which is why I don't understand #2 on this list.
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A quick check of the definition of "gadget" includes the usual list of synonyms. Oddly, "appliance" is a synonym for "gadget".
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This is huge. It can change a 105F extreme day into a functional working day.
Zune. (Score:5, Funny)
Zune.
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For that answer, you deserve one
Easy (Score:5, Insightful)
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>> mass migrations of people to hotter climates, with an accompanying huge energy cost
I'll remember that next January while I'm watering the roses listening to the warnings of ice storms in the northeast.
-A Phoenician
Re:Easy (Score:5, Informative)
Actually, no.
Air conditioning the desert seems extravagant, but it needs less energy than heating in northern climes.
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Re:Easy (Score:5, Insightful)
A/C set us back a long way. We already had ways to manage temperature in buildings, we just wanted inefficient architecture (like the greenhouse buildings you describe) and A/C compensates. A/C also has a number of down-sides compared to passive cooling, like the chill factor if you are too near to it, and of course the running cost.
Refrigeration for food, now that was a big step forwards.
The wheel (Score:2, Informative)
The wheel would have to be the most influential gadget of all time. Certainly more influential than some phone.
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Yes, the wheel. Or maybe the pointy stick.
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Yes, the wheel. Or maybe the pointy stick.
I never did find out how to defend myself from a pointy stick.
Whoa!! Look out for that pineapple.
Re:The wheel (Score:5, Insightful)
Agreed. The 4 most influential gadgets have been:
* Wheel
* Gun
* Printing Press
* Computer
How would one even begin to quantify "how much" influence they have had though??
Re:The wheel (Score:5, Interesting)
Agreed. The 4 most influential gadgets have been:
* Wheel
* Gun
* Printing Press
* Computer
I'd like to note the irony of a magazine not mentioning the printing press anywhere on their list.
They would look far less stupid if they had simply limited the list to the last 50 years (which is where almost all their items come from).
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I don't mean to get all semantic, but a printing press is not exactly a "gadget"...
Mobile phone beats the computer (Score:2)
Mobile phone beats the computer. The advances of communications achieved in the poorest areas of the world is nothing short of amazing. Computers still need to achieve that kind of impact.
I am talking about personal computers of course.
I fully realize that a cell phone is a type of a computer, but if we start considering it, it will become a category of gadgets, not a gadget.
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* Wheel
I'd replace that with the second wheel [youtube.com].
Re:The wheel (Score:5, Informative)
Rather than go with "most influential" and to avoid a lot of bickering over "gadget" (by conforming to the most cited criteria here) I'll offer a few items more influential than the iPhone, in no particular order:
I could easily go on. The point, of course, is that the iPhone (or any specific smartphone) shouldn't even make the top 10.
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I'm thinking the can opener was not terribly far behind a practical canning process. Arguably they are the same technology.
Similarly, the iPhone is the culmination of a lot of other technologies - it would have been a lot less compelling without a pervasive data network and a compact, powerful battery. An iPhone all by itself is a rather sad technology, indeed.
I'm going to vote for the compass. It's useful even without a giant supporting infrastructure, though it admittedly aided shipping the most.
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I don't think the wheel counts as a gadget. There's a fine line between a gadget and a tool, and the wheel is the latter, just like a hammer.
This list is one of SPECIFIC versions of objects that had already existed, but which were the best examples of their class; the Walkman and the iPhone were just very good examples of gadgets that had existed in one form or another already.
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Personally, I'd exclude the Simple Machines from the category of "gadget". They may have been more influential, but aren't "gadgets". The list given seems slanted towards "electronic gadget".
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The indoor toilet would be my choice. It even takes care of some of the issues of not having refrigeration. I think you could call John Crapper's invention a gadget.
Plumbing (sanitation) and refrigeration are my two main things I'm thankful for having been born in this era. To think it took the earth 4.5Gy to come up with hot showers and cold beer. Add electricity into the mix and we're golden-age.
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If you think a wheel is a gadget, can you name a specific wheel brand that was influential?
I can't think of a specific brand of TV that was influential, and that's #2 on the list, so I'm confused how that's a requirement for "gadget", also, generally "gadget" means something small enough it can be casually carried, like a sextant, binoculars, gun, iPhone, and other personal object. TV doesn't seem to fit th
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Goodyear. First vulcanized tire. Founded by the inventor of vulcanization.
*mic drop*
Re:The wheel (Score:5, Insightful)
Here's another totally meaningless question... (Score:5, Insightful)
Hey Slashdotters!
Which is the most influential letter in the alphabet of all time? Not just the one that's had the most impact through the years, but the letter whose combination of style, utility, and inspiration will take us through the early part of the 21st century and beyond!
My pick? You might think it's going to be a vowel, but I'm going to surprise "u" and go with... "C". A little "controversial", maybe, but hey, I think it's a "classy" "choice"!
Well, now you know my pick. What's yours?!! And don't forget to tell us "y"!
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You're kidding, right? C is redundant and can be replaced by a K or an S. Its only practical use is in the digraph 'ch'.
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So the K in KDE stands for "Krap" after all?
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But C is for Cookie.
Re:Here's another totally meaningless question... (Score:4, Funny)
That's good enough for me.
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G is, which can often be replaced by J. Or the letter E, which can easily be replaced by Y.
So Gigantic would be what? Jijjntic? Jieantic? How would someone spell gigantic without "g" There's on "juh" g in there and on "guh" g in there.
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List by 20-somethings? (Score:5, Insightful)
As much as I admire the quality and intentions of the iPhone, I don't see it as being that important. People were texting, calling, and (gasp!) yes, even browsing the web before an iPhone ever showed up. The locked-in experience of the time was vastly inferior to what the iPhone brought to the game, which is of course the main reason that it did so well. But, without the iPhone, the smartphone market would still have developed, and people still would be carrying tiny but powerful little computers in their pockets.
Smartphone was gonna happen anyway (Score:5, Informative)
Blackberry ended up taking the first step to adding general-purpose computing to a phone. Once they opened that floodgate, it was a race to see who could make their phone the most general general-purpose computer (except Microsoft, even though that was exactly what they were trying to do with PDAs - trying to port the Windows API to PDAs).
The only real contributions of the iPhone was lack of a physical keyboard - everyone else (except LG) was using a Blackberry-style keyboard, or a sliding keyboard, or a Palm Graffiti-style writing space. That was a huge bet by Apple, and the iPhone served as the proof of concept which green-lighted everyone else's touch-only on-screen keyboards most of them were already playing with in R&D. (The app ecosystem - instead of a handful of apps baked into the phone by the manufacturer - came later). A lot of the form and functionality people attribute to the iPhone actually came out first in the LG Prada [youtube.com], indicating the industry was already moving in that direction even when the iPhone hadn't yet seen the light of day.
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I'm sorry but PalmOS and even Windows Mobile did all of this way before the iPhone even hit the drawing board. There were even mobile phone versions in the the form of the Treo and Tungsten C.
The only revolutionary thing about the iPhone is it broke out of the techie niche that previous devices had been trapped in and brought it mainstream, but I suspect the biggest reason for that is fashion rather than technical.
The iPhone was a triumph... of marketing (Score:4, Informative)
I'm sorry but PalmOS and even Windows Mobile did all of this way before the iPhone even hit the drawing board. There were even mobile phone versions in the the form of the Treo and Tungsten C.
The only revolutionary thing about the iPhone is it broke out of the techie niche that previous devices had been trapped in and brought it mainstream, but I suspect the biggest reason for that is fashion rather than technical.
Exactly. Multi-touch aside, the iPhone wasn't particularly innovative technologically, but it was the first mainstream non-techie smart phone.
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2) You could download apps for all sorts of things, and you could write your own apps.
A lot of people forget, but you could NOT originally write 3rd party apps for the iPhone [theguardian.com]. Apple originally intended to write all the apps for it, and figured any 3rd party applications would be web-based. It was only after tremendous pressure did Jobs finally relent and open up the SDK to external developers. Any success you attribute to the original iPhone really can't have anything to do with 3rd party apps - although it certainly contributed to later successes.
Inspector Gadget (Score:4, Funny)
Although in terms of influence, Penny and her pet dog did most of the work.
Kind of depends on what the definition of "Gadget" (Score:2)
The two most influential inventions that affected more people (for the positive), by far, would be indoor plumbing, and vaccines. Could argue either way which one's first.
Don't know if those are "gadgets"...
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Plastics would have to be up there as well.
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Are you listening?
Plastics.
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My name is ozymandias. King of Kings. Look at my works ye mighty and despair.
Firearms and refrigerators (Score:3, Interesting)
Firearms have forever changed both warfare and personal security. You can say, bow and arrow had a similarly dramatic effect — Spartans captured by Athenians 2500 years ago complained bitterly, that reed (from which arrows were made) does not distinguish between the brave and the cowards. But arrows weren't useful against fortifications and bow was not a good short-range weapon.
Now, refrigerators [history-magazine.com] have dramatically altered the way we buy and prepare food... I'd nominate them if only because they tend to be underappreciated these days.
Railroads, airlines, personal cars — not sure, if you can call them "gadgets". Telegraph and telephone — sure!
And then cellular phone, followed by "smart" phone. But I think, telephones were more revolutionary than these next stages.
Not even joking (Score:2)
But, yeah, iPhones and drones though....
I asked my wife... (Score:2)
She said it's the Vibrator...
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Oh god. List by idiots (Score:5, Insightful)
I feel like my brain just got dumber reading that list. The Wii? Fit bit? Oculus rift? Nest Thermostat? Roku Netflixs?
None of those things should even make the top 10,000 let alone the top 50. Initially I thought they were limiting it to post 1970s stuff and then they throw in an 1850s record player.
PR stunt (Score:3)
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Remarkably, no airplane made the list. If there's one thing that's made the world smaller and influenced everyone's life, it's been cheap air travel.
I'm guessing they put this list together in 45 minutes one day after drinking at lunch.
The pencil (Score:2)
and other non-electric writing devices. These enabled records and information to be reliably kept for many years and sent great distances.
In too many surveys like this people only think about what is new/revolutionary in their lifetime and completely forget about what came before. Myopic!
**piff** (Score:5, Funny)
Everybody knows it's the TOWEL.
Electricity via Hydroelectric Dam (Score:2)
Seriously? (Score:2)
I can forgive ignoring the lighter, the bread slicer, the zipper, and the soldiering iron, but no duck tape?
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Maybe because it's duct tape?
A Matter of Perspective (Score:5, Interesting)
Everyday tasks? (Score:2)
The iPhone ... forever changing how we ... complete many everyday tasks.
Like what? Seriously.
The nuclear bomb (Score:2)
During the Manhattan project, the bomb was referred to as a gadget [wikipedia.org].
You can easily debate the influence, since it only covers the mid-20th century onward; but it was actually called a "gadget".
Steam Power Hands Down, Most Influential Gadget (Score:2)
Ok, technically this isn't a pocket gadget, but it is still a gadget.
Everything is modern life is supported by electricity. iPhones, AirConditioners, Mass Transportation, Warehouse Distribution Systems, New York City, Modern Factories, and yes even the financial sector.
Electricity is supported by the steam engine (and lot's of copper wire).
Whether it be coal fired, natural gas fired, oil fired, or a nuclear powered electric plant these are nothing more than giant steam engines. We boil water with coal, ga
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Ok, technically this isn't a pocket gadget, but it is still a gadget.
Everything is modern life is supported by electricity. iPhones, AirConditioners, Mass Transportation, Warehouse Distribution Systems, New York City, Modern Factories, and yes even the financial sector.
The Steam engine's first use was providing fresh (and cooler) air in mine shafts, from there to the train which populated the US for one.
The Train would of been my answer, but does require steam, and as u mentioned the electricity we've become custom to using.
"devices by WITH consumers let the future creep.." (Score:2)
Well, I can't say I'm surprised that they omitted "the red pen" from their list.
The iPhone is the first toy smartphone (Score:3)
The iPhone was a total joke when it came out. It was pretty and different, but there were no applications for it other than what it came with (!), you couldn't even download files or copy and paste text. It was a few years before it got within reach of the capability of the Treo 650 I had at the time, which was my second smartphone more capable than the original iPhone and not even the best smartphone available at the time. Even then, the iPhone was and remains a toy to enable consumption, not a real computer. A real computer puts you in control of what it can do, allowing you to write and run your own programs on the device and download and run applications at will.
The iPhone's success damaged computing itself more than any device or event in history by popularizing curated computing in place of general-purpose computing.
Of ALL time? (Score:2)
Wouldn't that be the wheel? Or if it has to be something that is used standalone, one of the other simple machines invented in ancient times: the inclined plane (including screws) or the lever (mostly construction and cargo cranes in modern times).
the plough (Score:2)
The plough was a lot more influential than the wheel. Without the plough we would never have progressed far enough to need the wheel. It provided the surplus which all over advances depend on.
In the last 100 years the most influential gadget is the washing machine. It released women from the home into the workplace, transforming society. The computer probably ranks second in importance in last 100 years but if the computer/internet combo had done as much good as one would hope then we would be a lot smarter
Re: the plough (Score:2)
Oh .. I forgot to mention the most important gadget of last 60 years is probably the shipping container. This has had an extraordinary effect on our lives by (a) drowning us in cheap goods and (b) decimating local manufacturing.
Plough, stirrup, wheel, boat, sail, steam engine.. (Score:5, Insightful)
I was reading for example that the bicycle literally changed the DNA of England in a measurable way when people could now find mates a few villages over. The train would have had a similar type impact but might not qualify as a gadget.
As for the iPhone (which I have one of) they will be something quaint we find in yard sales in 10 years. Basically like having a kickass VCR in 1982.
I would say that the iPhone mostly just shook up the complacency of the telcos more than anything else. The iPhone was one of these technological developments that was inevitable. Just like ever improving battery technology makes the electric car inevitable. Tesla may very well move things along a bit more quickly but the electric car pretty much completely depends upon modern processors, batteries, and brushless motors.
How about ? (Score:2)
Raspberry Pi, Perl, or the Apple ][ ?
Computing logic to the masses !
The number "zero" was pretty big too....
Toilet paper. (Score:3)
REally... All of you turn in your geek card. (Score:3)
#1 Gadget that changed the world.
Radio.
90% of everything you use today depends on that first radio invention that was a gadget and curiosity.
The Thermos! (Score:2)
It keeps hot things hot and cold things cold.
But, how does it know?
the (orginal) iPod (Score:2)
I agree with most of the posters here that things like refrigeration and air-conditioning are among the most influential "gadgets" of all time - or, at least for the period of post World War II. The modern world would bit a lot different without them.
However, using the original article's limited sense of reference I would consider the (original) iPod [wikipedia.org] to be far more influential than the iPhone (you could swap them around in Time's rankings); looking back, the original iPod's release [slashdot.org] really did start a small
Well duh! (Score:2)
At Spencers gift stores everywhere.
The lamp, or the Apple ][ (Score:2)
The first lamps were a candle or something. These days, electric with LED lights or whatever, but either way: light when you want it, not just when the sun is up? Light where you want it... for example, in a cave, or in a building? Pretty huge.
Does "lamp" qualify as a gadget? From TFS:
Huh, all their choices were brand name items and all
Fourdrinier papermaking machine (Score:4, Interesting)
Without low cost paper of consistent quality, none of the other gadgets could have been designed.
My first choice would have been the pencil, but I thought again and realized that pencils are not very useful without good paper.
Some of My List From Most Important... (Score:3)
Plow
Spear
The Knife and Sword
Fire
Cloth
A House
The Bed
Bandages
The Refrigerator
Hammer, Anvil, and Chisle
The Saw, Hewn, Chisel, and Plane
Bow and Arrow
Matches and Lighter
Spinning Wheel
Button and Zipper
Toothbrush, Toothpaste, and Floss
Cotton Gin
The Grain Mill
The Compass
The Pen, Paper, and Pencil
The Boat and Ship
Steam Engine and Locomotive
Penicillin
Generator/Alternator
Electric Light Bulb
The Microwave Oven
Gas and Diesel Engines
The Umbrella
The Washing-machine and Dryer
Bicycle
The Internet
Telephone
Record Player
Television
The Personal Computer
The Motorcycle and Automobile
The Airplane
The Rocket
The Neodymium Magnet
The Space Shuttle
The Integrated Circuit
The Transistor, Capacitor, Inductor, Wire, and Printed Circuit Boards
Currency
The Light Emitting Diode
The Cellphone
The Amplifier and Speaker
Gadgets by definition are supposed to be things we don't need.
To state that there's an important gadget is a contradiction.
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The test was of an implosion-design plutonium device, informally nicknamed "The Gadget", of the same design as the Fat Man bomb later detonated over Nagasaki, Japan, on August 9, 1945.