Which technological advance has benefited the world around us the most?
I’m going to say the Internet.
With the Internet, everything shrank. No longer do I have to wait three days for my friend to receive a note–now three minutes is more like it. And all of a sudden, information is cheap to distribute (at least in relation to paper). Instead of printing a ginormous booklet to hand out, all you have to do is stick it online and pass out a business card with the address. That easy.
The examples go on and on.
I’ll bet just about every suggestion in this thread will ride on the back of Electricity. Along with that, all major development followed the combustion engine. But living in Florida I’m going to give a big slap on the back of whoever invented the Air Conditioner!
Thus that means the silcon chip would be the most important because without it the powerful entity known as the internet would not exist.
The Transistor. I did a research paper (attached. can’t find the biblography, but references are made within) just covering that, and the story behind the little wonder is interesting.
Main report.doc (36.5 KB)
Main report.doc (36.5 KB)
i second that one…central air is a beautiful concept!!! 
and of course the heater for up north…lol
Whatever piece of hardware which enabled computing (Be it transistor, silicon chip, whatever)
In 1436, German inventor Johann Gutenberg invented the printing press. Prior to this all books and scripts were hand copied! Clearly this process of extremely slow and very expensive. Owning a book was a sign of wealth, not something for the common person. As a result, literacy began to be a reality for more than just the upper class.
As a result of Gutenberg’s invention, books of all kinds were made readily available to the public, impacting millions. Education was now more accessible, everyone could have their own Bible (Leading to the Reformation), and modern democracy would be catapulted into the future as the printing press allowed for the first newspapers! In the pre-printing press era, it was very easy to silence new thought/ideas. But now, with a printing press, people could expose their ideas to the world, without the fear of it all being destroyed. (Mass produced copies vs. a few hand written manuscripts)
So we’re talking about an invention which changed the course of modern western religion, enabled education to become accessible and the great equalizer that it is today, and prevented those in power from hiding the truth. From those three points alone, we see the impact the printing press has had in shaping our current world.
The wheel over all of those. We wouldnt be anywhere without the wheel, soemthing we take for granted.
Probably the zipper. Fast, easy, secure closing method. Imagine all the stuff we would have to tie with string or use buttons…pants zippers, bags, bodybags, coats.
I actually have pants that have buttons instead of a zipper and it’s a pain in the $@#$@#$@#. go zipper-inventor man!
This is a very interesting question, no doubt, but I don’t think I would ever be satisfied with anyone’s answer because of the nature of invention. It is too difficult to tell where one invention ends and another starts. Printing presses already existed when Gutenberg invented the movable type printing press. Many, many people researched electricty at the same time and it took many inventions to get to the point where houses had light bulbs. The internet and computers are of course the product of thousands of inventions. The question that really interests me is what single person’s work in technology has had the greatest impact. Perhaps I should start another thread…
our science and technology is built on the shoulders of those who have gone before us.
If we all had to start from scratch and re-invent our technology with each generation, we would still be living in caves with open cooking fires.
I think communication is the key that got us where we are today. Starting with spoken and written language
and greatly advancing with the Guttenburg press (as someone else already pointed out)
being able to communicate without being physically present (ie, reading what someone wrote 1000 years ago) and being able to communicate in mass (books that are mass produced)
remember all this next time you sit in an english class :^)
I know y’all are gonna think this is silly but I would say the camera. The idea of capturing a moment perfectly, with every detail the same, and keeping it for a long time is amazing. I love photography and think that it not only captures moments but it captures memories too. It doesn’t save lives and it doesn’t decrease world hunger, but photos can do something to you emotionally and I don’t know of anything else that can do it.
- Paper
- Writing utensils
- The Spork
- FIRST Robotics
My high school engineering class debated this over and over again, and finally came to a concensus:
Standards.
Did you know … in England, before standards, “a foot” was the measure of the current king’s foot, and thus changed every time there was a new king! Without standards, you wouldn’t be able to cut a 12" piece of aluminum, dive a league under the sea, or even measure a cup of sugar!!
Chiefdelphi, obviously! :rolleyes:
Depending on where you draw the borderline for “technological,” but i’d have to say that written language is the greatest thing to ever happen to humanity.
If you are going by actual technology, i’d have to say the the button has been the most important technological advance ever. I don’t know about you, but i can’t imagine typing with a scrollwheel.
The development and widespread installation of flush toilets during the 19th century probably did more to reduce disease and extend average lifespan than any other single invention.
except for that little thing called penicillin.
Look here for a historical perspective.
Since penicillin wasn’t used until the 1940’s, you win this time…
Thanks for the history lesion I guess you really do learn something new everyday.