Innovations

"CNN recently ranked the top 25 innovations of the past quarter century. What would your top seven innovations be? Do you agree with their top seven, or would you have a different take? Remember, we're talking about innovations of the past twenty-five years ago."

1. Pay At The Pump Gas stations - Anything that prevents me from having to deal with Habib behind the counter and wait in line behind Willie The Wino is wonderful in my opinion.
   


2. Cottonelle Asswipes - Its like a cool drink of water for your sphincter. A dingleberry's worst nightmare. Keeping your backend clean is very important.
   


3. Personal Computers/The Internet - Computers revolutionized the way people get things done, and changed the way businesses ran. Then along came the internet, and revolutionized the way people communicated.
   


4. Cell Phones - Not for the way most people use them, walking down the street talking too loud, but for the technological aspect of it. The cell phone industry infrastructure is continually changing, and due to consumer demand, businesses are keeping up. Four years ago, having a camera phone was a little novelty, now you can take video, and send it to another person in a few key strokes. While that probably doesn't have a lot of practical use beyond playing around, the fact that you can do it at all, amazes me. Its an example of business following what consumers want, and competition bringing it to them at a price set by consumers. Not to mention the fact that if you're being chased by bad guys or break down in a spooky forest with Scooby and the gang, you can call for help, without walking a mile to Cooter's Garage to trade a joint for him fixing your tire.
   


5. ATMs & Debit Cards - Not having to stand in line at the bank or sitting in the drive-through lane is great. You can now pretty much do everything via the machine or even on the internet.
   


6. MTV & MP3 - They both took the music industry and tossed it on its ear. Before MTV, the only time you saw what singers looked like was on the album cover or a rare TV appearance or that poster in your bedroom. Its not just about what you sound like now.. .its what you look like. MTV gave artists another way to reach the audience: visually. That's also what MP3's did, except the way they reach listeners is via the internet. I think the full effect of digital music on the industry has yet to be determined. I think the dynamics are still in flux. MP3s essentially made record companies obsolete. A guy in his basement with a computer, some talent and a net connection could put out a song at virtually no cost, and get it to the fans faster and more efficient than a record company. Who needs to get a deal, record an album, press it, then distribute it? Just record it and promote it, and you're set. As for the copyright issue, that will always be there, I think eventually, the legal downloading will bring the labels enough money that they won't be as worried about file trading. Much like in the 80s when guys used to trade mix tapes.
   


7. Digital Cameras - An entire photoshop in your hand. No more buying film, no more getting it developed. You get a good camera and printer, and within seconds, your photo is in your hand. All for less than $300.