Accessories & Peripherals

The Five Greatest Gadgets of All Time

By Peter Ha | November 27, 2009 | +

For reasons unknown to me I’ve been asked to declare what I presume to be the five greatest gadgets of all time. No simple task considering the vast number of gizmos and doodads that have been feverishly churned out over the last millennia. But we’re not talking about things that have had some revolutionary impact on society, you know, like the wheel or something.

Below are five things that have had some significant impact on my life, which is why I’ve deemed them the five greatest gadgets of all time. Opinions will vary and I’m sure to get some flak for it, but to each his own. There are far too many really cool gadgets out there and to quantify into a list of five is nearly impossible. Actually, it is impossible.

So in no particular order here’s my list.

• Nintendo NES: this little grey box sparked a lifelong obsession with video games. I sincerely regret handing down my original NES to a cousin over 20 years ago. I picked one up off eBay a few weeks back, but I’m still looking for a working copy of R.C. Pro-Am.
•Polaroid Camera: instant gratification. Duh.
•RIM 850: when times were simpler and all you really wanted was just your e-mail. You should think about releasing an updated 850, RIM.
•iPhone: I am in no way an Apple fanboy and while I prefer Android, the iPhone really has been revolutionary for the industry as a whole.
•Printing Press: don’t tell me to read books, magazines, newspapers and comic books on an eReader or I’ll punch you.

There you have it. I’ve done what’s been asked of me and I feel pretty good about it.

Related Topics: 5 greatest gadgets, blackberry, iphone, NES, Polaroid, printing press, Accessories & Peripherals, Gadgets
  • Villafranca

    My fondest memory of a gadget was when my parents first brought home an AT&T cordless phone. I’ve loathed wires ever since…

  • dreinn

    I like the personalized nature of your list, rather than “wheel, printing press, etc.” Nicely formed. Oh, but it’s flak, not flack. Sorry.

  • http://twitter.com/thepeterha Peter Ha

    Indeed it is.

  • http://rickvegas.wordpress.com rickvegas

    I would say that the 1982 Sony Betacam was a great gadget at the time for novice video/film geeks. And that its impact on the last 25 years of culture and its societal ramifications (Rodney King, You Tube, etc.) make it a device that transcended its original function.

  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9vKP4SJqg78 thegalleryofrichard

    But what about The Computer? Even Windows PCs don’t come up on the list? How could you? This is lame. I’m gonna go check out some cars‘ blogs and watch cebu films rather than read more of this.

    Kidding. Love love.

  • zoey98

    What’s a Rim 850? And a “polaroid camera”? I wasn’t aware they even sold those anymore.

  • http://twitter.com/thepeterha Peter Ha

    @richard I steered clear of obvious doodads like that even though the iPhone falls under that umbrella.

    @zoey you have much to learn.

  • http://gcarlos7.wordpress.com gcarlos7

    You said it was going to be hard, to pick the five. For me there is one, the commodore 64. At the time when computers needed a cold room, and were the size of refrigerators, and printers as big as a supermarket car, buying my first Commodore, taking it home, connecting it to my TV and programming my own games, was a taste of being in the Enterprise (Star Trek).

    Second, the TV, man what and invention.

    Third, the phone, as the ground for how we spend our time.

    Fourth, the satellites, as the conduit to so much real-time communications.

    Fifth, iPhone as the summary of today’s technology.

    All these things together, have made the TODAY which we enjoy. Imagine seeing the news of the Ballon Boy in my phone, while driving, and bitting my nails with other 54 million people as the Rescue guy broke the ballon in pieces with an axe!!! What a moment, all possible to the items mentioned above.

    That was a hard assignment given to you.

  • claytonmorris

    I actually have a working copy of R.C. Pro-Am

  • mdpac5

    ? Nintendo? please we all know it was Coleco that started the vidoe game graze with football!

    The reset you can Argue.

  • kinggarsoniii

    I would also say the USB Thumbdrive deserves an honorable mention as well…

  • innova154

    “don’t tell me to read books, magazines, newspapers and comic books on an eReader or I’ll punch you”

    Hear, hear! I’m sticking with paper too. If I had an eReader, I would literally be looking at a screen ALL day.

  • timcahill

    No… Pong started it all, and I’d have to put the car on my list. Before the car the majority of the population never traveled more than 15 miles from their home during their lifetime.

  • http://www.teenit.tv diane

    I absolutely adore my Kindle and can’t wait for the iPad. SO THERE. ;) I’m with you on Polaroids, though.

  • jonavark

    This is the kind of list one might see from someone with a very short knowledge of history and an even shorter knowledge of gadgets.

    The music synthesizer ,the pc, the cell phone (NOT THE iPhone)… etc the RIM? R U joking? May as well have chosen the Newton. The Nintendo?

    Get out of your cave man!

  • beckie66

    What a great list!

    I, too, am a fan of the printed word. An eReader just cannot take the place of a book in my world. The feel, the smell, and especially the history of holding a book that is 100 years old…some things just cannot be replaced. I do think eReader’s have their place in this world, though – like replacing some textbooks, for example.

  • http://grownman4u.wordpress.com grownman4u

    I think the top five gadgets that have impacted life the most as we know it on earth is each of the following:

    1)Light Bulb
    2)Airplane
    3)Computer
    4)Telephone
    5)Automobile

    Imagine life without these and you will get the feeling of how blessed you are to live in a country that give you these luxuries. Some might argue the toilet & toilet paper be included on the list for that matter… Perhaps, we should have changed it to the top seven. LOL

    Women might argue the bath tub be added as well… LOL

    Go figure.

  • Kamil Sokołowski

    100% support on the “punching” part. From time to time I hear and read about death of printed press, books and so on. I would take no e-Reader in exchange for a good, paper printed book or magazine. Cup of good tea or coffee, warm chair and few pages of literature.. that makes my day. And, although I am a huge fan of tech, life digitalization and so on, printed material is one thing I’ll never leave behind. On this You may say that I’m a analog guy in the digital world.. they just “sound” better.

  • chrystal5

    Wheeled suitcase, debit cards, cell phone, wireless connectivity, WWW

  • 1949jvan

    My favorite gadget is the remote control. I remember our TV without a remote control. Every time you wanted to change the channel or sound level — you had to get out of your chair and walk to the TV. Now just in the bedroom, I have over five remote controls.

  • http://www.helenmccarthy.org Helen

    beckie66, you’re so right. There’s a place for both books and e-readers. A book is a sensory/sensual experience, an e-reader is a practical way to store a huge amount of information in a tiny package. I do a lot of research and now that I can put my ‘work’ books into e-format I can spare more space for my ‘pleasure’ books with their gorgeous bindings and illustrations. And since my ‘work’ books are now fully searchable I save time tracking down references, so I can spend more time enjoying my hard copy collection. Win-win!

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