The best inventions of modern times

Chong

Guys just wanna gauge your opinions on what ye may think are the best inventions of modern times. Mine would have to be the printing press without where would we be at all.

xzanti

Windows (not the glass kind)

amazingemmet

The internet or the rubber diabolo. would be my choice ah the joy of procratination

dudara

My nominations:
1. The flushable toilet (just think about it)
2. The Windscreen wiper
3. Printing press
4. The transistor, made this whole webby thingy possible

fred funk }{

microwave!

BossArky

my latest axe:

Chong

The flushable toilet and windows I'd have to agree very strongly although the creation of windows and microsoft alike has made one man unimaginably rich.

petes

Battery powered toothbrush. *lazy*

Chong

petes wrote:

Battery powered toothbrush. *lazy*

I find they dont the same job for me, I prefer a good hard scrub.

Agent Smith

Firefox, tbh

Chong

Wooo go firefox indeed anything to beat the microsoft juggernaut that it is.

petes

Slydice

KTRIC

The combustion engine. It's my personal favorite, without it my motorbike would be very slow !!!

petes

K-TRIC wrote:

The combustion engine. It's my personal favorite, without it my motorbike would be very slow !!!

Without it, it would just be a bike.

KTRIC

petes wrote:

Without it, it would just be a bike.

Exactly, so you can see where I'm coming from with this.

Chong

It wouldnt be a bicycle either it has no pedals so then invention of the pedal and the motion it creates to push or force something forwards is also in genious.

Catsmokinpot

planes

bongs

cylinder blocks

the mute button on a phone

knuckle dusters

prospect

Without doubt, contraceptives!

KTRIC

Boobies are a great invention too, but they've been around for ages.

MooShop

the pill

fjon

The micro-chip, and the contraceptive pill

LoneGunM@n

I'd have to say beer

odie

Laptops/PC's and Mobile phones, we wouldn't be in here without 'em

Capt'n Midnight

xzanti wrote:

Windows (not the glass kind)

Thank Xerox / Apple for that. Microsoft released a cut down "me too" version later should be nice when they include all of the original features.

TCP/IP
WWW - EU tax money at work
Radio
Radar - follow on to radio but spinoffs include semiconductors and microwaves and many many astronomical discoveries.
Diesel Engine (if only the petrol can be uninvented)
Steam turbine

The increase of wealth in the middle ages meant people could buy new clothes more than once. This meant there were rags available for paper. Also glasses were invented so people could read later in life, before many didn't bother learning to read because what was the point if you couldn't read books because your eyesight was probably going to get worse. Then and only then could printing happen. The chineese had it long before. Though Guttenberg deserves recognition for the numerous advances esp in the metallurgy of the moulds for making letters.

Konrad Zuse invented the computer. By this I mean that he devised most of the things needed for the binary stored program computer. So even if von-neuman and the whole allied computer research during world war two had come to nawt we would still have computers.

technology of the continuous future
stirling engine
gallium arsnide chips
holographic memory

must think of the little ones too

Daelus

The TV remote. :rolleyes:

Also, the internet.

murphaph

Simply has to be the transfer resistor.

Wibbs

Capt'n Midnight wrote:

Thank Xerox / Apple for that. Microsoft released a cut down "me too" version later should be nice when they include all of the original features.

technology of the continuous future
stirling engine
gallium arsnide chips
holographic memory

Agreed on the first point. Xerox invented it and Apple ran with the concept. Apple should be given one other gong for practically inventing desktop publishing(and putting it in the hands of the general public). Probably the biggest leap in printing since Guttenburg. If you look at the growth in production of books and magazines(especially those of a more specialist/minority content), it wouldn't have happened without Apple IMHO. I know it's a charge oft levelled at Microsoft, but they do tend to play catch up when it comes to thinking outside the box.

The stirling engine concept has been around for a while, hasn't it? Early 19th century or something(too lazy to google ), Though LoneGunM@n's suggestion of beer goes back thousands of years, so that's a bit less modern. Damn fine invention though.

My choice would include television as without it and the global mass media it represents, most people in the 20th century thing wouldn't have had the chance to see the things they did(moon landings and all that historical guff).

Going further back in history I'd vote for;
Printing press
The plough
Writing
The gun especially the rifled gun barrel(led to mass production and better understanding of metallurgy)
Law
The Compass
Ships chronometer(highly accurate timepiece)
Steam engine(and railways)
Powered flight
Currency

Oh yea and beer, ciggies and whiskey and aspirin to help you recover from the previous three.

SoupyNorman

My vote goes to antibiotics......television was pretty great too

Zaph

The ATM. Before they were invented how did we pay for a kebab and a taxi home when we're ****-faced at 3am having spent all our money on beer?

Sparky

The laptop.
Mobile phone
Mp3 players
DVD
sky plus
The speaker and microphone
and electricity.

murphaph

zaph wrote:

The ATM. Before they were invented how did we pay for a kebab and a taxi home when we're ****-faced at 3am having spent all our money on beer?

Running very fast?

Wertz

Jet engine

The_B_Man

Yore Ma!

Saturnine

Atomic bomb or Internal combustion engine.

HashSlinging

Willem D wrote:

Guys just wanna gauge your opinions on what ye may think are the best inventions of modern times. Mine would have to be the printing press without where would we be at all.

The 1210 technics deck.

classic in every way.

StonedParadoX

Dublin Bus Transport

Sam Vimes

the ball bearing (not actually 20th century)
the transistor ->the microprocessor
Thomas Alva Edison (1093 patents from that guy. i know he was born in the the 19th, shhh)
http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/bledisonpatents.htm

the latex condom of course. id be the daddy of an army without it
penicillin
me


the worst: that god dam frog

Daelus

Bill Murray

Creature

The time machine.

Capt'n Midnight

Commander Vimes wrote:

Thomas Alva Edison (1093 patents from that guy. i know he was born in the the 19th, shhh)
http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/bledisonpatents.htm

The French invented cinema and Edison and the US film industry made a deal to deny this so they would not have to pay royalties.
He did invent the electric chair as a publicity stunt - to "show" that DC was safer than AC resulting in a botched execution - so I've no time for the guy. Lets not forget that he did NOT invent the light bulb, Swan beat him to it

Oh and a lot of the work was done by his employees - cf. software patents are seldom held by the programmer.

IIRC the patents for the automatic hammer and the device to prevent your chair falling back are still current and making his descents loads of money.

Electric light - great
Fluorescent - even better
Blue LED's to make low voltage cold light great. (and the inventor of that finally got his money recently !) http://mdn.mainichi.co.jp/politics/0501/17nakamura.html

He added that the agreed upon amount was too low as a lifetime reward for the socially indispensable invention created by Nakamura, especially when compared to professional athletes making hundreds of millions of yen a year.

again I refer you to software patents.

Tar.Aldarion

printing press the best,computer/net not bad either...then that sliced white stuff..mmm

rideordie

I'd say the tampon...I thank the greater energy of the universe for them every month

toiletduck

the transistor, tis fan-bloody-tanstic!

Capt'n Midnight

toiletduck wrote:

the transistor, tis fan-bloody-tanstic!

Bipolar ( produced first )
Or
Field Effect ( invented first . but developed later, are used in computers )
Or
Semiconductors in general - started off as detectors for radar, (military money you see) you could even argue that they were an inevitable consequense. Oddly enough it was the Germans who started using them back in the 30's.

It's also possible to make valves using modern chip building technology, so you don't even need the semiconductor effect to make a microprocessor, yes it would be less efficient but not by orders of magnitude. And at such small distances you don't need high voltages. Also valves are very tolerant of overheating and EMP.

---

Ball bearing - have to agree there.

Antibiotics - WERE a good invention but missuse has rendered them next to useless as resistance has increased.

The Bicycle / roller bearing chain.

(solar panels - not really an invention all silicon/germainium/LED's generate electicity when exposed to light)

Blood Transfusion
Cleanliness as a way to combat infections. Prevent more deaths than almost anything else. Also allowed people to recover from operations.

netwhizkid

My top inventions are:

1) The Newcomen Atmospheric Steam engine in 1712
2) James Watt's Improved modern Steam Engine in 1769
These Steam engines started the Industrial Revolution which has led to the society in which we live today.
3) The internal compustion engine for revolutionising transport.

4) The Internet for putting an inveratable library in nearly every home.

5) Karl Marx's Theory of Communism and Socialist ideals this ranks as my best "invention" if you could call it that. Watching Sky news earlier and to see the carry on of "private" Clampers is a disgrace and another sign that Capitalism is only a corrupt system that benefits a small few and makes them super rich. And every one else end up with a €300,000 Mortgage Is that a fair society ?

Regards netwhzkid

Spunog UIE

cat flap

chump

to be fair, without semi-conductors we'd be LOST

also the show LOST

is_that_so

In no particular order

Aspirin
Telephone
Cat's Eyes
Semi-conductors
Stainless steel
Steam engine
Radio
Windup Radios


and an honorable mention to a few oldies

The Wheel
Sumerians - for numbers
Printing Press

30-6shooter

The ould Mp3 car stereo

nlgbbbblth

laserdiscs
fax machines
electric lawnmowers

30-6shooter

Electric lawnmowers r the worst invention ever. There for townees in their little ****ty gardens. No offense!