50 Gadgets from the last 50 Years

I pulled this off Library Journal's Tech Blog.

About two weeks ago, PC World list the top 50 gadgets from the past 50 years. Here's the top ten:

1. Sony Walkman (1979)


2. Apple iPod (2001)


3. Tie--ReplayTV (2001) and Tivo(1999)


4. PalmPilot (1996)


5. Sony CD Player (1982)


6. Motorola Startac--"Design matters as much as functionality" cell phones(1996)


7. Atari Video Computer System (1977)--Pong, anyone?


8. Polaroid SX-70 Land Camera (1972)--Remember those Polaroid commercials with James Garner and Mariette Hartley?


9. M-Systems Diskonkey (2000)--These little bastards still don't work on the PCs in our computer lab.


10. Regency TR-1 (1954)--aka, The Transistor Radio--I used my TR for Royals Baseball back in the '70s.

Also making the top 50 were Texas Instrument's Speak and Spell (1978), Texas Instrument's SR-10 (Handheld Calculator)(1973), Milton Bradley's Simon (1978), and, for guys who waste away their weekends watching sports, the Zenith Space command (TV's first remote control)(1954).

Does Silly Putty count as a gadget or is it just a toy?