Top 25 Innovations

Is it possible to measure individual innovations? Which innovation is most important: the Internet or the Cell phone?

CNN presented the top 25 innovations of the past quarter century, selected by a panel of technology leaders assembled by the Lemelson-MIT Program. In creating the list, the panel pointed out “25 non-medically related technological innovations that have become widely used since 1980, are readily recognizable by most Americans, have had a direct and perceptible impact on our everyday lives, and/or could dramatically affect our lives in the future.”

These top 25 are

1. The Internet
2. Cell phone
3. Personal computers
4. Fiber optics
5. E-mail
6. Commercialized GPS
7. Portable computers
8. Memory storage discs
9. Consumer level digital camera
10. Radio frequency ID tags
11. MEMS
12. DNA fingerprinting
13. Air bags
14. ATM
15. Advanced batteries
16. Hybrid car
17. OLEDs
18. Display panels
19. HDTV
20. Space shuttle
21. Nanotechnology
22. Flash memory
23. Voice mail
24. Modern hearing aids
25. Short range high frequency radio

Source and more:
http://edition.cnn.com/2005/TECH/01/03/cnn25.top25.innovations/