Inventions during your lifetime that changed your life?

the dreamshake

 

DVR - The amount of time saved using this device is amazing.

 

TiVo.

 

the Fleshlight

j/k

nothing that has not been mentioned already

 

MP3/digital audio and compression formats/ipod

 

The growth of passenger airlines. While there were airlines before I was born, it was only during my lifetime that air travel became routine.

Any number of legal and illegal drugs.

Airbags.

The space program, particularly Apollo and the Shuttle.

GPS.

PowerPoint, PP projectors, and laser pointers.

Silicone breasts.

Stickie note pads.

email.

Credit scores.

 

sham wow and snuggies.

 

myspace...it made me hate the internet more.

 

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History Channel Program to Show How Star Trek Changed the WorldPublished: Thursday, March 02 2006 @ 1:51 PM CST
Contributed by: Tommy


NEW YORK – You've got a cell phone at one ear, an iPod at the other. You know that Blackberry is now a verb and Spam is not only canned meat. But just how did we get here? Blame William Shatner – yes, that William Shatner. HOW WILLIAM SHATNER CHANGED THE WORLD boldly goes where few have gone before to reveal how scientists are surpassing the far-out vision of the future foreshadowed in Star Trek. From cell phones to computers to even leading-edge medical advancements, this two-hour special shot in High Definition (HD) explores how the sci-fi inventions featured in the original Star Trek series have permeated everyday life as we know it. HOW WILLIAM SHATNER CHANGED THE WORLD premieres Sunday, March 12 at 8-10pm ET/PT on The History Channel.

William Shatner made his mark when Captain Kirk and the USS Enterprise catapulted into space — and living rooms everywhere — with the debut of the television series in September 1966. But little did he know what effect the series would have on a generation of inventors and scientists, who, inspired by the series, would revolutionize medicine, space exploration and consumer technology. Hosted and narrated by Shatner and based on his book, I'm Working On That, HOW WILLIAM SHATNER CHANGED THE WORLD meets the brightest minds of Silicon Valley and their Trek-inspired inventions that have changed the world.

The longstanding affection between NASA and Trekkers is mutual — NASA's very first Space Shuttle was named Enterprise, and, according to Shatner, this was no coincidence. As a young boy in 1960s suburbia, Mark Rayman was less interested in how far he could hit a baseball than how far it was to the Final Frontier. Captivated by television coverage of the early Mercury flights — and the television expeditions a channel or two over, Rayman is now Chief Engineer in charge of the Robotic Deep Space Probe project at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory.

While some young Trekkers dreamed of space, others were more interested in the gadgets onboard, and would make it their life's work to bring these toys off the screen and onto the streets. Marty Cooper, a chief engineer at Motorola, understood that people were inherently mobile and would never want to be chained to their desks, tethered to conventional telephones. Captain Kirk and his USS Enterprise colleagues were on to something with their cordless "communicator" with voice recognition technology. Inspired by the brick-like device, Cooper and the Motorola team invented the first mobile cellular phone, giving birth to the start of a communications revolution.

For other young minds captivated by the fictional world of the television series, the possibility of communicating with Talarians, Klingons and Gorns would lead to the most basic question: Is something "out there" beyond our own solar system, and if so, how do we find them? Seth Shostak, Senior Astronomer with the SETI Institute (Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence), which works alongside NASA, credits the television series with synthesizing the physics and astronomy of the search for extra-terrestrial life with the emotional and intellectual drive to know and understand the rest of our universe.

The evolution of the computer, the microchip and software programs is peppered with influences from the television series, from the primitive Altair 8800 (named after a solar system in the shows) and its evolution into the first Apple computer to the rise of Bill Gates and Microsoft. And as a result of the series, human operating systems also began to reflect this futuristic vision. The USS Enterprise sickbay, under the medical supervision of Doctor McCoy, specialized in quick diagnosis and scalpel-free — and painless — surgery. For Stanford University Hospital brain surgeon Doctor John Adler, this protocol was the only way forward. Today, non-invasive diagnostics, CAT scans and MRIs are a matter of course. Inspired by the technologies presented in the series, Adler has invented the Cyberknife — a computer-controlled robotic device that employs a laser beam to remove cancers without even the smallest cut.


http://www.linuxelectrons.com/news/general/history-channel-program-show-how-star-trek-changed-world

 

Texting,
Instant Messaging,
Email, already mentioned. Who needs real human interaction anymore?

Nintendo

Streaming audio & video. Who needs radio and TV anymore?

 

Closed captioning. I pretty much grew up with no captions in my childhood so I had to use my brain to make up what the show/movie was about or my mom would tell me what it's about. My parents had to buy a closed captioning device when I was in 5th grade. They were not installed in TVs that time. I think they started requiring closed captioning in TVs in late 90's. Now all TVs come with closed captioning.

Open captions in movies at the theater. Right now there are a few theater showing movies in open captions at a particular time. We're so far in technology and I don't understand why they don't have open captions for every theater.

TTY or TDD (Telecommunication Device for the Deaf). I would use it to call my friends directly to a TDD or use Relay Texas to talk with my hearing friends. Now they're practically nonexistent due to Internet Relay, AIM, text messaging and Video Relay. I still have one at home in case of emergencies. I need to use it for them to find my house.

Handheld devices!! I don't know how my life would be like if we didn't have handheld devices. I used to have a Nokia cellphone for text messaging purpose back in early 2000's. I didn't have a cell phone in high school but I had a pager which I would use a TDD to call. My first handheld device was Sidekick 1. I will be forever indebted to the handheld devices inventors.

Other inventions that were mentioned here.

 

Internet p*rn......nah, just kidding.








Actually, maybe I'm not kidding.....internet p*rn.

 

Lady Di, are you deaf? If you are, I had no idea.....I feel like I learn something new about the members on this board everyday. This place is incredible.

 

Anne Hathaway

deep fried oreos

808 kick drum

eclipse smokeless cigarettes

 

Pokemon

Dance Dance Revolution (DDR)

 

Which theaters in town have open captions? I like to watch all my dvd movies with captions b/c sometimes I don't pay attention to all the spoken words.

 

This for me too

 

Clearly Canadian?

 

Clutchfans.net