Was the Internet the most important/ biggest/most influential invention of our lifetime?

H

hypochondriac

Senior Member
Location
Australia
Its had a huge impact on our lives. Making the world smaller.
Television was big. Computers were big. But .........
Im glad i didnt have to suffer pre refrigerator days. We take electricity for granted . Imagine no aeroplanes. Having to visit countries by ship??
 

"most important/ biggest/most influential invention of our lifetime"

I would have to say the transistor (USA, 1947). It revolutionized the electronics industry, making possible, among other things, the microprocessor. Microprocessors, in turn, gave rise to personal computers, the internet, cell phones, and a million other modern electronic conveniences. Without the transistor, none of these would likely exist.

For better or worse, the lowly transistor is the seed from which our current "electronic age" arose.
 
Definitely I'd say computers over cell phones. The cell phones are an amazingly convenient type of phone, plus a remarkable invention in general, but I don't think they could even exist without computer technology. That is what instantly connected our minds in a way that was totally new.
 
I'm sorry. Don't read this if your daily routine is to focus on positive thinking. The internet being the "most influential" is an understatement of epic proportions. It will perhaps be the major catalyst in wiping out the human civilization. Not in our lifetime, nor the next generation, but in the long run.

The evil has already begun by hackers, leakers, and power hungry leaders. More powerful and widespread than the atom bomb. Threatening financial ruin to all countries, wiping out electrical grids, destroying infrastructures, poisoning water systems, communication between terrorists like 911 targeting our financial (twin towers), military security (pentagon), and leadership (Capitol) etc. I'm sorry but couldn't ignore the elephant in the room.
 
I have to disagree. I think the most influential invention in my life time was radio/TV. Radio/TV are versions of each other. They have much the same content and impact. FDR had radio, JFK had TV. Both media made news events instantaneous. You can't deny the impact of seeing police dogs attacking Blacks kids, Nixon's Watergate hearings, JFK, MLK, RFK assassinations, moon landings, The Vietnam war news coverage, on and on. What was shown on TV changed us. It made history something to be viewed by everyone. Between the 50s through the 90s, 15 seconds on TV was more powerful than a thousand tweets.
 
Lara said:
I'm sorry. Don't read this if your daily routine is to focus on positive thinking. The internet being the "most influential" is an understatement of epic proportions. It will perhaps be the major catalyst in wiping out the human civilization. Not in our lifetime, nor the next generation, but in the long run.

The evil has already begun by hackers, leakers, and power hungry leaders. More powerful and widespread than the atom bomb. Threatening financial ruin to all countries, wiping out electrical grids, destroying infrastructures, poisoning water systems, communication between terrorists like 911 targeting our financial (twin towers), military security (pentagon), and leadership (Capitol) etc. I'm sorry but couldn't ignore the elephant in the room.
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Well said, Lara...(y)

What about birth control (the pill), this has given women the freedom from unwanted pregnancies and allowed them to choose when they have children. Before birth control, countless thousands of women had to put up with the stigma of being an unmarried mother. I don't know who was responsible, but he/she/them get a big thumbs up from me.
 
Lara said:
I'm sorry. Don't read this if your daily routine is to focus on positive thinking. The internet being the "most influential" is an understatement of epic proportions. It will perhaps be the major catalyst in wiping out the human civilization. Not in our lifetime, nor the next generation, but in the long run.

The evil has already begun by hackers, leakers, and power hungry leaders. More powerful and widespread than the atom bomb. Threatening financial ruin to all countries, wiping out electrical grids, destroying infrastructures, poisoning water systems, communication between terrorists like 911 targeting our financial (twin towers), military security (pentagon), and leadership (Capitol) etc. I'm sorry but couldn't ignore the elephant in the room.
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Lara, I've had fears along these lines, too. I'm sure many of us have. I have to push them away because there is no going back, now.
 
Tommy said:
For better or worse, the lowly transistor is the seed from which our current "electronic age" arose
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Can't argue with that
I sure soldered enough of those little buggers into boards back in the early '80s at Tektronics

But, on a personal note, gotta say the greatest invention for me was the condom

2 happy.jpg

otherwise, this ol' dawg would have more than the 17 or 18 grandkids I have now
...and in more countries
 
Jack Kilby was an engineer who invented the first microchip in 1958. The first integrated circuit was created to reduce the amount of space taken up by electronic components and advanced circuits.

Jack Kilby, an employee of Texas Instruments, reduced the size of circuitry by creating the components out of the same block of semiconductor material. These integrated circuits, or microchips, could be manufactured using an automated process, and they made possible electronic devices that were more powerful and sophisticated than their conventional counterparts. All electronic chips, including advanced central processing units, use the same fundamental microchip design pioneered by Jack Kilby.
 
The computer, it has advanced humanity beyond the point of no return, we can never return to the good old days. If I didn't have Google I would be up a creek without a paddle. As I review all of the advancements just in my life time I have a prediction for the future. All information and knowledge of the world will be purged and placed on a computer chip and someone will lose the chip. :sick:
 
I agree about the transistor and micro electronics in general. But there is another invention that has had a major effect on our lives, the shipping container. Without the standardized shipping container, international trade would be much more expensive, and domestic production would be more attractive.
 
Gary O' said:
Can't argue with that
I sure soldered enough of those little buggers into boards back in the early '80s at Tektronics

But, on a personal note, gotta say the greatest invention for me was the condom

View attachment 74095

otherwise, this ol' dawg would have more than the 17 or 18 grandkids I have now
...and in more countries
Click to expand...
I perfected the the ''pull it method '' in high school , no Planned Parenthood Organizations back then. :)
 

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