Whatever you think about the human race, it’s indisputable that we are resilient as a species. We have come a long way over millions of years, growing into a population of seven billion scattered across the planet today. And it’s a habitat that’s shrunk somewhat – all through the power of technology.
Our highly developed brains have enabled us to experiment and create solutions to all kinds of challenges. The list of inventions that have made our lives so much easier goes on endlessly: nevertheless, here five of the most important ones today.
The Internet
It’s incredible how many people use the Internet and still don’t know how it works, or why. We don’t even know what its lifespan will be. A giant network of computers covering the planet, the internet allows us to access any information located anywhere in the world, at any time. It’s essentially an archive of all that’s gone in history and sphere of influence is infinite and mind-boggling: business, communication, the economy, entertainment and politics will never be the same again.
Most people assume that we’re seeing the internet at its very peak. However, we’ve probably only scratched the surface of its true capabilities. With fibre optic broadband only being rolled out on a large scale recently, the ability to process information will inevitably increase the rate at which more inventions are created.
MP3s
You may be too young to remember the Sony Walkman when it hit the streets circa 1980, revolutionising the way we listened to music. Twenty or so years later, MP3s took us a light-year into the future by getting rid of the need for music to actually have a physical presence.
If you wanted to, you could walk around with your entire music collection on your person. MP3s have become so prevalent a choice that all smartphones now have MP3 players built in with them as standard.
Smartphones
Think of the pandemonium that would ensue if all smartphones disappeared. We wouldn’t be able to get a thing done! No one can imagine being without their smartphone for even a minute today (which we guess is not always a good thing).
Essentially, they are mini-computers that provide you with business and social connectivity, giving you the ability to micro-manage your life while you move around. The world is at your fingertips with these devices.
Robots
The robots depicted in 1950s science fiction films have yet to put in an appearance in everyday life, but have become a reality in industry. The ones we currently couldn’t live without are those that assemble our cars, package our manufactured goods, and enable the mass production of printed circuit boards, space probes, military hardware and so on.
3D Printing Technology
It’s not quite true to say we can’t live without 3D printers just yet, but the time when they will be indispensable to our everyday lives will be here soon. These printers make three-dimensional solid objects of any shape from a digital model.
This technology is being used for both prototyping as well as distributed manufacturing. It is applied in architecture, engineering, construction, industrial design, biotech, fashion, footwear, jewellery, education and countless other fields.
Technology advances at a truly remarkable rate today: it’s hard to keep track of all the innovations that pop up every year. The ones in this list have already changed the world: some of them will continue to do so in ways we cannot imagine.
[Image by Johanna Pung]