1. The Internet
Invented in 1969 (and not by Al Gore), the World Wide Web grew from just four users in 1969 to 50,000 in 1988. From there, a million in 1991 and 500 million by 2001. Today there are over 1.2 billion people (roughly 19 percent of the world) connected on line. And whether its used for social media, shopping or to find information, the Internet has forever changed the landscape of the world, arguably making it considerably smaller in the process.
2. The Barcode
First invented by a student in the early 1950s, bar codes were originally intended to provide a kind of visual Morse code. Retailers were initially slow to adopt the technology, which at the time was somewhat unreliable. But that changed in the early 1970s when the same student, Norman Woodland, devised the Universal Product Code while working for IBM. Since then, the familiar black stripes have appeared on everything from orange juice to a pair of designer sunglasses, revolutionizing sales and inventory management in the space of less than one square inch.
Invented in 1969 (and not by Al Gore), the World Wide Web grew from just four users in 1969 to 50,000 in 1988. From there, a million in 1991 and 500 million by 2001. Today there are over 1.2 billion people (roughly 19 percent of the world) connected on line. And whether its used for social media, shopping or to find information, the Internet has forever changed the landscape of the world, arguably making it considerably smaller in the process.
2. The Barcode
First invented by a student in the early 1950s, bar codes were originally intended to provide a kind of visual Morse code. Retailers were initially slow to adopt the technology, which at the time was somewhat unreliable. But that changed in the early 1970s when the same student, Norman Woodland, devised the Universal Product Code while working for IBM. Since then, the familiar black stripes have appeared on everything from orange juice to a pair of designer sunglasses, revolutionizing sales and inventory management in the space of less than one square inch.
