Innovation... what does it really mean? The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines it as the introduction of something new - a new idea, method or device. To mark NBR's 30th anniversary we looked at the ideas, methods and devices introduced over the last three decades that have changed our lives. And boy did we have a bunch to choose from! Our viewers submitted thousands of suggestions from the Mars Rover to the Internet to the bailers used for packaging on Christmas tree lots over the holidays.
They're the things we often take for granted like the unprecedented ability to connect with others that mobile phones have brought to our lives. Heck, that's an innovation that put pay phones out of business all together. And when you think about it... when was the last time you wrote an actual letter not an email or text message? And I'm not talking about paying your bills, which more and more of us are doing online everyday.
But as I worked on this project I became more focused on what the next 30 years of innovation could bring to our lives. That's because most every innovation on our list shows great promise for the future, making me wonder if the Internet will get even more user friendly, how my DNA will change the medical care I receive and just how big the personal computer of the future will be.
On our Top 30... you'll find everything from computer science and technology advances to medical breakthroughs and new energy sources. We'll reveal the full list on Presidents' Day, Monday, February 16 with a Nightly Business Report special edition, "The Top 30 Innovations of the Last 30 years." I hope you'll join us.
Oh, you might also have fun reading this blog entry I wrote to announce this project: Get Innovative with NBR. It contains some of our viewers' suggestions of innovations.
Comments
Growing up in South Africa of the 1950s I clearly remember wind turbines being used to generate electricity on farms - power was stored in a bank of car batteries and used for lighting in the winter. Of course, they were not the large ones that now disfigure the landscape in Europe and North America, but wind turbines were developed before the 1970s.
Methinks featuring these turbines is more to do with the green fashion of the times than an accurate assessment of inventions past
Hi Folks,
Thanks for all of your comments on our special edition "The Top 30 Innovations of the Last 30 Years," we truly appreciate your feedback. I wanted to clarify why DNA mapping and photovoltaic solar cells made our list even though they've been around longer than 30 years. The Wharton panel chose them because of the tremendous advances and widespread commercial adaptation of the technologies in the past three decades. The same goes for bar codes and the Internet.
I am compelled to disagree when it comes to media file compression. Sure, it would be fine if you could not tell the difference from the original, but sadly that is not the case. Television suffers from poor sound and picture quality these days. Picture freezes, chicklets dancing on the screen, and flickering are common. On the audio side, sound is flat and filled with hisses and slurs. The problems is over compression, or maybe multiple compression. Someday the flickering is going to produce a seizure for someone, then maybe this problem will get the attention it deserves. Because of all the abuse, media file compression is evil!
I noticed that someone caught the fact the Photovoltaic cells have been around for more than 30 years (since 1950 actually). I am fairly certain that the bar code and the microprocessor were both around several years before 1978.
# 5
DNA Testing and Sequencing/Human Genome Mapping
The structure of DNA was first discovered by Watson and Crick in 1953.
You neglected to credit Dr Rosalyn Franklin
Citing major changes in the way that we interact with our machines, Scott Gurvey said, "Tomorrow, we may finally get voice recognition for command and control."
"Tomorrow" is here today...
A newly released "client-resident" voice technology product delivers unlimited voice-directed command and control... along with voice data entry, voice data confirmation and complex voice responses.
And all of these voice functions can be applied to any new or EXISTING host-based, web-based, or client-based application running on any Win OS target device, i.e. ruggedized "industrial" wireless terminals, Smartphones, PC tablets, laptops, desktops...
Several leading system integration companies and many Fortune 50 corporations are already engaged in using this technology to "voice-enable" their existing applications.
And the list is growing...
Fueling the explosive growth, is the product's unique ability to allow developers to "surgically" apply the required voice function to just a single field of an existing application.
Which is the reason that this technology will continue be used by more and more companies to identify and eliminate constraints in their applications, in order to streamline business processes, shorten "order to cash" cycles, and drive down operational costs.
The "new" voice technology seems to deliver both a competitive "edge" and an economic survival tool.
I sure hope so. We need to explore any relevant technology that offers relief in this economy.
Other than GPS, a rather commercial development, I did not see the many life and property saving events brought to us via Weather with Search and Rescue co mission satellites over the past 30 years.
The NOAA GOES program correctly identified the path of Katrina and Wilma in 2005 allowing timely evacuation lowering loss of life totals. GUSTOV this past season was a reminder from the past season.
It seems all NASA/NOAA related Satellite Weather, agriculture, and other activities were absent from the top 30 and this is an oversight that should not go un-noticed.
I saw the show and thought it was terrific.
Nice job everyone.
How can photovoltaic cells be an innovation of the last 30 years? My brother gave me a Hoffman Solar 719 transistor radio in 1960. The solar cell still works. You need some older experts.
The microprocessor was only #7 of the top 30? Seriously? Number 7? I hate to break it to you, but almost nothing on your entire list would be possible without it!
I thought the internet was the top innovation of the last 30 years. I was thrilled to see it as the top choice.
Now, if you have the courage, I'd like to see you discuss the antithesis of that free sharing of information, that crosses the boundaries of ignorance. The greatest threat to that and to the advancement of scientific knowledge and sharing.
which would also just as easily and obviously be:
Faith based belief in God and its Religious manifestations. In fact, in my opinion, that is also the greatest threat to the future of humanity, and this planets survival and ability to support life.
I wish PBS had the courage to show the type of programming involving this issue that is shown by the BBC and Horizon programs. At least NOVA gets close. Please keep such forward thinking alive. Or we will not live to see another 30 years of innovation.
I will not be surprised at all if you do not publish this comment. I expect it., As proof of my comments validity.
Sincerely.