Walt Mossberg called the world's best technology in the past two decades

Walt Mossberg - known journalist in the field of personal electronics, a columnist for Wall Street Journal - is leaving his post. In my last article for the magazine he selected 12 devices, published in the 22 years of his work, which, in his opinion, were the most iconic and revolutionary for the industry as a whole.

This is my last article for the Wall Street Journal, where I spent the '22 surveying the various devices and technologies.

So, I decided that I wanted to talk about gadgets and technology that turned the world over the past two decades. Of course, I was very subjective by only 12, and I understand that many may disagree with my list.

Although many of them were real hits, a couple was not so financially successful, but something - an absolute failure, but when I select, I was guided by other criteria.

First, the technology should be much easier to use than its predecessors and simplify the lives of users. This principle I have laid down in the first title of his first article, published in 1991: "Personal computers are too complicated to use them, but it is - not your fault."

Secondly, I chose the 12 because they determined the course of history: set the direction for the products that came after, or have changed the way people live and work. In some cases, the impact of these technologies on the daily lives of users continues to grow. Each of them had predecessors, but they failed to bring its category on the qualitatively new level, I'm talking about.

Some of my readers will complain that there is too much Apple. I answer in advance: Apple has introduced more than important and revolutionary devices and technologies than any other company during the existence of my column.

1. Newton MessagePad (1993)

This pocket-sized Apple computer was a real failure, primarily because the company promised that it can support handwriting. However, he could not. But there was something that is inherent in today's technology flagship - an early form of "artificial intelligence". You could enter "Lunch with Linda Jones on Thursday," and it will create the required entry in the calendar.

2. Netscape Navigator (1994)

The first mass web browser was destroyed shortly after the Internet Explorer from Microsoft, but it did Internet accessible to millions and every time you open the page - if you use legacy Netscape.

3. Windows 95 (1995)

This operating system from Microsoft put the GUI and mouse control to the base using a personal computer. Although, at the time such technology used in Macintosh for a decade, Windows 95 has surpassed Apple as the performance and won a much larger audience.

4. Palm Pilot (1997)

The first successful and sell a personal digital assistant was Pilot. He formed the basis of the first Treo smartphone, and could support applications from third-party developers, which marked the beginning of today's industry giant app stores.

5. Google Search (1998)

At first acquaintance with Google, I realized that it is much faster and more precise than all existing on the day of the search engines. Even now, its importance can not be overemphasized. In many ways, Google search engine in motion all the Internet space as a whole.

6. iPod (2001)

Apple's iPod was the first popular portable player with its own memory, which stores up to 1,000 songs in a device the size of a deck of playing cards c. Moreover, iPod is actually gave us the iTunes store.

7. Facebook (2004)

If Netscape opened the Internet, Facebook then turned it into a social space for us. Of course, before him there were some social networks, but that Facebook was the best: the place where you can share beautiful photos or important news with the closest or thousands strangers. To date, Facebook uses more than a billion people and there is no doubt that this site has changed the way we think about the Internet as a whole.

8. Twitter (2006)

Often considered as the main competitor to Facebook, Twitter, in fact, something quite different - a kind of global instant messaging system. Every second, people report a wider audience absolutely any information - from links to interesting articles to your own thoughts about all in a row, if they fit in 140 characters. Like Facebook, Twitter has changed the way people interact on the network.

9. iPhone (2007)

Apple has turned the world of technology that the first of the smart phone (eng. smartphone - a smart phone). He was both a music player, media outlets online and telephone - all in one small gadget equipped with a revolutionary multi-touch technology, later replaced by a graphical interface to the many devices.

A year later he appeared in the iPhone App Store - applications are now more than a million in it. It was followed by many competitors, the joint forces to turn the Internet from the space-based PC in the territory of smartphones.

10. Android (2008)

Google wasted no time and went out in the smartphone market with an operating system that has spread to hundreds of devices and use the same multi-touch interface, and iOS. Now Android - the dominant mobile platform with its own huge selection of applications.

While the iPhone has always remained quite expensive, Android is installed on many smartphones available.

11. MacBook Air (2008)

Steve Jobs introduced the incredibly thin and light notebook pulling it out of a paper envelope. It was one of the first computers, replace the hard drive on the solid state drive - now they are everywhere. It was followed by many light notebooks, for example, the ultrabook on Windows, and I believe that the Macbook Air laptop has been the best in history.

12. iPad (2010)

This 10-inch tablet, Apple finally roused long stay in oblivion category "tablet computer". This device could finally replace the laptop for the vast number of users - from small children to the Director General. Developers had created about 500,000 applications for the iPad - it can not boast of any current tablet.

Summing up, I want to say thanks to Wall Street Journal for the freedom that was given to me in writing my reviews for all these years. And, of course, I am grateful to my readers who have followed my work. I'm not going to retire - I'm still going to write reviews, but at a new site. Journal will continue to publish reviews of talented authors who will keep our readers informed of developments in the rapidly changing world of technology.

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