PC World Magazine has selected what it considers The 50 Greatest Gadgets of the Past 50 Years. Like all such lists, this one is highly arguable. They put the Sony Walkman at number one and I guess that's as good a pick as any. I am reminded of a lecture I once heard by Akio Morita, who was the co-founder of Sony and maybe the smartest person whose words I ever heard in person. He explained at some length how every conceivable marketing survey and expert had told him that people — Americans, especially — would never buy a tape recorder that didn't record and that the Walkman would be a sure-fire flop. He said something like, "A record player doesn't record and this is better than a record player" and he ignored the experts. Which is one of the reasons he died with more money than all of us, put together, will ever see.
Anyway, enjoy the list. I don't quite understand why a transistor radio that came on the market in 1954 is among the greatest gadgets of the past 50 years. I also don't get why they didn't include my favorite, the Reach Access Flosser unless it's because it doesn't take batteries.