Whats the most significant invention of the last 100 years?
16-11-2009, 01:02 PM
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Whats the most significant invention of the last 100 years?
We were having a bit of a tea bar discussion today, and got onto the subject of the most significant/important invention of the last centurary or so..
My personal view (and being a bit biased!) is that the powered aircraft, and more so the jet engine have transformed the world we live in, you can get from one side of the planet to the other in less than 24 hours if you wanted to, which just shows what a small world we really live in
....
Sure there will be some interesting answers from people
My personal view (and being a bit biased!) is that the powered aircraft, and more so the jet engine have transformed the world we live in, you can get from one side of the planet to the other in less than 24 hours if you wanted to, which just shows what a small world we really live in
....Sure there will be some interesting answers from people
16-11-2009, 01:28 PM
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The transistor.
That was the enabling invention for modern computers / electronics, and hence the internet, world-wide banking systems enabling instantaneous exchange, etc.
Yes it would be possible to construct computers using valves, manual switches or relays, but they would MASSIVELY more expensive, slow, unreliable and harder to operate.
That was the enabling invention for modern computers / electronics, and hence the internet, world-wide banking systems enabling instantaneous exchange, etc.
Yes it would be possible to construct computers using valves, manual switches or relays, but they would MASSIVELY more expensive, slow, unreliable and harder to operate.
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16-11-2009, 01:33 PM
#9
Yep, without a doubt
Pretty much everything else mention in this thread, from the NHS, to computers, to mobile phones, to the internet, to modern planes, to Porkie's skyplus box, wouldnt exist as we know them without the transistor and the microchips that now contain them.
Pretty much everything else mention in this thread, from the NHS, to computers, to mobile phones, to the internet, to modern planes, to Porkie's skyplus box, wouldnt exist as we know them without the transistor and the microchips that now contain them.
16-11-2009, 02:13 PM
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It depends what Charlie is on about Chip, he may be thinking of a certain genre of music that was invented in the last 100 years - something obscure like scar or even hip hop, I know Charlie should of mentioned it but I think he may have a point!
Just to let you know I disagree on the resistor thing.
Just to let you know I disagree on the resistor thing.
16-11-2009, 02:26 PM
#25
It depends what Charlie is on about Chip, he may be thinking of a certain genre of music that was invented in the last 100 years - something obscure like scar or even hip hop, I know Charlie should of mentioned it but I think he may have a point!
Just to let you know I disagree on the resistor thing.
Just to let you know I disagree on the resistor thing.
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16-11-2009, 04:04 PM
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Now I agree that transistors are in everything and therefore are very useful but with out the inventions made that use them they'd just be useless - anyone following?
If we're being serious I do honestly think the internet or the method in which DNA is screened should be right up there - the DNA can not only tell us about a person but it can show someone's ancestry going back thousands of years, let alone all the medicine's and vacinations that have been invented because of that invention!!
*breathes for air*
those or as Charlie said "trance an progressive music" can't beat a moment of Euphoria on the dancefloor
If we're being serious I do honestly think the internet or the method in which DNA is screened should be right up there - the DNA can not only tell us about a person but it can show someone's ancestry going back thousands of years, let alone all the medicine's and vacinations that have been invented because of that invention!!
*breathes for air*
those or as Charlie said "trance an progressive music" can't beat a moment of Euphoria on the dancefloor
16-11-2009, 04:08 PM
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Ok so got confused with Invention and discovery,!!!!! What a dick I am.
So maybe Penicillin was discovered but anti-biotics were invented, however if the geezer who invented the transistor had cut himself while trying to invent it, he could have died before inventing it!!!! So Penicillin saved him, thus allowing the transistor to be invented.
You dont need a tranny to make Penicillin, just a piece of mouldy old bread.
Get my drift....................OH fuck im just waffling now.!!!!!!
So maybe Penicillin was discovered but anti-biotics were invented, however if the geezer who invented the transistor had cut himself while trying to invent it, he could have died before inventing it!!!! So Penicillin saved him, thus allowing the transistor to be invented.
You dont need a tranny to make Penicillin, just a piece of mouldy old bread.
Get my drift....................OH fuck im just waffling now.!!!!!!
Last edited by bouncy; 16-11-2009 at 04:18 PM.
16-11-2009, 04:21 PM
#30
Although the Transistor is a Very important and worthy front runner, I want to throw Penicillin in there alongside it.
Penicillin, Discovered in 1928 is the front runner for EVERY modern antibiotic and antibacterial agent available today.
We would just quite simply live in a VERY different world without it. Hygiene as we know it wouldn't exist, we'd be thrown straight back into the victorian era.
*edit* ^^^ beat me to it
Penicillin, Discovered in 1928 is the front runner for EVERY modern antibiotic and antibacterial agent available today.
We would just quite simply live in a VERY different world without it. Hygiene as we know it wouldn't exist, we'd be thrown straight back into the victorian era.
*edit* ^^^ beat me to it
16-11-2009, 05:33 PM
#31
Testing the future
i agree with the OP about flight as it has made the world smaller and allowed mass transit of people to exchange culture and goods around the world qickly and cheaply
16-11-2009, 07:14 PM
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Getting knowledge and info around the world has had much more benefit than getting people around so the telephone is, to me, a better invention.
Also, 106 years later, we really haven't progressed as far as we should have (Concorde took us forward, but now we've slipped back. The advances in military aircraft really haven't transferred to the civilian market).
The transistor only came about because Alexander Graham bell made his fortune from the telephone and created bell laboratories, where the transistor was eventually invented in 1947.
Also, 106 years later, we really haven't progressed as far as we should have (Concorde took us forward, but now we've slipped back. The advances in military aircraft really haven't transferred to the civilian market).
The transistor only came about because Alexander Graham bell made his fortune from the telephone and created bell laboratories, where the transistor was eventually invented in 1947.
16-11-2009, 09:50 PM
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Splitting of the atom I reckon is pretty significant! I guess its probably one of the most controversial aswell!
But, its legacy lights & heats our homes and keeps us safe at night.
But, its legacy lights & heats our homes and keeps us safe at night.
