BoD: Technology

Here they are: The most memorable personal technologies of the aughts. Not all of them were good (Windows Vista, I’m lookin’ at you) but most of them were invented in the last 10 years. Those that weren’t hit their popularity peak during that time. Without further ado and in no particular order:

Internet browsers — Mozilla Firefox’s open-source revolution and Google Chrome’s extension of Google’s world dominance are the most notable additions to our Web browsing arsenal, though Apple’s Safari also debuted. However, ’90s baby Microsoft Explorer is still the most widely used.

Slingbox — In 2004, Sling Media introduced the Slingbox, allowing users to remotely access their television anywhere they have an Internet connection. Another convergence technological advancement, Slingbox has become a forerunner in TV streaming. It even won an Emmy Award in 2007 for technology and engineering.

Segway — The Segway personal transporter came out early in the decade with incredible buzz. It was to revolutionize transportation and solve urban congestion. But the “scooter on steroids,” in the words of Minyanville.com writer Josh Lipton, just hasn’t caught on with the general public. Still an oddity, it is stereotypically used by police officers and the nerdy. (See Weird Al’s “White and Nerdy” music video.)

Global Positioning Systems (GPS) — Although Michael Scott might have suffered from using his GPS, these navigation systems have been helping the directionally challenged in increasing numbers. More than 15 million units were sold in 2008, and sales were expected to grow this year, according to USA Today. The multibillion-dollar GPS industry has also given rise to a new activity — geocaching.

Netflix — Although this direct-to-consumer DVD shipping company debuted in 1997, it didn’t start eating into rental stores’ profits until this decade. Also thanks to Netflix, we can keep rentals as long as we want without paying late fees, stream rentals directly to our computer, and we no longer have to face to prospects of driving all the way to the rental store only to face a shelf bare of new releases.

DVDs — Introduced in the late 1990s, DVDs surpassed VHS tapes in sales by late 2003 and became the standard in optical disc storage. No need to be rewound, DVDs proved more durable, able to store more information than magnetic tape and offered better quality than VHS. The last major supplier of VHS tapes made its final shipment in December 2008.

HD DVDs, Blu-ray Discs — A la Betamax versus VHS tapes, the advent of high definition DVDs brought on a format war between HD DVD and Blu-ray. After 2008, when Toshiba and HD DVD gave in to Blu-ray, sales of the discs and players have grown enormously and will supersede standard-definition DVDs. Blu-ray gets its name from the blue-violet laser beam it uses to read discs.

VoIP — Standing for voice over Internet Protocol, the technology allows voice communication through digital packet-switching networks instead of analogue networks.

Video gaming — From 128 bits to high-definition graphics, video gaming has come a long way in the past decade. Nintendo Game Boy Advance, GameCube, DS, Wii, Sony PlayStation 2, PSP, PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox and Xbox 360 all revolutionized gaming in the aughts. Games such as Madden 10 have become so advanced graphically that some people enter the room and think there’s a real football game on. Systems feature online interactivity and CD-, Blu-Ray- and DVD-reading. And games such as Rock Band (and its derivatives) and Wii Sports have attracted larger audiences to the video-gaming world.

Satellite radio — Changing the way we listen, XM Radio became the first active satellite-radio broadcasting system, launching in 2001. The next year, Sirius came on the scene. The two merged in 2008 and exist as Sirius XM. Clear reception and commercial-free, Sirius XM boasts more than 19 million subscribers.

E-readers — Electronic-book readers, or e-readers, entered the market in the second half of the decade and are gaining popularity. Amazon.com’s Kindle is the bestselling product, and Sony’s Reader and Barnes and Noble’s Nook also compete in this new way to read. The portable devices allow people to read digital newspapers, magazines and books without all that paper getting in the way.

Digital cameras — Digital cameras have superseded film cameras as the standard in photography. In fact, digital camera sales surpassed film sales in 2004 or so, and the major film companies have switched to digital. Digital cameras have become ubiquitous, and almost all cell phones have them. Traditionalists and tourists appear to be the few who still use film.

Instant replay in sports — Instant replay has been around for decades, but it was not until the 2000s that sports leagues really began to use the technology in their officiating. Replay is used by the MLB, NBA, NFL, NCAA and the major tennis tours ATP and WTA. Though it exists to make sure right calls are made, instant replay frustrates some fans due to overuse and stoppage of play — not to mention that the referees still don’t always make the right calls.

Hybrid-electric and flexible-fuel vehicles — Thanks to dependence on foreign oil (and its prices!) and environmental awareness, ecofriendly cars have become very popular. Frighteningly silent, hybrids reduce the need for fossil fuels while flex-fuel cars that use Ethanol also make good use of our corn. Corn, is there anything it can’t do?

Backup cameras — These useful cameras on the back of vehicles make it easier for drivers to see what is behind them. A safety upgrade, backup cameras help prevent tragic accidents as well as the occasional run-over mailbox. They are especially handy when grandpa backs the motor home out of the driveway.

DVRs — Digital video recorders are in an estimated one-third of American TV households. Though bad for network ratings and advertisers whose commercials will inevitably be skipped, DVRs save viewers time and give them peace of mind. Schedules don’t need to be arranged to make it home in time to watch your shows. Just DVR them, and say goodbye to the Geico gecko.

Cellular telephones — The introduction of 3G networking early in the decade paved the way for today’s ubiquitous cell phone use. Cell phones have made once-commonplace pay phones, including those in the Indiana Memorial Union, obsolete. They’ve even led to a decrease in wristwatch sales. Some see cell phones as the harbingers of death, while others are addicted to them and can’t make it through class without checking theirs.

Text messaging (SMS) — With the rise of cell phones came an explosion in text messaging. From 2005 to 2009, annual text messages went from a total of more than 57 billion to more than 1.3 trillion, according to Cellular Telephones Industries Association.

Broadband and wireless Internet — Where would college students be without high-speed Internet just about everywhere these days? Probably the library. No longer does one have to spend hours on dial-up, disconnecting when someone wants to make a phone call. Now users can visit hundreds of Web sites in less than an hour. No Ethernet cable? No problem. Wi-fi enables Internet access to everyone in the home — and and maybe even freeloading neighbors.

Peer-to-peer file sharing (P2P) — Despite Napster’s shutdown in 2001, peer-to-peer file sharing flourished. Services such as Gnutella, BitTorrent, Isohunt, Kazaa, LimeWire, Morpheus, Pirate Bay and more have entered the scene. And some have them have already left because of lawsuits with the music recording industry. Legal and ethics questions abound, yet peer-to-peer file sharing persists with millions of users sharing files daily.

Windows Vista — Vista was named Infoworld.com’s No. 2 all-time tech flop in 2008. It was PCWorld.com’s biggest tech disappointment in 2007. Enough said. Released in early 2007, the operating system encountered a myriad of problems and criticism. Many users stuck with its predecessor, Windows XP, until Windows 7 was released this fall. Others jumped ship and now own Macs.

Flash memory — Flash memory — along with external hard disk drives, CDs and DVDs — replaced floppy disks as more effective ways to store and transport files. Advances within flash memory technology have driven costs down while increasing memory capabilities. Flash drives with less than 1 GB of memory are a joke, and external hard drives that are 1 TB today cost the same as or less than a 500 GB one did at the same time last year.

Web 2.0 — Web 2.0 changed the way we live. It includes web-based communities such as Second Life, hosting services such as Flickr, Web applications, social networking tools (Hello, Xanga, Myspace, Facebook and LinkedIn), video-sharing sites such as YouTube and Hulu, wikis, blogs, mashups, folksonomies and so on. The new era of the Internet features Google as a dominating force, and Wikipedia — though exceedingly helpful — is still not a reliable source.

Everything Apple did — Apple owned the decade. Its products included four kinds of iPods, the iTunes music service, iPhones and its line of Macintosh computers. Even its clever PC-versus-Mac commercials have become infamous. The iPod defines a major tech advancement in the decade — MP3 players, the CD player’s successor.

Digital, high-definition television — After delay after delay, the United States finally made the switch to digital TV broadcasting in February. This coincides with advancements in TV set technology, as CRT televisions are out of style. Flat-panel displays — including LCD and plasma screens — make the picture clearer than ever before. HDTVs are the wave of the future in TV watching.