From Knowledge@Wharton: A World Transformed: What Are the Top 30 Innovations of the Last 30 Years?

Is it possible to determine which 30 innovations have changed life most dramatically during the past 30 years? That is the question that Nightly Business Report, the Emmy Award-winning PBS business program, and Knowledge@Wharton set out to answer to celebrate NBR’s 30th anniversary this year. NBR partnered with Knowledge@Wharton to create a list of the “Top 30 Innovations of the Last 30 Years.”

Here’s their list:

1. Internet, broadband, WWW (browser and html)
   
2. PC/laptop computers
   
3. Mobile phones
   
4. E-mail
   
5. DNA testing and sequencing/Human genome mapping
   
6. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
   
7. Microprocessors
   
8. Fiber optics
   
9. Office software (spreadsheets, word processors)
   
10. Non-invasive laser/robotic surgery (laparoscopy)
    
11. Open source software and services (e.g., Linux, Wikipedia)
    
12. Light emitting diodes
    
13. Liquid crystal display (LCD)
    
14. GPS systems
    
15. Online shopping/ecommerce/auctions (e.g., eBay)
    
16. Media file compression (jpeg, mpeg, mp3)
    
17. Microfinance
    
18. Photovoltaic Solar Energy
    
19. Large scale wind turbines
    
20. Social networking via the Internet
    
21. Graphic user interface (GUI)
    
22. Digital photography/videography
    
23. RFID and applications (e.g., EZ Pass)
    
24. Genetically modified plants
    
25. Bio fuels
    
26. Bar codes and scanners
    
27. ATMs
    
28. Stents
    
29. SRAM flash memory
    
30. Anti retroviral treatment for AIDS

Notice that biotech takes #5, #24, #25, and #30. Hard not to suspect that the list 30 years from now will be a little more biotech-heavy.