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First Camera Phone Introduced
Japan's SoftBank introduces the first camera phone, the J-Phone. Cameras became a significant part of most phones within a year. Now, most phones come with cameras. This has enhanced our lives because it allows people to have easy mobile access to a camera at all times. -
USB Flash Drives
Dov Moran and his company, M-Systems invented the flash drive. These drives consisted of flash memory encased in a small form factor container with a USB interface. They had larger storage capacities, were faster, and were more durable than optical and floppy disks. This invention caused these old storage media to become less popular. -
The Iphone is Released
Apple launches the iPhone a combination of web browser, music player, and cell phone which could download new functionality in the form of "apps." This enhanced our life because it allowed us to have a computer with us at all times. With their many uses, smartphones became a huge part of daily life. -
Amazon's Kindle is Released
The Kindle was one of the first electronic reading systems to gain a large following among consumers. The first Kindle featured wireless access to content via Amazon.com, along with an SD card slot allowing increased storage. This enhanced our lives because it allowed people to read books digitally. -
MacBook Air is Released
Apple introduces the MacBook Air a light, thin laptop with a high-capacity battery. In order to reduce its size, the traditional hard drive was replaced with a solid-state disk, the first mass-market computer to do so. This enhanced our lives because solid-state disks became a larger part of laptops as a whole. Allowing us to have thinner laptops that have large storage capacity.