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Email
Invented by Ray Tomlinson at ARPANET, e-mail was intended for intra-business communication but became widely available. Email saves human labor by greatly reducing the need for face-to-face communication or physical mail, and in greatly reduced time. -
Pong
Invented by Allan Alcorn not as entertainment but as teaching and training, the game of Pong kick-started the video game industry that we know today. The company he worked for, Atari, decided to publish Alcorn's game and the public latched onto it. Although not the first video game ever, Pong was certainly the first to get the public excited about video games. -
VCR by Philips
Created by multiple people, the Philips VCR was the first commercially available home video cassette recorder. It helped the VHS tape prevail of the competing SONY Betamax. The home VCR allowed people to watch movies and television in the comfort, privacy, and flexibility of being at home, rather than attending the limited showings in theaters or television broadcast times. -
Apple Computer
Invented by Steve Wosniak, the Apple computer showed that computers could be smaller and simpler than they were. It required some assembly, but it was a much easier form of computer, which was then dubbed 'microcomputer'. The computer's ability to display text without a lot of circuitry was a huge advancement in the applications of computers. -
Sony Walkman
The Walkman by Sony was the first portable music player and the public received it well. It played cassette tapes, which were the predecessors to the compact disc, and the Walkman itself was not much bigger than tapes. It's impact on consuming music and audio today has been a line of portable entertainment technology that has gotten smaller and more reliable over the decades.