It is somewhat obvious to say, but without tools we humans would get little done. It is our ability to conceptualize beyond accepted norms, to realize that things can be done better by doing them differently that has allowed human society to thrive and improve for centuries.
Some of the greatest minds in history from Galileo to Edison have been inventors. Sadly and surprisingly, in spite of the UK’s long association with great inventors stretching back from Dyson to Graham Bell, from Brunel to Faraday and beyond there is no national inventors day. However, we thought we’d borrow Edison’s birthday tomorrow(and America’s National Inventors Day) to celebrate the art and science of invention.
Taking a more business-minded approach to invention (so no Dyson Airblade or Apple iPod) we look at the 5 most important inventions for business in the 21st Century.
- Skype (2002)
Communication and connectivity mark some of the most important developments in the advancement of human society in general but in this age of ultra-communication, the potential to discuss and collaborate with has been brought to new heights.
VoIP or Voice Over Internet Protocol gave us the chance to speak to family members, for free over the internet but it also opened new avenues for video conferencing as well as engaging in a more direct manner with remote teams.
There is a reason why Skype was bought by Microsoft for a whopping $8.5 billion back in 2011. With an estimated ⅓ of global telephone conversation occurring through Skype you have to say that it was money well spent with Skype having firmly established itself as the leader in online communication. Microsoft also integrated Skype with Lync to create Skype for Business and further cement the brand’s place as a telecommunication behemoth that is undoubtedly one of the best business tech inventions that this century has seen.
2) YouTube (2005)
Whether we are discussing the American Wild West or the advent of the internet, whenever a is a new frontier appears, there is also a subsequent land-grab. In the same way that Skype dominates the market for making phone calls over the internet YouTube dominates our internet content consumption. In fact, in North America YouTube along with its protege Netflix occupy over 50% of internet traffic at peak times. That is just incredible.
What YouTube has shown is our thirst not only for traditional entertainment like music videos but also news, political and social commentary, explainer videos, insight into the life of ordinary people and, of course, cat videos. From a business perspective, the channel opened up possibilities for engagement with a consumer base like never before. It leveled out the playing field between smaller businesses and larger corporations, changed how we consume advertising as well as content and brought new levels of engagement to all. YouTube might not be as well-known as a business application as it is for entertainment but the platform was definitely a business game changer for the 21st century.
3) iPhone (2007)
Unsurprisingly for the technology age, this list is dominated by software and digital advancements. Yet the creation and release of the iPhone deserves an absolute mention as the sole piece of standalone hardware on this list.
The invention of the iPhone changed so much it truly is astounding. Engadget called the release of the iPhone on 9th January 2007 “a milestone day” for technology for good reason. Touchscreen. Apps. Siri. All of these useful tools came from a single device.
With a decade’s worth of hindsight at our disposal, the iPhone looks somewhat clunky and nowhere near as slick as its successors. It can even appear somewhat quirky (auto-correct anyone?)
But on a serious note, we only need to look at the benefits for business that the iPhone brought along. Whatever handset you do use, fruit related or otherwise, the iPhone introduced new concepts and possibilities for how is conducted.
4) AI
Technically speaking, AI is not a new invention. We can look back over hundreds of years of philosophy to see that humans have inspired to create a sentient being. It was in the second half of the 20th century, after the Second World War when AI research came into its own. .
AI is, as academic Pamela McCorduck puts it: “that audacious effort to duplicate in an artifact what we humans consider to be our most important, our identifying, property — our intelligence.”
So why is AI included in a list of top 5 business tech inventions in the 2st Century? It is because recently have been a number of significant advances in AI that it can be termed an invention of the 21st Century. Not since Garry Kasparov vs. DeepBlue in the mid 1990s have there been such significant gains in the field such as IBM’s Watson winning the game show Jeopardy in 2011, Google’s DeepMind beating the World Champion at Go in 2016 and even chat bots becoming commonplace on Facebook and hundreds of more websites still. Make no doubt about it, AI is an invention that will revolutionize the way businesses are able to interact with their consumers — booking flights or handling inquiries, cleaning up accounts and dealing with complaints. We have only scratched the surface of AI and how it can impact business and our daily lives.
We can’t really speak about AI without discussing the T100 in the room (inevitable Terminator reference? check.) That is to say that there are massive moral and ethical considerations to explore before we reach the proverbial point of no return. As Elon Musk puts it: “I think we should be very careful about artificial intelligence. If I had to guess at what our biggest existential threat is, it’s probably that.”
AI is without doubt one of the biggest technological advancements in human history. It is also probably one of its most dangerous. That being all said and done, there is no question as to its place on this list.
5) Immersive Technology
There is no single technology on this list that is ‘better’ than any other but for our money (as a somewhat biased HoloLens development agency) immersive technology is the coolest. Again, like AI, Mixed Reality, Virtual Reality and Augmented reality are not singular ‘inventions’ per se, but it is the breakthrough of these technologies in the 21st Century that puts them firmly on the list.
For business, the possibilities that can be unlocked by immersive technology are astounding. In truth, these technologies are only just starting to take off and so it remains to be seen how far we can take them. However the opportunity to insert digital overlays onto real life or create and explore engaging virtual scenarios can change the very face of education, medicine, construction, engineering, design and many more industries besides.
Mixed Reality, Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality are changing the very fabric of what we perceive to be ‘real’ in many fantastic and positive ways. It is estimated that by 2020 the Immersive Technology market will hit $150 billion but the true benefit will be how it shapes both business and our daily lives.
Conclusion
So, that’s the list. Agree or disagree? Comments and commentary are most welcome so drop us a note with your thoughts. Remember, this was a top 5, not a top 10 so we had to be ruthless. So some business tech and tools from LinkedIn to Android, from 4G to Slack just couldn’t make the cut. If you feel there was something missing then engage us, we’re open to debate.
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