In the aftermath of the United States’ response to Sputnik, the US had an eruption of innovations: the microprocessor (invented in 1971), the LCD display (1971), the word processor (1972), video games (1972), laser printers (1975), the spreadsheet (1978), personal computers (1981), digital cell phones (1988), the World Wide Web (1990), among others. These items are picked from the inventors’ timeline page at About.com.
What has America invented since 1991? Again, according to About.com, the big items are: the digital answering machine, Web TV, the gas-powered fuel cell, the hybrid car, and, of course, Viagra. According to Professor Robert Gordon of Northwestern University, the world is simply out of ideas; the digital revolution has come and gone, and a technological trough is inevitable.
via Asia Times Online :: The siege of Baghdad and China’s rise.
Lol! Ok but actually I came across a new invention being pushed by The Mötley Fool. It’s called 3D printing and it “prints” entire objects. Almost like a mini-manufacturing machine. The specifics of it mystified me but perhaps this is the new technological break-through. Maybe 🙂
One can only hope. 🙂
3-D printing makes me think of the Strandbeests of Dutch artist/inventor Theo Jansen, which can be replicated in small form with a 3-D printer. The original, large animals, which move along the windy Dutch coast (and will one day learn to reproduce, according to Jansen), are the sort of retro, non-technological inventions I think we might look forward to. I realize the subject was U.S. inventions, but the world shrinks. If you’re interested, there’s a TED talk on the Strandbeests at http://www.ted.com/talks/theo_jansen_creates_new_creatures.html