Top 20 Gadgets of 2000 – 2009

Top lists are far from rare, and as we’re getting close to 2010, I’m sure there will be countless more to look through in the next month or two (who knows, perhaps we might even have one). One posted at the website for Paste Magazine caught my eye, as it shows off the staff’s choices for the top 20 gadgets from the year 2000 to present. I don’t entirely agree with all of them, but overall it’s a solid list.

In the list’s 20th spot is the Bluetooth earpiece, which surprised me. I’ve always considered these to be instant douchebag creators, but the site mentions that while that could be the case, it’s also surely been responsible for many saved lives over the years, so how you can trash it? Interestingly, many of the choices on the list have to do with audio of some sort, whether it be music or real discussion.

As you’d expect, there are a fair number of USB devices, including the USB flash drive, which I’d have to agree as being a great choice. I’d place it much higher than #18, though. If you have a flash drive, and you probably do, just imagine not having one for a second, and see how great that idea sounds. This form of storage was slow to catch on, thanks in part to the early-adopter pricing, but today, I know almost no one who’s without one.

Most of the other winners aren’t that surprising, and it’s not going to shock a single person on earth that the iPod landed in first place. Other notable mentions include the Blackberry, Slingbox, iPhone and Amazon Kindle. I thought hard about what I’d have to consider my favorite gadget of the year 2000 or later is, and I quickly realized that I’m not much of a “gadget guy”. Although I don’t use it as often as I like, I might have to pick Sony’s PSP. It’s mobile, has stellar graphics and tons of capabilities, and the list is growing all the time. The only real downside is battery-life… I can’t stand it!

Travelers need no longer preserve their novels’ final chapters for the plane ride home. The online superstore Amazon introduced its peculiar literary instrument in 2007, compacting the book and the bookstore into a single, grayscale device. The Kindle married an unlikely couple: literature and the electronic. It will remain one of the few gadgets to be never criticized for its brain-melting capabilities. And best of all, thanks to digital ink, it reads just like paper.