My friend and editor, Chris Null, has written a fantastic piece for Mobile PC called "The Top 100 Gadgets of All Time." He includes gizmos from the early 20th century (Zippo Windproof Lighter, 1932; Master Lock Padlock, 1924) all the way up to 2005. The photographs of the gear are terrific. He obviously spent an awful lot of time researching this and tracking down the photos.
83. ACCUSPLIT MEMORY STOPWATCH, 1972
Before the digital stopwatch, when you timed something, you had to do it on a wacky round device that ticked and was just as hard to read as a wall clock. But in 1972, Accusplit introduced the digital stopwatch. Gone were hands and tick marks, replaced by easy-to-read numbers. Better yet, the thing expressed time in hundredths of seconds, a boon to athletes and scientists.
