The 70s was a decade of disco fever, bold fashion statements and technological innovations which brought about massive breakthroughs.
Many of the best inventions of the seventies still have an enormous impact in our lives to this day which younger generations will be clueless about. Here are the 10 best inventions of the 70s.
10. GPS (1978)
Invented in 1978 after testing by the U.S. GPS would eventually find its way into the hands of civilians and it’s hard to think how we could live without its use in our cars, phones and even pets.
So reliant are we on the GPS, if it were to fail it would cost at least $1 billion a day to the U.S. economy and would impact everything from telecommunications, commercial flights, delays in getting cash from banks to say the least.
9. The Rubik’s Cube (1974)
The Rubik’s Cube was invented in 1974 and is the pinnacle of confusion, frustration, and joy with the twisting of colors and unscrambling of a mess racking our brains well beyond the seventies.
It wasn’t until the 80’s that the Rubik’s Cube exploded into mainstream popularity across the world and it remains the best selling puzzle game of all time.
8. Floppy Disc (1971)
The introduction of the floppy disk in 1972 opened the way for data storage that was reliable, reusable, portable and transferable. Today they’re just the “save” icon on many computers.
Floppy discs with their iconic flexible black housing and sliding shutter would typically store an “enormous” 360 KB worth of data, barely enough to store two seconds of low-def video today.
7. The Electronic Calculator Watch
In 1975 we saw the first ever electronic calculator watches, the Hamilton Pulsar Time Computer Calculator and Calcron LED Wrist Calculator. They were the ultimate statement pieces and showed that even nerds could look fashionable.
Marty McFly’s CA53W Twincept Databank in Back to the Future resulted in the electronic calculator watch becoming a pop culture icon of the 80’s. Fast forward to today and early examples can go for a fortune.
6. VHS (1976)
The Video Cassette Recorder (VCR) won the “format war” over the Sony backed Betamax. The first VHS to play VCRs was launched in Japan in 1976, and a year later in the U.S.
With the VCR came a new way for consumers to create their own personal movie libraries at home and was the dominant video format until the DVD in the 90s*.
5. Digital Camera (1975)
Steven Sasson brought digital photography to the world with one of the best inventions of the 70s, the digital camera. He developed a prototype in 1975 weighing 4kg (8.8 lb) for Eastman Kodak.
Although Kodak ironically didn’t see the viability of the digital camera initially, Sasson never gave up and by the 90s, the first commercially available digital cameras were hitting the market.
4. Sony Walkman (1979)
Before the Discman came out in the 80’s* the Walkman was one of the best inventions of the 70s which became an eighties icon. The portable cassette player opened up a world of individualism.
You couldn’t leave home to exercise without a Walkman. Consumers could now listen to their own music on the go and privately, which helped spawn the “headset culture” and the Walkman into one of the icons of the 70s and 80s.
3. Atari 2600 (1972)
The Atari 2600 first launched in 1972 and completely changed the world of gaming. The two-dimensional table tennis-themed Pong game was one of the first games and is synonymous with the 70’s.
It wasn’t the first video computer system, but the Atari 2600 is the one that created an entire generation of gamers with its 8-bit capability. Flagship titles Space Invaders, Pac-Man and Asteroids are still pop culture icons to this day.
2. Apple Computer (1976)
The Apple Computer launched its first ever computer the Apple Computer 1 (or Apple-1) in 1976 and it laid the foundation for what is the world’s largest company by market cap.
By the end of the 70’s Apple computer had also launched the Apple II and Apple II Plus, before releasing the Macintosh line of computers in the 80’s.
1. Email (1971)
In 1971 first first ever electronic mail (E-mail) was sent by Ray Tomlinson using ARPANET, an early communication system exchanging data between computers.
The email Tomlinson sent was from one computer to another, which sat directly next to it. It however was a precursor to other email and webmail services with smartphones allowed for instant access in today’s world..
