“Between You and Me” – Important Inventions

As someone in their mid-fifties, I’ve witnessed a huge amount of change in my lifetime. Growing up in the 1970s, I experienced a period that was still quite early post-war Britain, a time that felt like it sat just before the country began to shift at pace. The 1980s brought new technology into everyday life, with the arrival of home computers and the start of rapid development over the decades that followed. Microwaves, mobile phones and other life-enhancing inventions solved plenty of problems, while also introducing a few new challenges of their own.

Of all the inventions I’ve seen come and go, the internet and the web is the most important. Without them, computers wouldn’t exist as we know them today. The World Wide Web transformed communication through email and messaging, and the structure supported web browsers to allow internet browsing and surfing, and opened the door to things like streaming and instant access to information.

Without the web and the internet, smartphones and modern computers simply wouldn’t function in the way we now know and accept. They certainly wouldn’t be as smart. From productivity tools like email and online platforms, to apps and even the simple enjoyment of blogging, so much of daily life now depends on being connected. Beyond the personal and practical, the impact is far wider, supporting everything from medical equipment to other essential connected technologies. It really is one of those rare inventions that sits at the centre of so many others.