| Cellphones | | | | in 1986. Apple followed with the first consumer |
| Car phones were around in the 1970s, but it | | | | version eight years later. |
| wasn't until 1983 that Motorola introduced the first | | | | Doppler radar |
| widely available handheld cellphone, the DynaTAC | | | | USA became a nation of weather fans as Doppler |
| 8000x. | | | | radar brought up-to-the-minute images to TV |
| Laptop computers | | | | starting in 1990. |
| The 28-pound Compaq Portable - Compaq | | | | Flat-panel TVs |
| Computer's very first product - was the first | | | | RCA pioneered flat-panel technology in the Iate |
| portable IBM-compatible PC on the market. | | | | 1960& But it took nearly four decades before |
| BlackBerries | | | | consumers got the idea. |
| A Canadian pager company, Research In Motion, | | | | Electronic tolls |
| shortened attention spans around the world with | | | | Throwing quarters in a tollbooth bin became a |
| the launch of the BlackBerry mobile e-mail device | | | | thing of the past when the North Texas Tollway |
| in 1999. | | | | Authority started its TollTag system in the Dallas |
| Debit cards | | | | area in 1989. |
| Ka-ching! Who needs cash when you've got a | | | | PowerPoint |
| debit card? They took off after visa launched its | | | | PowerPoint was invented by Forethought. |
| check card in 1995. | | | | Microsoft bought Forethought in 1987, unveiled its |
| Caller ID | | | | Windows version in 1990 and changed public |
| Bill collectors are easy to ignore with this invention | | | | speaking forever. |
| introduced by BellSouth in 1984 in Orlando. | | | | Microwavable popcorn |
| DVDs | | | | General Mills paved the way with the launch of |
| Americans traded all those hours rewinding video | | | | Act II non-refrigerated microwaveable popcorn in |
| cassettes for hours with the introduction of digital | | | | 1984. |
| video discs in 1995. | | | | High-tech footwear |
| Lithium rechargeable batteries | | | | Plain canvas sneakers got tossed to the back of |
| How many As does it take to power a laptop? | | | | the closet when Nike launched Air Jordans in 1985, |
| Almost no one knows, thanks to the durable | | | | followed by Reebok's The Pump in 1989. |
| rechargeable battery Sony brought to market in | | | | Online stock trading |
| 1991.iPods | | | | Investors jettisoned pricey stockbrokers after an |
| Walking down the sidewalk hasn't been the | | | | Ameritrade predecessor offered online stock |
| same.since November 2001, when Apple | | | | trading in 1994. |
| introduced its iconic portable digital music player. | | | | Big Bertha golf clubs |
| Pay at the pump | | | | A World War I cannon inspired one of the biggest |
| A gas station chain in Abilene, Texas, invented | | | | golf innovations when Ely Callaway created the |
| technology that turned the pump into a | | | | oversize, wide-bodied stainless Steel wood he |
| quasi-ATM. | | | | dubbed Big Bertha in 1991. |
| Lettuce in a bag | | | | Disposable contacts |
| Fresh Express in California, rolled out mixed | | | | Daily disposables- contacts worn for just a day |
| lettuce greens in a high-tech plastic bag in 1989. | | | | before they're tossed - arrived in the USA in |
| Digital cameras | | | | 1995. |
| Kodak unveiled a digital camera for professionals | | | | |