What do you consider the most iconic high tech product today?

[63dot]

...specifically or somewhat generally and from what company?

I think I see more Apple iPods than anything else.

The second most visible product I see are those earbud, hands free cellphones which make people look like they are talking to themselves.

 

[Abstract]

So I'm just limited to those poor options?


I thought perhaps really massive HDTVs. It doesn't matter what company. The bigger, the better. And for some reason, people want thinner as well, even though 9 mm is already thin enough not to cramp my style.

some form of GPS unit, iPod Touch, netbook, MacBook Pro, DSLR, and Blackberry.


If there was a photo in a magazine of all the latest tech gadgets, these would be on it.

 

[Quad SLi 295]

That's a deceptively complex question. As depending on your place in the world, both geographic and economic, your opinion of a Tech icon would vary greatly.

With that said, the tech icon of today would have to be one of the many humanoid robots from Japan.

Cheers
Jordan

 

[Randman]

I's say the electric light then the car then the telephone.

If we're talking about the last 25 years or so, the computer.

 

[.Andy]

The cochlear implant. Doesn't get any cooler or more iconic than that.

 

[0098386]

iPod. Without any doubt. Before they came along I had to explain to people what an MP3 was (had 2 MP3 players before I got a 3G iPod). Now just about everyone I know has their own iTunes library. We all have different phones, different games systems, different brands of computers, different cars but everyone I know has an iPod.

I wouldn't say bigger=better with TV's. A lot depends on the brand and image quality.

 

[anjinha]

That's a deceptively complex question. As depending on your place in the world, both geographic and economic, your opinion of a Tech icon would vary greatly.

With that said, the tech icon of today would have to be one of the many humanoid robots from Japan.

Cheers
Jordan

Tech icon of today ≠ most iconic product.

 

[Wiska]

Those microscopic mobile phones all those tweens are toting around.

 

[SactoGuy18]

iPod. Without any doubt. Before they came along I had to explain to people what an MP3 was (had 2 MP3 players before I got a 3G iPod). Now just about everyone I know has their own iTunes library. We all have different phones, different games systems, different brands of computers, different cars but everyone I know has an iPod.

However, the iPod owes a lot to the enormous success of the original cassette-based Sony Walkman TPS-L2 that came out in 1979. That player started the rage for portable music players, and as technology improved the storage medium on the player went from cassette to Compact Disc, then to the MiniDisc, and finally the small hard disk and solid state storage we have now.

 

[63dot]

So I'm just limited to those poor options?


I thought perhaps really massive HDTVs. It doesn't matter what company. The bigger, the better. And for some reason, people want thinner as well, even though 9 mm is already thin enough not to cramp my style.

some form of GPS unit, iPod Touch, netbook, MacBook Pro, DSLR, and Blackberry.


If there was a photo in a magazine of all the latest tech gadgets, these would be on it.

Good points. I wish I could add options to the poll, but those huge HDTVs are everywhere, including too close to the viewer causing a headache 🙂

I don't have one, but know many people who do.

 

[anjinha]

Good points. I wish I could add options to the poll, but those huge HDTVs are everywhere, including too close to the viewer causing a headache 🙂

I don't have one, but know many people who do.

Maybe it's just me but for me something iconic is more than something that is everywhere and that everybody has. That is a trend, not something iconic.

 

[63dot]

Maybe it's just me but for me something iconic is more than something that is everywhere and that everybody has. That is a trend, not something iconic.

I see your point.

Where I am in close proximity to nearly 3,000 high tech companies alone in San Jose, not to mention Sunnyvale, Palo Alto, San Francisco, Cupertino, Santa Clara, Redwood City, etc, high tech is our region's most enduring icon, legend, mass employer of locals. 🙂 ... or maybe not icon but slave driver.

 

[anjinha]

I see your point.

Where I am in close proximity to nearly 3,000 high tech companies alone in San Jose, not to mention Sunnyvale, Palo Alto, San Francisco, Cupertino, Santa Clara, Redwood City, etc, high tech is our region's most enduring icon, legend, mass employer of locals. 🙂

But that's what not what iconic means. Iconic is someone or something that its image is instantly recognizable, something that stands through time.

The iPod is iconic. Audrey Hepburn was iconic.
Saying that high tech is iconic is like saying actors in general are iconic. What's iconic is a particular shape or image or person, not a general concept.

 

[GimmeSlack12]

From a consumer standpoint I really think wireless internet is pretty damn amazing. I mean, just consider the possibilities that are now available for home networks and the moving of data.

WiFi is my choice.

 

[Melrose]

Maybe it's just me but for me something iconic is more than something that is everywhere and that everybody has. That is a trend, not something iconic.

I agree 'iconic' might be overused here, but in this case I would say the iPod is 'iconic' - not the iPhone, not the iPod Touch, not the Apple Logo.

But that's what not what iconic means. Iconic is someone or something that its image is instantly recognizable, something that stands through time.

The iPod is iconic. Audrey Hepburn was iconic.
Saying that high tech is iconic is like saying actors in general are iconic. What's iconic is a particular shape or image or person, not a general concept.

Agree. In order to be iconic, something has to be nearly ubiquitous and instantly recognizable, defining a cultural era, genre, generation or being at the leading edge of the tipping point of change.

I call facial tissues Kleenex, not facial tissues. I call a flying disc a frisbee, not a flying disc. Etc etc. You wouldn't believe how many people I've heard call their Dell DJ or iRiver their 'iPod'.. Most know the difference, but the iPod really is getting to that point; And even if they know the difference, having an iPod nowadays doesn't instantly put you in a higher income bracket like it used to.

The Volkswagon Beetle is iconic. Andy Warhol's photographic style is iconic. Humphrey Bogart was iconic (taking a cue from your last post 🙂)

imho.

 

[anjinha]

From a consumer standpoint I really think wireless internet is pretty damn amazing. I mean, just consider the possibilities that are now available for home networks and the moving of data.

WiFi is my choice.

How can something that you can't even see be iconic?

I agree that Wi-Fi is amazing, but it's not iconic.

I agree 'iconic' might be overused here, but in this case I would say the iPod is 'iconic' - not the iPhone, not the iPod Touch, not the Apple Logo.


Agree. In order to be iconic, something has to be nearly ubiquitous and instantly recognizable, defining a cultural era, genre, generation or being at the leading edge of the tipping point of change.

I call facial tissues Kleenex, not facial tissues. I call a flying disc a frisbee, not a flying disc. Etc etc. You wouldn't believe how many people I've heard call their Dell DJ or iRiver their 'iPod'.. Most know the difference, but the iPod really is getting to that point; And even if they know the difference, having an iPod nowadays doesn't instantly put you in a higher income bracket like it used to.

The Volkswagon Beetle is iconic. Andy Warhol's photographic style is iconic. Humphrey Bogart was iconic (taking a cue from your last post 🙂)

imho.

Thank you, I was starting to think I was crazy.

And I agree, the iPod is iconic, the iPhone isn't (yet?).

 

[63dot]

The iPod is iconic. Audrey Hepburn was iconic.

Absolutely agree with that.

 

[dilbert4life]

I was gonna pick iPhone, but then decided on the iPod simply because I was able to make $700 in 1 month back in 2005 simply by buying used ones off eBay and reselling them on eBay after taking 5 seconds to fix them. iPod's are hotcakes, and anyone who doesn't have one either wants one or doesn't know that they exist.

 

[steve2112]

I voted for the iPod, as well. When a product hits the point where its proper name becomes the generic name for the entire category, it can be considered iconic. Think kleenex, xerox, band-aid, etc. My thoughts on this were further proved a few months ago. My mother, who is almost a Luddite, asked me about converting some of her CDs to work on this "iPod" she had gotten at the company Christmas party. I was a bit surprised that someone had given her an iPod at an office Christmas party, since they usually have a fairly low limit on gifts. (They do secret Santa type stuff). I was thinking maybe a Shuffle or something.

No, it turns it was some generic MP3 player, something like a Phillips. I tried to explain that wasn't an iPod, but an MP3 player. I explained that iPod was one brand of MP3 player, made by Apple. She said something to the effect of "Oh, I thought they were all called iPods." I gave up trying to explain it.

 

[doubleohseven]

I think the iPhone is the most advanced high tech product today. I wouldn't say iconic yet since it has only been out for not even 2 years. Think about it- its multi-touch jesters, accelerometer, touch screen interface with a built in iPod, GPS/maps, call/SMS function at 3G speeds with internet on the go and more all in a slim and sleek design would have stunned people 5-10 years ago.

 

[nick9191]

iPod and iPhone, iMac G3, iMac G4.

 

[mickbab]

I call facial tissues Kleenex, not facial tissues. I call a flying disc a frisbee, not a flying disc. Etc etc. You wouldn't believe how many people I've heard call their Dell DJ or iRiver their 'iPod'.. Most know the difference, but the iPod really is getting to that point.

I was just about to mention this. I think the word iPod is probably more iconic than the objects themselves. However they are pretty damn well known.

How about all adhesive bandages being called Band-Aids?

 

[Tosser]

Thinkpad (yes, your "generic looking black laptop" kind of give away what you really think 🙄)

Walkman

iPod

In that order.

The last two might be switched if you're too young ...

I think the iPhone is the most advanced high tech product today. I wouldn't say iconic yet since it has only been out for not even 2 years. Think about it- its multi-touch jesters, accelerometer, touch screen interface with a built in iPod, GPS/maps, call/SMS function at 3G speeds with internet on the go and more all in a slim and sleek design would have stunned people 5-10 years ago.

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