9. Chegg.com – Founded in 2001 as a Craigslist-type website for college students, now Chegg.com is a textbook rental site that has rented to over 6,400 campuses across the nation. They have saved students approximately $65 million dollars with their renting program. Students sign out course books for the semester, and after the course is completed they simply ship the books back. Not only is this site helpful in recycling books, but for every book a person rents, Chegg will plant a tree in their name. This is due to a partnership with the American Forests’ Global ReLeaf Program. Over 3,000 acres of trees have been planted so far. Many students cringe at the prices at the bookstore, and even the ones on Amazon.com. Thanks to Chegg you can rent books for a fraction of the cost in stores and help save the planet.
8. American Idol – Debuting in 2002 it was the phenomenon that swept the nation, created by the outspoken Simon Fuller. Since Kelly Clarkson’s win, there have been seven more seasons to date. According to Wikipedia.com, except for Jordin Sparks, all of the winners have been from the Southern states. Host Ryan Seacrest has been there since the beginning, and the original judges were Randy Jackson, Paula Abdul and Simon Fuller. Last year, songwriter and record-producer Kara DioGuardi was added to the bunch, and Paula announced her retirement from the show. Starting next season, Ellen Degeneres will be added to the panel. American Idol gave many people hope to become a star overnight, and unfortunately went down the road of showcasing terrible try-outs. It shows that our country loves to poke fun at others but at the heart of it all, Idol lovers just want to see what average American can belt it out on stage.
7. TiVo – First used by consumers in 2000, the TiVo was created by Jim Barton and Mike Ramsay. Now there are many variations of this product, but in an instant every tape recorder was scared for their existence. No longer would people say, “Did you remember to set the VCR timer?” Pausing live T.V., presetting to record favorite shows, and storing hours of television footage are now possible with the TiVo. People have loved it ever since it came out and they’re not turning back.
6. Nintendo Wii – “Wii would like to play,” is the tagline for this game system, first up for consumer purchase in 2006. It currently competes with Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. The difference in this game system was that the controller reacts to human motion, as well as to buttons that are pressed. Games like Wii Sports make a person feel like they’re on the tennis court or up for bat at the baseball field. Now things have expanded with extras like Wii Fit where a person can get in shape with the program! Video games have certainly come a long way since Pong!
5. Hulu.com – According to the website, Hulu was founded in 2007. It’s a way to legally watch current T.V. programs on the air for free. NBC and Disney are just two companies that have some partnership in the company. The days of going to television network websites to try and catch new episodes are over. Now Hulu collects many episodes in the same place. Family Guy, The Office, and Saturday Night Live are among some of the most popular shows on Hulu. The only downfall is that there are a couple of minutes of commercials with each episode, but it’s a small price to pay to have current T.V. accessible almost anywhere!
4. Facebook.com – “Millions of people use Facebook everyday to keep up with friends, upload an unlimited number of photos, share links and videos, and learn more about the people they meet,” according to Facebook.com. Facebook was created by Mark Zuckerberg, a college student who created the site in his Harvard dorm room in 2004. He’s now 25 and the site is worth more than 6 billion dollars. That’s one way to get rich quick! Facebook began to outshine Myspace when more than just students could use the site… and now everyone and their great uncle (literally) are roaming the site. Facebook changed the way people connect, probably started some good and bad relationships, and allowed people to create a visual profile where they can share everything about their lives. Who knows where interactive sites are going from here, but Facebook is a prime example of how a simple idea can blossom into a phenomenon.
3. Youtube.com – The site that made the average Joe a superstar, Youtube.com completely changed how people share videos with one another. With the ease of uploading and finding photos, anyone can access an unlimited number of funny, weird, and altogether awesome videos. According to Youtube.com, the site was founded in 2005 and is now the most popular video uploading site in the world. Now it’s so easy to insert and imbed a video into your Facebook site or an email that many people do it daily. Every minute, 20 hours of footage is uploaded to the site. Try searching wacky videos like “Chocolate Rain,” “Grape Stomp” and “David after Dentist” for some laughs and enjoyment.
2. Text messaging – Although the first text message was sent in the late 80’s, texting really took off in this decade. Now it’s not surprising to see kids walking around and texting, as parents have it built into the plans since it’s becoming more popular. Many people with a cell phone have texting, and it’s an easy way to send a quick message to someone without having to actually talk to them. Has our society found another way to be more distant in communication? Possibly, but with the amount of communicating people do through emails and internet posts today, texting is not much different. Phones are now being designed to support the avid texter’s needs, with key pads that flip out and touch screens that are set up like a keyboard. A specific lingo is sometimes used with texting to keep things short, because for many plans a rate is set per message. Some examples found on Webopia.com were “DKDC” (Don’t know don’t care) “CRBT” (Crying really big tears) and “DGTG” (Don’t go there girlfriend). A new problem has arisen with the amount of people who are texting while driving and getting into accidents. In Staten Island, a 15-year-old girl fell into a manhole while texting. Texting is so captivating that people just cannot wait to do it, and sadly many injuries have resulted.
1. iPod – Launched by Apple in 2001, the iPod has completely changed the portable, personal music experience. iPodhistory.com has a complete list of the innovations the iPod has gone through over the years, since the first iPod that Steve Jobs created. The new forms of iPods are called “generations”, and now the latest iPod, the iPod touch, is on its third generation. Many forms of the “pod” have come out like the shuffle, nano, mini and the classic. They allow a ridiculous amount of songs to be easily accessed in one place, without the use of CDs or batteries. Since the battery can be recharged on the computer or wall charger, the iPod has been the most efficient and easiest way to personally play a plethora of music to date. What’s next? iPods built into our brains? Who knows what they’re cooking up in those Apple labs. The new millennium brought many good things- we survived Prince’s forecast of 1999 and the computers didn’t blow up in 2000. The world was ready to step up its game in the technology world and make it easier for people to do the things they want to, every day. The first decade of the millennium was filled with difficult wartime as well as the milestone of the first African American president. People have developed a lot in the past ten years and just think: about a century and half ago the fastest form of travel was horse and buggy.