What other technology innovations have had as much impact and influence as the iPhone? originally appeared on Quora - the knowledge sharing network where compelling questions are answered by people with unique insights.
Answer by Connie Guglielmo, Editor-in-Chief, CNET News, on Quora.
What other technology innovations have had as much impact and influence as the iPhone? This is a big question so it really depends on your time frame (I mean, Edison and his lightbulb was a big thing).
If we look at what's going on in tech today, I would point to the work Tesla is doing to convince people that battery-powered cars with varying degrees of autonomous tech is the wave of the future. They're now a thought leader in car design and every auto company in the world is looking to Elon Musk and his team at Tesla to see what they're doing.
And even though the Pokemon Go fad has seemingly come/gone, I'd argue that they really helped popularize the idea of what augmented reality is and that it can be cool, community-building, fun, clever and simple.
Looking ahead, I just got back from CES, and I would also point now to the rise of "adorable" robots powered by an AI assistant. Amazon's done a great job with its Echo smart speaker/Alexa assistant of showing how such voice-control can be super useful in your everyday life, but it's those cutesy robots -- non-threatening -- that may be the gateway for AI coming into your house. I mean, you're not going to invite a Terminator robot in, but Kuri -- a speechless robot, of all things, -- could be the start of AI in the home. It's going to talk in the future, that's for sure.
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