We turned the page on a new decade recently, and it doesn't even seem like it. Way back in the twentieth century, it was easy. I remember switching from the 70s to the 80s. It was so obvious that we were going into a new decade. Going from the "ots" to the "tens" was not. If they hadn't talked about it on television, I would have never even known it.

People always make lists of events of a past decade. You know, the most important news story, or the hottest movie stars, etc. This time, it wasn't too interesting, or difficult. I mean, if you asked anyone what the most important news story was, there is no debate. The September 11 terrorist attacks, right? It was a decade of unprecedented events, including the election of the nation's first black president.

There are some things that are open to debate about the last decade. A couple of us were discussing what were the greatest inventions, or technical developments, of the last ten years.

For me, it was obvious.



DVR. Seriously, what has impacted our habits, and frustrated people in the advertising business, more than the digital video recorder? I rarely watch my favorite shows live, I almost always DVR them, so I don't have to put up with the commercials, and the "cliffhanger" effect. When Lisa and I are watching our shows, and we want to discuss something about it, we call "pause it." The DVR has totally changed the way we watch TV, and the way we respond to advertising. And I love it. The other day, I was chatting with a friend, and asked him if he had watched the latest episode of some show. His response made me smile. "I taped it."

There were other great developments too. Facebook, for example. What other development has done so much to bring people (back) together? If Facebook had existed twenty-five years ago, it is likely that I would never have lost touch with some of my closest friends.

We should also consider Craigslist as a great development. Wait a minute—advertising, for FREE? I have listed several things on Craigslist, and it works, better than any classified advertising that I ever paid for. Where else can you get a used couch, a bicycle, or a hooker, all on the same website?

Another important development is self-checkout at the grocery store. Not that I don't like interacting with the cashier. But after going to the grocery store regularly for a couple of decades now, I have had all the platitudes I can stand. I can usually get in and out of the store much faster using self checkout, and I don't have to make small talk with a teenage girl who would rather be texting her friends than talking to me.

Small, affordable, accessible GPS. I haven't gotten lost on my bicycle since I got the Garmin Edge 705. It is so much more than just a GPS unit. I can upload my rides to the computer, where it coordinates workouts with Google maps, and keeps a permanent record of mileage, heart rate, and distance. It is an easy way to log my progress.

There are others, probably many others, but I have to get to work. What are your favorite developments of the last decade?