Tech Advances That Were Game Changers

Facebook X Pinterest LinkedIn StumbleUpon

The world of technology is one of constant progression and occasional disruptive innovations. It is dedicated to achieving the sort of breakthroughs that genuinely change the ways in which we live.

People within the tech industry are always coming up with new ideas to try to get around problems. One example of that in practice would be Sweeps Coins casinos.

These provide alternative online casino gaming options for places where playing for real money is still banned. Those people can play their favorite games at special coins casinos in the USA without breaking the law, because they are a simulation where no actual money is being gambled.

As smart an idea as this is though, it does not fall into the rarefied category of game changing tech advances. Those are ones where we can truly say that nothing was ever the same again afterwards.

It is the earth shaking advances in technology that this article will take a look at.

Sputnik

Yes, game changing tech developments were happening as far back as the 1950s. The launch of Sputnik by the Soviets in 1957 saw the very first artificial satellite enter space to orbit the earth.

The shock this gave the US government kick-started the space race that culminated in Apollo 11 reaching the moon 12 years later. The creation of the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) in the US also led to the development of a prototype Internet in the shape of ARPAnet and we owe it all to the Sputnik satellite.

Pong

One of the areas in which tech advances are focused is gaming and it was this title from Atari in 1972 that really launched the video games industry. Pong is a simple tennis-style game featuring a ball hit between two on-screen paddles, but it was strangely compelling and is now iconic.

AR and VR

Although not quite the same, augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) are often placed together. AR sees digital elements such as visual images and audio effects blended in with the real world and it has already changed things by enabling the creation of innovative games like Pokémon Go, Harry Potter: Wizards Unite and Zombies, Run!

AR can turn reality into something magical, which makes it ideal for gaming.

VR creates totally digital worlds that feel as three-dimensional and real as actual reality. The potential it has as a game changer is obvious from the fight between the big tech companies to dominate the market with their VR headsets.

These sets are progressing rapidly in quality. Current generation models like the Valve Index and Facebook’s Meta Quest 2 and 3 suggest that it is ready to really shake things up. If VR gaming does finally become a mainstream thing, all previous forms of gaming could very quickly feel obsolete because they lack its three-dimensionality, interactivity and total immersion qualities.

IBM PC Model 5150

Although personal computers had hit the market prior to the launch of this one, it was the 5150 from IBM that was the point at which they really arrived. What made its 1981 launch such a game changer was the fact that it shrank the market to a few copyists plus the Apple Mac.

That was because previous computers all needed individual components and software due to compatibility issues. That made them strictly for dedicated enthusiasts, but IBM turned computers into something widely used within the workplace.

Coupled with the Wordstar and Lotus software, this was the real start of the digital working revolution.

Broadband

The launch of this cable Internet service throughout the US in 1995 did a similar thing for the Web. It was possible to gain access before that, but it was an expensive and time-consuming process, while the speed was very slow.

Broadband supplanted that dial-up service as a way to connect to the Internet, although like many earth-shaking innovations it took a while to fully filter out to the world. By a decade on from its launch, 50% of those using the Internet were doing so through a broadband connection.

Artificial Intelligence

This is possibly the most controversial on the list. Then again, many radical tech advances were a cause of controversy at the time, before eventually the changes they led to became accepted.

AI is already being used by a lot of industries, such as logistics and healthcare. The ability to hand over routine tasks to machine learning is helping improve efficiency.

The tech is also starting to be used within the games industry, with online games websites deploying it to create customized user experiences and answer queries, but that is just the beginning of its potential.

Some of these technologies changed the game in the past while others are only just starting to do that.