#6 Local Area Network

ARCNET was the first widely available networking system for microcomputers. It was developed by principal development engineer John Murphy at Datapoint Corporation, provided first commercial LAN in 1977. It answered the people’s need to share files, printers and WAN connections at affordable prices, and with greater speeds.

#5 Acoustic Coupler

The external acoustic-coupler modem (1965) is the first device which converted analog signals from ordinary phone to turn huge computers of the time into network interfaces with blazing 300bps. Though it was included in PC World’s “Ugliest Product in Tech History” list, it defiantly paved way for modern ultra fast internet.

#4 Mobile Phones

The mobile phones were active as early as 1983 when commercial cell networks debuted in. Though at that time mobile phones were not sleek to fit into pockets or have multimedia functions, instead are huge and confined to vehicles, nevertheless the purpose of talking on the go was achieved.