The technology with impact 2007
The last 12 months have seen plenty of talking points around technology - from the iPhone, to Facebook, the launch of Vista and the XO laptop - but what were the developments, stories or gadgets which had the biggest impact?
Context & Ripple Effects
Year-end canonisation has become its own ritual: BBC's question of which 2007 developments had the biggest impact lands three days after Salon's year-in-technology rundown and two weeks after Time's 50 Top 10 Lists of 2007, extending a tradition Wired helped set with its Best Tech Moments of 2005.
What distinguishes this year's shortlist is its spread: Apple's iPhone launch, Facebook's rise, Microsoft's Vista rollout and the XO laptop each represent a different front — the phone, the social network, the desktop OS and computing for the developing world — so the debate over 'biggest impact' is really a debate over where computing's centre of gravity sits.
First-order effects
- Apple's iPhone launch forces handset makers and carriers to treat software experience, not hardware specifications, as the basis of competition in mobile.
- Microsoft's Vista rollout sets the PC industry's upgrade agenda for the year, while Facebook's growth turns the social network from campus niche into mainstream destination.
Second-order effects
- Rival phone manufacturers now have to answer a touchscreen, internet-first device, redirecting their design and marketing budgets away from carrier-specified feature phones.
- Facebook's ascent puts user attention and the social graph at the centre of the portal wars, pressuring established networks and media sites to open up their own platforms.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, the industry's defining platforms shift from the desktop-plus-Windows cycle toward pocket devices and social networks, with the XO laptop arguing the next billion users arrive through cheap hardware rather than premium ones.
- The year-end list itself hardens into an industry institution: outlets compete to fix the canonical narrative of each year, shaping which products attract talent, capital and imitation.
The trend: Computing's centre of gravity is moving off the desktop and onto the phone and the social network, with 2007's shortlist marking the handover.