4. The Microchip
Image: Nokia Eco Sensor Concept phone.
“But what… is it good for?” An engineer at the Advanced Computing Systems Division of IBM, commenting on the microchip in 1968.
Hardly anything – well, apart from virtually every piece of electronic equipment in gadgets, vehicles, computer networks, power stations, homes, offices and every other conceivable part of everyday life for this century and probably the next. But otherwise, yes – useless.