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The 50 Best Tech Products of All Time

From breakthrough hardware to time-honored software, we salute those amazing products that changed technology--and our lives--forever.

Christopher Null, PC World

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The 50 Best Tech Products, in Ranked Order

This is how PC World ranks the best tech products. You may disagree, strongly. Take action: Vote for your favorite best tech product. And don't forget to leave a comment below. We want a piece of your mind. And see our Slide Show: The Products PCW Should Have Picked, where you'll find out what others are already saying.

  1. Netscape Navigator (1994)
  2. Apple II (1977)
  3. TiVo HDR110 (1999)
  4. Napster (1999)
  5. Lotus 1-2-3 for DOS (1983)
  6. Apple iPod (2001)
  7. Hayes Smartmodem (1981)
  8. Motorola StarTAC (1996)
  9. WordPerfect 5.1 (1989)
  10. Tetris (1985)
  11. Adobe Photoshop 3.0 (1994)
  12. IBM ThinkPad 700C (1992)
  13. Atari VCS/2600 (1977)
  14. Apple Macintosh Plus (1986)
  15. RIM BlackBerry 857 (2000)
  16. 3dfx Voodoo3 (1999)
  17. Canon Digital Elph S100 (2000)
  18. Palm Pilot 1000 (1996)
  19. id Software Doom (1993)
  20. Microsoft Windows 95 (1995)
  21. Apple iTunes 4 (2003)
  22. Nintendo Game Boy (1989)
  23. Iomega Zip Drive (1994)
  24. Spybot Search & Destroy (2000)
  25. Compaq Deskpro 386 (1986)
  26. CompuServe (1982)
  27. Blizzard World of Warcraft (2004)
  28. Aldus PageMaker (1985)
  29. HP LaserJet 4L (1993)
  30. Apple Mac OS X (2001)
  31. Nintendo Entertainment System (1985)
  32. Eudora (1988)
  33. Sony Handycam DCR-VX1000 (1995)
  34. Apple Airport Base Station (1999)
  35. Brøderbund The Print Shop (1984)
  36. McAfee VirusScan (1990)
  37. Commodore Amiga 1000 (1985)
  38. ChipSoft TurboTax (1985)
  39. Mirabilis ICQ (1996)
  40. Creative Labs Sound Blaster 16 (1992)
  41. Apple HyperCard (1987)
  42. Epson MX-80 (1980)
  43. Central Point Software PC Tools (1985)
  44. Canon EOS Digital Rebel (2003)
  45. Red Hat Linux (1994)
  46. Adaptec Easy CD Creator (1996)
  47. PC-Talk (1982)
  48. Sony Mavica MVC-FD5 (1997)
  49. Microsoft Excel (1985)
  50. Northgate OmniKey Ultra (1987)
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