The 10 Most Disruptive Technology Combinations

Five Things We'd Like to See Disrupted

• Plastic packaging: What happened to the packaging industry? Why do people need industrial-strength wire cutters to open the shrink-wrap on a $20 mouse?
• Pop-up ads on TV: We really don't need to see tiny people dancing across the bottom of the screen promoting the next program while we're watching this one, thanks.
• Rich-media ads on the Web: If we wanted to watch commercials, we'd be sitting on the couch in front of Oprah. Stop with the swirling, scrolling, popping, video ads; they're not working.
• Digital rights management: When it comes to music, DRM is on life support, and we're more than happy to stand on the oxygen hose. But for video--especially the HD formats--it's still an enormous pain. When will Hollywood moguls learn that their customers are smarter than they are?
• Instant messaging: The Berlin Wall fell. Sixteen nations have collaborated on the International Space Station. But folks are still stuck with incompatible IM services and/or kludgy front ends. Can't we all just get along?

When PC World Contributing Editor Dan Tynan feels too disruptive, he takes a nap.