The 10 Most Disruptive Technology Combinations

2. The Web + The Graphical Browser

In a word, duh. The fact that you're reading this online right now may be proof enough of how disruptive the Web has been. Before 1993, however, the Internet as we think of it today was a loose collection of protocols, networks, and tools built by university geeks. The introduction of the World Wide Web in 1991 gave people a way to connect information online, but it was still just another (albeit critical) piece in the puzzle.

The graphical browser, invented in 1993 by Marc Andreessen and Eric Bina at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, gave the Web wings, ultimately turning it into a delivery vehicle for just about everything.

"[The graphical browser] has changed virtually every aspect of the economy and created an entirely new class of major global corporations that did not exist prior to then," says Richard Landry, a new-media consultant and former editor in chief of PC World.

According to a recent poll by We Media and Zogby Interactive, nearly half of Americans now get their news from the Internet. The writing is on the wall--or rather, the Web.

Disruption: Media firms, publishing companies, and advertisers now think Web first, and broadcast or print second.