25 Technologies That Changed the Decade

6. BlackBerry

You have to admit that if a product gets compared with a highly addictive drug, it must be a huge success. The CrackBerry, er, BlackBerry quickly became a must-have mobile device, and it's still pretty much the mobile device of choice for business users. By making it easy to stay connected anywhere, the BlackBerry certainly boosted productivity (and probably ruined more than a few vacations).

7. Blade servers

Blade servers have become so commonplace that it's easy to forget how stunning it was to see an entire server room of systems reduced to a single rack.

8. Bluetooth

It can be easy to think of Bluetooth as a failure, especially if one looks at its early promises. But then consider all of the wires and cables you aren't using anymore, and you come to appreciate the accomplishments of Bluetooth.

9. Firefox

Just a few years ago, the future of the Web and the browser looked bleak. Internet Explorer dominated the market, and Microsoft wasn't interested in browser innovation. But when Mozilla released Firefox, we finally got real browser choice and innovation. Firefox reignited the browser wars, and today we have more competition and choice in browsers than ever before.

10. Gmail/Google Apps

Sure, Web-based mail and other applications existed before Gmail and Google Apps. But none offered the features, convenience and reliability that Google did. Now, entire businesses are running using only Google's Web-based e-mail and productivity applications.

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