5 popular tools that weren't a big deal 5 years ago
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Although we may not be living on the moon or cruising around town in flying cars, technology has made rapid advances in the first decade of the 21st century alone, drastically changing our world -- and the journey isn’t over. A recent USA TODAY article discussed how social media and technology would once again come together to transform retail shopping. The ever-changing face of technology may cause you to ask yourself: “Where do we go from here? What more can we possibly do?”
Sometimes these advances happen so quickly, you don’t even realize how much they have changed. Take a look at some technological tools that may not have meant much to world five years ago, but are presently considered game-changers.
• Netflix
The company began in 1997 delivering DVDs to the homes of their customers. However, new innovations led Netflix to introduce online streaming in 2007, allowing subscribers to enjoy their favorite television shows and movies from their computers. Innovations in technology led to Netflix being available on video-game systems, iPads and smartphones. According to the Netflix website, five years ago it had 7.5 million subscribers in the United States. The company now has over 27 million users worldwide. If you can’t see how Netflix has changed the game, just try to remember the last time you rented a movie from Blockbuster.
• E-readers
E-readers have been around for a while, but have grown in popularity over the last few years. Considered less expensive and more convenient than actual books, tablets have become the move popular choice. Sales of Kindles, iPads and Nooks all nearly doubled at the end of last year. Amazon announced that approximately 1 million Kindles were sold each week in December of 2011, while Nooks sales increased by 70%. With the help of websites like Amazon, tablets have affected the profitability of book stores like Borders Books. E-books are also starting to take place of textbooks in all levels of education.
As the economy took a turn for the worst in 2007, thousands of people struggled to find and keep work. Professional networking became more critical than ever in respect to the job search. LinkedIn has grown to become the largest network for professionals as the number of users surges over 175 million, while 2 million businesses have company pages. According to its website, LinkedIn is bringing in two new users per second as of June 2012. The power of this professional network proves to be catching on with college students, who are the fastest growing group on the website.
One of the simpler social networks has skyrocketed to the top over the last five years or so. Pretty much every major news source, business, politician and relevant celebrity has a Twitter account. Universities have even begun to utilize Twitter accounts to quickly send out information updates to their students or keep alumni in the loop. It has become a primary resource for information on sports, news and entertainment. The Telegraph reported that five years ago only 5,000 tweets were sent per day. In one year, the number of tweets per day rose to 300,000. The present number of tweets per day is 200 million according to Twitter’s blog. The recent Olympics is a proof of the social network powerhouse Twitter has grown into. Over 150 million tweets were sent during the span of the Olympics.
• Pandora
IPods aren’t the only thing that has changed the face of music. Pandora, a free Internet radio website that plays songs based on stations users create using names of artists or certain genres, has grown significantly in the past year. In a July 2012 press release, Pandora announced that it had a total of 54.9 million listeners. In July 2011 the company had an estimated 37.1 million listeners, which signifies a 48% increase in listeners in the last year.
Jordan Duckens is a Summer 2012 USA TODAY Collegiate Correspondent. Learn more about her here.
This story originally appeared on the USA TODAY College blog, a news source produced for college students by student journalists. The blog closed in September of 2017.