From the Sony Walkman to the humble zip: The past century’s top 100 inventions that changed our lives (yet most of us take for granted)



The list was compiled following a survey of 3,900 gadget lovers

It includes the world's first laptop, the pop up toaster and the PlayStation 4

It also shows how gadgets have made a huge impact on our health over the last century, starting with the design of the artificial heart in 1941

Does it make you feel old to know that Dyson’s dustbag-free vacuum is 20 this year?



Or that the much-loved Sony Walkman and the world’s first ever laptop, the Epson HX-30, are both over 30 years old?

These are just a few of the gadgets that have made it onto the 100 gadgets of the past century that we can’t live without, with technologies ranging from humble zip to the Playstation 4.

The invention of the world's first laptop, the Epson HX-20, in 1981, shows just how rapidly technology is moving forward. The laptop had a four-line by 20-character LCD screen, a cassette tape for data storage and even a small printer

Who could live without them? The 1919 invention of the pop-up toaster revolutionised kitchens all over the world, while you may not be able to immediately recognise the ancestor of the modern-day television above



The list reveals how, despite the pace of technological development, gadgets invented at the start 20th Century still play a major part of our everyday lives.



One example is the zip, a gadget that we use in everything from tents, suitcases to jackets and pencil cases.



But the technology, which was developed around 1913, was slow to catch on with the public.



It wasn’t until Esquire magazine touted the zips as the 'newest tailoring idea for men’ in the 1950s, that zips really took off.

The Instamatic was a series of inexpensive, easy-to-load 126 and 110 cameras made by Kodak in the 1960s. Today there would be no Instagram without this invention

The Motorola StarTac (left) was the first ever clamshell/flip mobile phone. Beats by Dre (right) headphones were also voted as one of the most influential gadget launches of the last decade



In 1917, 24,000 zippers were sold. Today, Japan’s YKK, which makes close to half of all the zips in the world, churns out 7.2 billion zips a year.



The invention of the world’s first laptop, the Epson HX-20, in 1981, shows just how rapidly technology is moving forward.



The Epson HX-20 had a four-line by 20-character LCD screen, a cassette tape for data storage and even a small printer.



This was all packaged into a stylish silver casing and the entire system had a battery life of around 50 years.



The list also shows just how gadgets have made a huge impact on our health and fitness over the last century, starting with the design of the artificial heart in 1941.

Music to the ears: The invention of the in-ear hearing aid in 1956 transformed the lives of millions, while the unmistakable sound of the Zippo lighter has been cool since 1934 (but not all were as big as the one shown)



The first hair dryer was invented in 1890 by a French stylist, Alexandre F. Godefrey. But it wasn't until 1920s that the first hand-held hairdryer was put on the market

The Playstation 4 was the newest gadget on the list and is due for release in November this year

A brief history of gaming: Mattel's Classic Football game (1977) was a forerunner to today's handheld gadgets, while the Commodore 64 and it's unmistakeable 'joystick' promised hours of entertainment



This was followed swiftly by the kidney dialysis machine three years later, the breathalyser in 1955, the hearing aid a year later and the pacemaker in 1958.



Technology has also become an integrated and much loved part of our kitchens thanks to inventions like Pyrex in 1915, the pop up toaster in 1919 and the electric kettle in 1922.



The modern day can opener made an appearance in 1925 just seven years ahead of its electric counterpart.



In 1966 the BBC announced plans to begin broadcasting television programmes in colour. Britain was the first country in Europe to offer regular programming in colour

Cutting out the hard work: Apple's iPod meant trips to the record store were a thing of the past, while Dyson's bagless vacuum cleaner got rid of a lot of the mess and fuss of keeping houses in order



The Teasmade has been brightening many a morning since 1933 and the microwave oven and Kenwood’s food mixer have been helping us make light work of cooking since the 40s.

The list was compiled following a survey of 3,900 gadget fans commissioned by Gadget Show Live.



‘When we talk about gadgets, we often talk in terms of the 80s onwards – of phones, laptops and music systems,’ said Gadget Show Live event manager Katie Tozer.



‘But gadgets have been around for hundreds of years. This list, which takes us right back to 1913 with the invention of the zip, a gadget that was so influential it’s still in daily use today – is just the tip of the iceberg and it shows just how integral and essential they have become to the way we live, work and enjoy life today.'

The first Zippo lighter, currently displayed at the Zippo/Case Museum in Bradford, was produced in early 1933 and sold for $1.95 each