Time Calls iPad, Apple Watch, & AirPods The Best Gadgets In The 2010's Decade

Time magazine shared the top 10 most important gadgets in the past decades. Apple has three devices on the list: iPad, Apple Watch, and Ai...

Time magazine shared the top 10 most important gadgets in the past decades. Apple has three devices on the list: iPad, Apple Watch, and AirPods. The original iPad was released by former Apple CEO Steve Jobs in 2010, while the Apple Watch and AirPods were released in 2015 and 2016, respectively. 

Writer Patrick Lucas Austin explains that iPads have resulted in a cultural shift for personal computing, and set the tone for the next decade of portable devices, just the iPhone before it. When it comes to Apple Watch, he believes it "set the standard for what a smartwatch could do," whereas AirPods have become the "the gold standard of truly wireless audio."

Before the iPad's introduction in 2010, the idea of a 'tablet computer' was mostly relegated to slick science fiction movies and unwieldy laptop-adjacent monstrosities running terrible software. Apple's iPad — like the iPhone before it — resulted in a cultural shift for personal computing, and set the tone for the next decade of portable devices.

While many have tried, no one has been able to match the polish and performance of the Apple Watch, which set the standard for what a smartwatch could do. Since its introduction in 2015, it’s gone from a device for early adopters and fashion-deficient nerds to a mainstream accessory, thanks to its smart software and ever-improving hardware. 

Like the iconic iPod before it, Apple’s AirPods have captured the hearts, minds and ears of music lovers looking to jam to some tunes. First released in 2016, AirPods quickly became an icon in their own right, both for their aesthetic appeal as well as their larger cultural impact. [...] However, their cutting-edge hardware and software evolved further in this year’s AirPods Pro, and helped cement them as the gold standard of truly wireless audio for music fans.

Other gadget that have made on this list include Tesla Model S, Raspberry Pi, Google Chromecast, DJI Phantom, Amazon Echo, Nintendo Switch, Microsoft's Xbox Accessibility Controller.