The Best Inventions Of The Year

From the phone that has changed phones forever, to futuristic cars, to a building made of water, to a remote-controlled dragonfly—a dazzling display of ingenuity

—By Maryanne Murray Buechner, Kristina Dell, Andrea Dorfman, Lev Grossman, Anita Hamilton, Rebecca Winters Keegan, Jeffrey Kluger, Michael D. Lemonick, Coco Masters, Lisa McLaughlin, Alice Park, Julie Rawe and Deirdre van Dyk

Three of a Kind: Desktop Computers

BACK
NEXT

View All

Digg
Facebook
Twitter
MORE
- Add to my:
- Blog this on:
  - TypePad
  - LiveJournal
  - Blogger
  - WordPress
  - MySpace

Fancy
iMac
Many consumers stick with the devil they know—Windows—but Apple's operating system is generally easier to use and more secure than Microsoft's, and the new iMac packs a lot of power into one stunning package. Especially nice: the luxuriously thin, wide-button keyboard.
$1,799 for 24-in (61 cm) screen; apple.com

Cheap
Zonbu
It's less than 7 in. (18 cm) tall and weighs about 2 lbs. (0.9 kg), and it has no hard drive or disc drive, but that's how you save money and energy, and the Zonbu consumes little of either. All its programs—word-processing, photo-editing, etc.—are Web-based, so an Internet connection is a must.
$249, plus file-storage fees; zonbu.com

Something Different
HP TouchSmart IQ775
This Windows PC offers an unconventional approach to family computing. Built to be shared, it has a hideaway keyboard and a finger-friendly touchscreen that displays a calendar, video messages, virtual sticky notes and other domestic extras to keep the household in synch.
$1,600; hp.com/go/touchsmart