A survey of 4,000 UK shoppers has declared Apple’s iPhone to be a more important invention than flushing toilets or space travel.

The smartphone has also been voted more important than the combustion engine and washing machine.

The study, conducted for Tesco Mobile, puts the iPhone in eighth place on a 100 item list (below). The wheel was voted the most important invention in history, ahead of the plane, lightbulb, the world wide web and computers.

Lance Batchelor, Chief Executive Officer of Tesco Mobile, said: “It’s amazing to see how much the iPhone is valued, sitting alongside inventions such as Penicillin in people’s perceptions and being declared a more important invention than miracle gadgets of their own time, such as the compass.”

The 100 greatest inventions according to Tesco Mobile are:

1034599 cruisin100 greatest inventions

  1. Wheel

  2. Aeroplane

  3. Light bulb

  4. Internet

  5. PCs

  6. Telephone

  7. Penicillin

  8. iPhone

  9. Flushing toilet

  10. Combustion engine

  11. Contraceptive pill

  12. Washing machine

  13. Central heating

  14. Fridge

  15. Pain killers

  16. Steam engine

  17. Freezer

  18. Camera

  19. Cars

  20. Spectacles

  21. Mobile phones

  22. Toilet paper

  23. Hoover

  24. Trains

  25. Google

  26. Microwave

  27. Email

  28. The pen

  29. Hot water

  30. Shoe

  31. Compass

  32. Ibuprofen

  33. Toothbrush

  34. Hair straighteners

  35. Laptops

  36. Knife and fork

  37. Scissors

  38. Paper

  39. Space travel

  40. Kettle

  41. Calculator

  42. Bed

  43. Remote control

  44. Roof

  45. Air conditioning

  46. SAT NAV

  47. Wi-Fi

  48. Cats-eyes

  49. Matches

  50. Power steering

  51. Tumble dryer

  52. Bicycle

  53. Sky+

  54. Tea bags

  55. Umbrella

  56. iPod

  57. Taps

  58. Crash helmet

  59. Wristwatch

  60. eBay

  61. DVD player

  62. Nappies

  63. Ladder

  64. Sun tan lotion

  65. Lawnmower

  66. Make-up

  67. Chairs

  68. Sunglasses

  69. The game of football

  70. Sliced bread

  71. Sofa

  72. Razor blades

  73. Screwdriver

  74. Motorways

  75. Head/ear phones

  76. Towels

  77. Push-up bra

  78. Binoculars

  79. WD40

  80. Mascara

  81. Hair dryer

  82. Facebook

  83. Escalator

  84. Hair dye

  85. Wellington boots

  86. Spell check

  87. Calendars

  88. Cheese grater

  89. Buses

  90. Post-it notes

  91. Gloves

  92. Satellite discs

  93. Pedestrian crossing

  94. Baby’s dummy

  95. Curtains

  96. Bottle opener

  97. Food blender

  98. Dustpan and brush

  99. Desks

  100. Clothes peg


Via: Telegraph

Image, royalty free via: Stock.xchng.hu