12 Great Tech Innovations (Of All Time): Page 4

10. NoSQL and other large data tools (database software)

The term noSQL is all the rage right now. A number of notable examples include how Facebook and Twitter use data stores to how people are building the next generation of Web applications.

The notion behind the concept is more than just a database that is non-relational. It also can be massively scalable and based on open sourced projects such as Terracotta, MongoDB and Cassandra. The idea is to not automatically collect data in tabular form but organize it differently. It enables huge databases to be more efficient, since many traditional SQL databases have large areas with mostly blank fields.

Large data handling tools

11. Wikipedia (Web encyclopedia)

Wikipedia has been around since 2001 and is now the standard reference work in more than a two hundred different languages on millions of different topics.

In its first year, more than 20,000 entries were created and it hasn't looked back since then. While some of the content isn't accurate – amusingly, its own historical entry is somewhat outdated – most of what is posted is surprisingly detailed with numerous links to original source material, just as you might expect in any high-quality printed encyclopedia.

Occasionally, its pages are subject to various pranks, such as premature death announcements posted on Representative Giffords, the actors Sinbad and Miley Cyrus and Senator Ted Kennedy. Yet these are (usually) quickly corrected by its legions of volunteer editors.

Wikipedia

12. Bit.ly (URL shortener and tracking services)

As Twitter and other microblogging services have become popular, the need for a service to shorten lengthy URLs to conserve on character counts has arisen. And the best service is from bit.ly.

What distinguishes this from the dozens – if not hundreds – of its competitors is the ability to provide analytics on who has clicked on your shortened link and from where they have originated. You can also append a plus sign (+) to any shortened URL to view the analytics and how that link has been share on social networks.

Bit.ly URL shortening and tracking