TIME's Best Inventions Accelerating Global Impact and Adoption

Key Quotes

"we get a lot of pitches from reporters as well and then myself and a small team of editors comb through them all and really is you know we're looking for mainly news newsworthiness so we're looking for products that really moved the needle this year it's a little different than some things like ces or things that are a little earlier stage we're really looking for things that are like changing consumers' lives today or this year and yeah so we're really impact is huge for us global impact is what we're looking for and it's a really big mix of of b2b products ideas you know one year we had a new shape i don't know if you remember this it was a couple years ago but mathematicians discovered a new shape that that had could be could be repeated you know into infinity and that was on the list and then all the way down to really basic consumer products that are just smartly designed or or had a big moment this year"

Emma Barker Bonomo explains that Time's "Best Inventions" list prioritizes products that have demonstrably impacted consumers' lives within the current year, focusing on newsworthiness and global impact. This approach distinguishes their selection from earlier-stage innovations often seen at events like CES, aiming to highlight tangible changes happening now.

"yeah the design category is is one of our most popular categories actually in terms of readership and what you know we get stats on what people click on and what people look to buy and design is top of that people are always really excited about that and when we're looking at design we're looking you know things we'll put in the design category maybe wouldn't have stood out in its separate category but are just fun to look at or really smartly designed"

Emma Barker Bonomo highlights the significant popularity of the design category for Time's "Best Inventions" list, noting that readership data shows strong engagement with visually appealing and cleverly engineered products. This indicates that aesthetics and smart design are key factors that resonate with their audience, often driving significant interest and purchasing intent.

"so we've been doing best inventions specifically for 25 years it started in 2000 but obviously time has been covering innovation for our entire 101 year history and i think the biggest change we've noticed is yes in terms of speed of adoption but ability to have global impact even if you're a small company or a small product mainly that's a social media thing and an internet thing you know we have companies or products that are made by a single inventor like a man in his garage that have made the list because you know they really took off online or or on social media and and just blew up and so it's a lot easier i think for smaller companies and smaller innovators to make these kind of lists now"

Emma Barker Bonomo observes a significant shift in innovation over the 25 years of Time's "Best Inventions" list, attributing the increased global impact of smaller companies and individual inventors to social media and the internet. This digital landscape allows even products created by a single person in their garage to gain widespread recognition and traction rapidly.

"yes it is a humanoid robot oh dear um it is a humanoid robot and i actually it's the second year in a row we've had a humanoid robot on the cover last year we had a different robot that was doing more factory work that was doing things like what you see in an amazon where it's you know sorting packages doing that kind of stuff in a fulfillment center there have been a few companies that have branched into that and figure is one of them it's actually working in a bmw factory right now i forget if it's west virginia or virginia somewhere out east and actually working on the floor you know 10 hours a day assembling cars and that's sort of in a trial period so that's sort of been done but what made us really interested in figure and the figure three specifically is that figure is one of the first companies that's targeting the home for humanoid robots"

Emma Barker Bonomo discusses the emergence of humanoid robots, noting that while they have been featured for factory and fulfillment work, the Figure 3 robot is particularly noteworthy for its targeting of the home environment. This represents a significant expansion of humanoid robot application beyond industrial settings into domestic life.

"well they've done something really interesting which is this sort of the opposite what other of other silicon valley companies which is this very slow rollout they've been operating for years and years and you know a lot of them start phoenix is sort of their that's where they started phoenix yeah that's sort of their trial area they always launch new stuff in phoenix try it out what happens in phoenix nice yeah it's fine nice and safe just a little hot but yeah and then they you know they expand it to different cities slowly one by one and sort of gain this corporate trust and something that we found in our reporting for that cover story was that they're largely being very you know welcomed by the local communities with open arms which is not something that we've seen with a lot of other technologies usually there's an initial kind of pushback to something that different"

Emma Barker Bonomo points out that Waymo's strategy of a slow, deliberate rollout, starting in Phoenix and gradually expanding to new cities, contrasts with the typical approach of many Silicon Valley companies. This measured expansion, coupled with a welcoming reception from local communities, has helped Waymo build trust and acceptance for their driverless car technology.

"yes but why is it aura ring four is it something special about that that's just the that's just the newest one they've added some sensors they track new biometrics so they've really just expanded the offering of that but that is that particular recognition is a little bit of a lifetime achievement aura is kind of amazing they came out of nowhere with a single product yeah and they have totally revolutionized the the wearable space big time to the point that you know major companies like apple and other wearable makers are filing you know patents there's always rumor that they're going to do a ring and filing patents that are sort of seen as trying to replicate what aura has built which is really amazing for a company that does one specific thing and is not silicon valley based"

Emma Barker Bonomo explains that the Aura Ring 4's inclusion on the list signifies its status as the newest iteration with expanded biometric tracking capabilities, contributing to Aura's overall recognition. She emphasizes Aura's significant impact on the wearable technology market, noting how they revolutionized the space with a single product, prompting larger companies to develop similar offerings.