Many readers were thankful for the Internet as an entire technological advance. Lee writes:

Jim is especially thankful for the Internet:

Several readers took it back to the basics of electronic life. Suhail writes:

Guy Dols echoes the sentiment:

While the Internet/World Wide Web and the invention of the microchip ranked highly, many readers expressed thanks for the most basic of modern amenities. TheFu writes:

Clear and easily distributed water is certainly something we take for granted in first world countries. If you’re interested in helping people in developing countries gain access to clean and safe water supplies, we would urge you to check out Charity Water (“A” ranked by CharityWatch.org) to help bring wells and water purification systems to those in need.

All other tech falls very far below those two in my book. If you don’t believe me, turn off your water heater for a week and stop assuming water from the tap is clean enough to drink.