The Top 10 Innovations of the Decade

Can you even recall a time when you didn't "Google?" When you didn't know what it meant to "unfriend" someone? Or when you couldn't surf the Web, send an e-mail and take a picture from a palm-sized device that fits in your pocket?

Social networking, smart phones and user-generated content are among the top innovations of the decade.

(ABC News Photo Illustration)

The past 10 years have given us countless innovations that improve – and confuse – our daily lives. From Internet technology to finance to genetics and beyond, advances in science and technology have changed the way we communicate, relate to one another and think about what it means to be a modern human being.

Here are just 10 of those top innovations.

May 2000 -- GPS Goes Mainstream

If you want to find directions to a location or track your employees, child or even spouse, a bevy of accurate, affordable GPS-enabled devices can make that possible. But that wasn't always the case.

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Until May 2, 2000, the United States intentionally degraded GPS signals available to the public for national security reasons.

Originally developed by the Department of Defense to aid the military, the satellite-based system provides location and time data to users. In announcing the discontinuation of the feature that deliberately degraded the signal, the White House said in a statement that civilian users of GPS would be able to pinpoint locations up to 10 times more accurately than before.

Removing that obstacle helped speed the proliferation of GPS-enabled consumer products that live as stand-alone units and, increasingly, as add-on features in cell phones and smart phones.

Now, turn-by-turn directions and information about the nearest gas station and other points of interest are available on car dashboards, iPhones and more.

July 2000 -- Toyota Introduces the U.S. to the Prius, Grows Market for Hybrid Car

What would environmentalists be without the more fuel-efficient hybrid cars? The hybrid movement started in July 2000, when Toyota Motor Corporation introduced the hybrid Prius to the United States.

In 2003, Scientific America named Toyota "Business Leader of the Year" for commercializing the affordable hybrid car.

Now, Ford, Mercury, Lexus, Nissan and others have hybrid cars on the market. But the Prius is still the best-selling car in its class.

In March 2009, the hybrid community witnessed two milestones: Toyota said it sold its one millionth hybrid car in the U.S. and Ford said it produced its 100,000th.