The last two and a half decades has taken humanity into larger-than-life technological innovations that were once possible only within the scope of our imaginations.  Here we have a line up of the most remarkable products of genius and weirdness in this infographic (see below).  Here are some of the highlights:

Hotmail. It was 1971 when the first email was sent, but its ascension to fame came more than two decades after. Windows Live Hotmail, MSN Hotmail or just Hotmail, as it’s commonly recognized, was the hottest technological novelty in 1996. The web-based mail under Microsoft’s roof has changed the way people communicate and is believed to be the predecessor of text messaging. Up to this day, even with roadblocks and recent security dilemmas, it has managed to stay on top of the numbers game and is still the largest web-mail service in the world with over 300 million active users.

Google and the Dotcom Era. The year 1998 marks a special episode for the search engines: the birth of Google. Two Standford PhD candidates founded one of today’s biggest conglomerates on the planet. Little they did know back then that a simple project would bloom to become a global leading brand carrying diverse products and services. At present, the search engine business is a segment of the vast organization. Google is the proud owner of Android, Youtube.com, Google+, Google Chrome and Gmail, to name a few.

A comScore report released in August of 2010 revealed that Google sites eat up the majority of search market share with 65.8%. Site visits and searches recorded a whopping 10.3 billion in that particular month alone.

iTunes and the iPod. The beginning of the 21^st century signals a headstart for Apple and its prodigies, iTunes and the iPod. In 2001, the iPod and iTunes took music experience into another level and capitalized on mobility. In no time, Apple captured a global market and paved the way for immense success.  The world’s favorite brand has built the strongest line-up of mobile devices that still puzzle competitors to this day. Apple recorded an all-time high in sales last Black Friday, solidifying their cultural status.

The unfortunate passing of Steve Jobs, Apple’s father, is perhaps the biggest bump in the organization’s lifetime. This year is also the 10^th birthday of the iPod.

Mobile Technology. The mobile industry has transformed the methods of communication around the planet. Today, this avenue is dominated by a few names including Apple and Android. The billion dollar market has laid the foundation for other businesses within the mobility sphere to follow. Mobile payments are bridging us to cashless and cardless transactions by 2015.

There’s no indication that the mobile industry will slow down, not in 3 to 5-years time. In fact, companies are now focusing on trends, reinventions and innovations pertaining mobility. The name and numbers game will continue until who knows when.

Summing up the list, we see two outstanding companies that has incredibly maintained leadership all throughout these years: Google and Apple. Two other technological world-class innovations in the last 15 years include Nasdaq High in 2001 and Consolidation in 2009.

With the solid line-up of arguably the most illustrious and influential technological advancements, the pressure is on for companies and industries that aspire to see their names in this list the next time around. Looking at what’s come of the creative minds of the likes of Steve Jobs, Larry Page, Sergey Brin and Mark Zuckerberg, we can only wonder what the future has in store.