Back in the latter half of 1999 everyone and his mother was publishing a “greatest [whatever] of the past 1000 years” list. It was the thing to do. I remember seeing one such list that gave one man’s opinion on the greatest innovations. I can’t remember any of them other than what he deemed #1: the automatic hand dryer. It turns on when you need it and turns off when you don’t, which conserves energy; doesn’t require the slaughter of innocent trees leading to paper clogging up trash bins, etc. (For the record, the absolute coolest automatic hand dryer is one I saw in a men’s room at Logan Airport in Boston - the Dyson Airblade.) It was his subjective opinion, which was fine.

Why that stuck with me I don’t know, but what I do know is what I’ve deemed the coolest innovation of the internet age: online pizza ordering.

I used to HATE calling in an order for pizza. First I’d have to ask what the specials were, then I’d have to ask again because the kid on the phone either zipped through or mumbled them. Then I’d have to remember everything he said and think on the fly what I wanted, if anything, while on the phone. Then I’d have to get my order repeated back to me, make sure I was getting the right special and that the price was what I was expecting and then hope I got it all right after I hung up. It was very nerve wracking.

Now I just go online, check out the specials, take my time figuring out what I want, put things in an online shopping cart, ensure the specials and pricing is correct, click a button to pay and wait a little while to either go pick up my order or have it delivered. I’ve probably ordered this way a dozen or so times over the last couple years and never has my order been screwed up by me (or them, thankfully). It could not possibly be any easier.

So thank you, pizza pushers of the world, for embracing technology and letting me order my pizza from you my way and with me taking my time. You are real men of genius.