My father is, finally, going to get broadband, and that got me thinking about life-altering technologies.

I don’t mean the major things like the printing press or the Internet — I’m thinking more of consumer-level stuff that, once you get it, you can’t imagine living without it.

Granted, these will differ from person to person, but the ones I’m thinking of seem to resonate with a lot of folks. Another common denominator: You don’t know that you want it until you have it. Then you feel like you’re fighting an uphill battle to convince other people what they’ve been missing.

I can think of four off-hand, but one is a bit iffy because it’s too big:

1. The mouse wheel. When they first debuted, I remember Gus Venditto, who worked with me at Internet World, classify the wheel mouse as one of the biggest tech innovations of the year. And I thought, “It’s just a neat addition to a mouse.” Boy, was I wrong. For a while I had to convince people that mice without wheels were worthless. Now, of course, you can’t buy one without one. (Many have side-to-side scrolling, too, but that’s aimed mostly at spreadsheet users.)

2. Broadband Internet. I was living in Maplewood, N.J., when the cable company called to try to sell me on broadband, which it was offering for the first time. I didn’t let the gal finish. “Yes!” I shouted. “When can you come?” But most people still used modems at home, and it took some convincing that broadband was about more than pictures loading faster. The important thing was that it was always on — no waiting to dial and handshake. I hope my father sees the light soon.

3. TiVo (and DVRs in general). If you don’t have one, you don’t understand how incredible a digital video recorder is. You just don’t. My brother tried to convince me that it was great, but I wasn’t a big videotaper anyway, so I didn’t believe him. Then I got it, and everything changed. Not just pausing a show, and not just fast-forwarding through commercials — a TiVo changes the way you watch television. It doesn’t matter nearly as much what time it is now. Your favorite shows are waiting for you. You never have to worry about not setting the VCR properly and losing the last five minutes of the game. Heck, you don’t have to worry about setting anything.

I wonder if Touch-Tone® phones were the same way when they came out. I remember when we got one, but I was young enough that it didn’t change my calling all that much. I suspect teenagers were a bit more excited.

And maybe Macs are the same way — maybe if I had one I would say, “Oh, sheesh! Now I get it!” Could be. (But it’s a bit expensive to find out; it’s not a $20 mouse or a $100 TiVo.)

Anyone else have any “personal life-changing tech” thoughts?