Earlier this week we asked you to share the technology you were most thankful for--big or small, old or new--and you responded. Read on to see the tech your fellow readers are thankful to have.

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

I’d probably have to say the Internet in general, because that has essentially inspired most most of the features in modern technology. Plus, I wouldn't know nearly as much about tech now if I didn't have access to the Internet.

Jim is especially thankful for the Internet:

The Internet. The information I've found and people I've met, (including my wife), have been life changing.

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

Integrated Electronics! This is what drives & will drive each & everything in our world.. :-)

Guy Dols echoes the sentiment:

The NAND gate, without the NAND gate there would be no logical processing so no computers, no internet, no phones only lights bulbs and Morse communication.

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:

Water purification, by far.

A distant 2nd is a hot water heater attached to the shower head.

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.

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.