Nearly everyone uses radio waves in some form day after day. The technologies that depend on them is vast and ever-growing. These technologies range from cordless phones and garage door openers to radar and microwave ovens. Radio is not a dead technology either. It is constantly having research devoted to it and new technologies and innovations are coming about from this research. The trend towards wireless internet and more versatile cellular phones are just some examples. Ironically, the fundamentals of radio waves is relatively simple (atleast when compared to the vast array of technologies that now implement it).

Click image for source. <http://www.howstuffworks.com/cordless-telephone.htm>

Cordless phones use radio waves to allow individuals to walk around freely in their home without the need to be bound by a cord while talking over their land-based phone line.

 

Cell phones are a miracle to modern day living. Unlike previous eras where communication was done strictly across a hard-wired telephone line, cell phones now give the freedom to those that can afford them a radio-based uplink to the rest of the world. Not only are they for voice communication, but they also allow for transmission of virtually any kind of digital data.

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Click image for source. <http://www.howstuffworks.com/microwave.htm>

Microwave ovens are another great invention from the 20th century. They use radio waves in a specific frequency range in which water, fat, and sugar molecules happen to absorb and convert directly into heat. This frequency range also happens to move right through glass and most plastics. Unfortunately, metal reflects radio waves thus causing issues while trying to use a metal pan or bowl (sparks!!!).

There are numerous more technologies that are also either based off of or incorporate radio waves in their design, far too many to list.