The latter part of the 20th century was a great time of technological advancement, with gadgets and gizmos that people once thought were achievable only in science fiction. This was the decade when technology developed rapidly and people started to understand the potential of breakthroughs that were happening in science and technology.
The things you use today are the advanced version of the tools that were introduced in the 80’s and 90’s. For example, a modern USB comes in a terabyte (1000GB makes 1TB), while a poor eight-inch floppy disk from the 1990s has a storage capacity of only about 80KB (1000KB makes 1MB).
The list of tools that were popular in the 80’s and 90’s is endless, some have been forgotten and discarded, while others have taken on modern forms. A nostalgia trip down memory lane will take us back to a time when the world was a much simpler place, where we learned to embrace the inventions and changes that happen.
Let’s explore some of these gadgets that were very revolutionary at the time and an important part of life, but most of them have either become redundant or have taken on new forms.
Walkmans: portable music player
In the past, if one wanted to listen to music, there were cassette players, from the handheld Walkman, to larger amplifiers with large speakers. There was no concept of Bluetooth or CDs; People would buy cassette tapes of their favorite singer or music, and play them on the player, which would then rewind the black tape encoded with the data, i.e. the songs or music, into the cassette player, (we don’t get into the science of those black tapes).
The Walkman was the name given to the first pocket-sized cassette player released in the world. This was a device that people could easily carry with them to listen to music anywhere, anytime.
The Walkman was first introduced in Japan in 1979 and was declared “Product of the Decade” by the International Institute for Industrial Progress. This device also became the first electronic device to receive a Royal Warrant for supply to the British royal family.
Incredibly popular, this gadget changed the way people listened to music at the time and spawned a whole generation of people who were called Walkman heads.
Tamagotchis: The Digital Pet of the ’90s
Tamagotchi was a virtual pet created in 1996 by Japanese toy manufacturer Bandai. It was a pocket-sized electronic keychain toy that required constant care and attention from its owner.
If you feed the virtual creature represented on a small LCD screen by means of the few buttons on the device, it thrives. But if he is neglected, he will die–a surprisingly painful early lesson in loss for children and adults alike. This device is designed to teach children about responsibility and care for people, pets, and even plants.
Tamagotchi was released around the same time that the Internet was becoming a popular household item. This device became the world’s first interactive online game and sold over 72 million units.
Game Boy: Handheld video game console
Playing games on consoles is commonplace today, but in those days, kids had their first portable gaming experience on The Game Boy – the world’s first handheld video game console.
Introduced in Japan in 1989, the Game Boy allowed people to play their favorite video games on the go. It also paved the way for many other portable video game consoles. However, a year later, the Nintendo DS version replaced the Game Boy. So it is not wrong to say that the Game Boy has introduced millions of people to the world of video games and inspired a whole new generation of gamers.
VHS and VCR players: home movie players
These days, watching a movie is not a big deal anymore, as you can access many local and international streaming services. But back in the 90s, there were no streaming services, and the only way to watch movies, other than to go to the theater, was to buy a video cassette just like the audio, and play it on a specific player, called a VHS (Video Home Theater) Another difference was a VCR, a video cassette recorder , which can also score.
As their name suggests, these devices allowed people to play videos on their televisions. The VHS player was introduced in 1976 in Japan while in the United States it was introduced in mid-1977.
Pager: mobile communication device
The pager is the name given to the first portable communication device. It allowed people to communicate with each other without the need for wires like those in a telephone.
The pager was introduced in California in 1949, but it wasn’t until the mid-1990s that the pager became incredibly popular with the general public all over the world. Using a pager made things easier and people could call each other easily. The concept was strange, but so attractive that everyone wanted to have one.
The device was very expensive and was incredibly popular with doctors and those in the medical profession, allowing them to be in constant communication with their offices. The pager has become a symbol of technological progress.
Disc: portable CD player
Discman was the name given to the first portable CD player released. The device is designed to play CDs in portable format, just like the Walkman. Discman was also introduced in Japan, but in 1984. It quickly became popular and inspired a generation of people to switch from cassette tapes to CDs. This device was incredibly popular among teenagers and young adults.
digital dictionary
Knowing the meaning of words in seconds fascinates everyone. But in the ’90s, if you didn’t know what a word meant, you had to look it up in the big thick book called a dictionary. But since this was the era of technological advancement, the book-shaped dictionary also saw its digital interface — the electronic dictionary. Although it has been around since the late 1970s, in 1986 George Miller planned to create the WordNet Electronic Dictionary to test psychological theories of semantic memory. Released in 1991, it provided alphabetical and taxonomic access to English definitions.
Over time, electronic dictionaries have evolved to include more and more options suitable for their very wide student user base. However, electronic dictionaries are technically outdated, and are in fact generally in vogue with some due to the ubiquity of smartphones and tablets.
Internet: Dial-up modem
Today, you only know which devices provide you WiFi and mobile services that provide you internet data packages. In those days, a dial-up modem was a hack that allowed people to access the Internet and connect to information through their computers.
A dial-up modem was a device that enabled computers to connect to the Internet over telephone lines. Dial-up requires exclusive access to the telephone line; When connected to the Internet via dial-up, the family cannot use the phone to make voice calls.
DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) soon replaced it, by achieving speeds over 100 times the speed of a dial-up connection through advanced digital signaling technology. DSL also operates at higher signal frequencies allowing a household to use the same phone line for voice calls and internet service.
cell phone
Mobile phones are an integral part of our lives, but not so long ago, this device did not exist. In 1973, the first call was made from a handheld device with a phone shaped like a brick and weighing about 2.4 pounds. Martin Cooper, CEO at Motorola, chose the big one — one that only gets 30 minutes of chatting after a 10-hour charge.
However, these devices did not become a common household item until the 1990s. The cell phone has made it possible for people to stay connected through voice calls even when they are far from their home or office. However, it was still feature phones, with which you could make a phone call and write a text message, and there was no such thing as a smartphone today.
Over the past half century, the cell phone has gone through a lot of transformations, from small to large, from a thick slim body to a thin one that is easy to hold. It is a multitasking device that can perform all the tasks that you do on your computer.
Floppy disk
Since the computer appeared on the scene, people have begun to wonder how to store data. In 1972, IBM developed the floppy disk drive as a way to provide read-only magnetic storage. The disc was about eight inches long; However, this version did not last long.
In the late 1980s, wafer technology appeared for the production of wafers and silicon, replacing magneto-optical methods. Then Toshiba pioneered the use of silicon, with which the company could print electronic servers; This gave way to silicon-based storage media, or flash memory, such as flash drives or USB drives.
In short, floppy disks can only hold small amounts of information, and they are notoriously unreliable because the data is also “dull” on them, bulky and unsuitable for proper archiving purposes.
So if you think that the tools you are using today and the technology that you are witnessing are first of their kind, remember that they have come a long way and are actually the result of development that took place in the latter part of the 20th century when the world really started to embrace technology and change the way people interact with each other today.
World wide web
In 1990, the first web browser called WorldWideWeb was launched. Over the years, the web has had a profound and lasting impact on people’s lives. The web browser, along with various web protocols, has made it possible for people to access the web from a wide range of different operating systems and devices. He made it so that people without technical training can easily click and browse from one website to another.
Film camera and digital camera
To take a picture, you don’t have to buy film and insert it into the camera, it only takes a few seconds to take a mobile phone, focus and click. Isn’t that very easy?
But kids, two decades ago taking pictures was also an art and they need a device for it. The invention of the camera dates back more than a century and the device has evolved over time. From the largest invented by George Eastwood, to handheld cameras with Oscar Barnack’s 35mm camera, and Edward Land’s Polaroid.
In the 1990s, the world saw the rise of digital imaging and companies like Nikon, Canon, and Leica joined the race by adding advanced components to their cameras, such as interchangeable lenses, light meters, flashes, and so on. Interestingly, most of them are now easily available to you in mobile phones.
In the beginning, a digital camera was very expensive, however, increased competition and advancement in technology has seen the prices of digital cameras come down. And with the advent of smartphones, film and digital cameras have become obscure and reserved for those who loved shooting the old-fashioned way.
Originally posted 2022-12-17 14:13:39.