Gadgets of days gone by: the round-up


It’s been an emotional journey, friends, but I think we’ve found that our attachment to these gadgets of yore is not merely a sentimental one. Indeed, many commenters have chimed in to let us know that some of these devices are still in use in their households. Admirable! We’ll be adding to the series as time goes on and more of our tech lapses into “nostalgia” status, but here’s a little summary of our memories so far.

The workhorses of the week were the HP DeskJet 500 and the Super Nintendo, both of which found many current fans among our readers. Simplicity and good construction go a long way towards legendary status (the Game Boy shares these merits as well). With cameras, quite a lot has changed (and for the better), but the memories Matt captured to floppies on his Mavica will remain forever (now that they’re on YouTube), and the Kodak DC50 reminds us of the days when Kodak made more than just sensors.

The Palm III and Newton Messagepad recalled for Scott and John days of productivity gone by, when your address book wasn’t also your handheld games device, phone, and television. Nicholas rifled through a box of VHS tapes to our infinite amusement, and I can’t be the only person who is hypnotized by the ability of the Samsung Trace to spin endlessly on its face. Greg eulogizes the hulking Sega Nomad, which you may have mistaken for a live black bear prowling the streets back when

I miss the days when everybody had a different music player. Before the iPod took over, we all had our own solutions: a brilliant MP3-CD player from iRiver or the multi-talented Sony MiniDisc recorder for me and Bryce respectively.

We’ve collected all these, and plan to add more, under the Days Gone By tag, so keep an eye on it. The fun thing about old gadgets like this is that you’re always finding and remembering new ones. I’d have included the old amber-screened computer I used to play tic-tac-toe on (a Hercules, I think), but I’ll save that for another time (perhaps a slow news day). Hope you enjoyed this little series.