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Atari
We had an Atari before I can remember. Not many people I knew had one. I spent many hours up until about 1st grade playing Pitfall, Missile Command, and Space Invaders among other games. -
Commodore 64
The great thing about the Commodore 64 was that you could use the Atari controller to play games. Dig Dug, Montezuma's Revenge, and Pitfall II were some of my favorites. The actual computer was built into the keyboard and it would take 5 1/4 inch floppies and cartridges. I played games on this into the late 90's just for the nostalgia -
CD's
We were the first people I knew with a CD player. Of course, we still used cassettes in cars and to make mixed tapes, but we felt pretty special -
Word Perfect 5!
In second grade I won a writing contest. Not because my story was anything special. It was actually kind of a rip off of a part of King's Quest 3. The reason I won was that it had been typed up on the computer and printed and my teacher was really impressed with that. -
Nintendo Entertainment System
My grandpa gave me the OG NES when I was around kindergarten or first grade. Duck Hunt and Super Mario were leagues ahead of the games on the Commodore and the Atari. And when Mario 3 came out and you could go backwards? Game changer. Can you even call yourself a gamer if you've never blown dust out of the cartridge just to get your game to work? -
5 Disc Changer
Can we say Random button? The coolest thing about the 5 disc CD player was that you could pop in 5 CD's you loved and hit random and listen for hours to just a bunch of music. Of course it was part of a large sound system we had with 3 feet tall speakers, two cassette decks and a record player as well. I made a lot of mixed tapes with that stereo -
Super Nintendo
My brother bought a Super Nintendo for the family when I was around 8. It was so cool. We had The Legend of Zelda and an upgrade from the old Duck Hunt gun called the Super Scope which was like a digital bazooka. I have a lot fond memories playing with my friends during the summer. -
Windows 3.0 and 3 1/2 inch Floppy Drives
We had a Packard Bell after the commodor that ran DOS, and I was a DOS pro, but Windows 3.0 that used a mouse and let you organize ICONS in separate windows on your desktop was pretty great. It also had these tiny floppy drives that weren't even floppy, and they held so much information. We had a whole section just for games. I still used DOS, of course, when I wanted to feel like I was smarter than other people. -
Internet
Getting the internet was so amazing. I remember in junior high being one of the first kids who could use the internet in the library and everyone gathering around to see what it looked like. I didn't even know what to look at, so I just searched up URL's that I saw on TV.
Getting it at home was so cool, but it tied up the phone line. I remember dialing up Bulletin Boards directly and then getting the actual internet service. DSL a few years later was a game changer -
DVD Player
Again, we were the first people I knew who had a DVD player. Not having to rewind was so cool, but being able to pause a scene in a movie and not have those tracking lines all over the picture was probably my favorite thing about DVD's. The first DVD we got was Fifth Element. -
P2P Sharing
Napster and peer to peer sharing, the precursor and probably impetus of the shift from buying physical media to digital purchases and then just streaming came around when I was in high school. I remember pirating my first movie like it was yesterday. It used to take 5 to 10 minutes to download one song and a movie would take a day. -
MSN Messenger
My wife and I carried out a long-distance relationship for over a year before we got married. We'd met in person, but kept in touch through MSN Messenger and video chat. We played chess and checkers and talked and wrote each other through messenger. It might not exist anymore, but my kids wouldn't exist if we hadn't had that technology. -
First Cell Phone
I didn't see a need for a cell phone until after I got married in 2006. My wife told me I needed one because I had a long commute for work. Of course, cell phones barely did anything those days, but there was no going back once I gave into that. Sometimes I miss the days of being unreachable. My kids will never know how good it was. -
First Smart Phone
I had an Itouch iPod before I got my smartphone, but since it used wifi it was cool, but not a huge deal. When I got my first smartphone I immediately knew that there was no going back. I loved it. It did so many things and gave me access to so much just at the touch of the screen. Just like everyone else, I don't think I could willingly give up my smart phone. -
Pebble Smart Watch
My first smartwatch was a Pebble. It was a great little watch that was pretty simple but advanced at the same time. The batter lasted forever. Unfortunately, the company went out of business, and now I have a Samsung Galaxy watch which I love. -
VR
We got a VR during the pandemic when everything was closed. I think that thing kept us active and sane when there was nothing else to do. My kids love playing on that thing. Try Ritchie's Plank if you haven't yet.