10 outdated gadgets that will make you nostalgic

Do we even own a smart phone? Sometimes it seems to own us. Unlike the walkman, almost-watchman, Gameboy, pagers (without the trap of adverts at every turn). That was the time of invention, admiration from friends and neighbours, being cool.

Now, you'd just be a weirdo with a Nintendo or a really rich time traveller. (And everyone would only focus on the time travel bit).

Here are the gadgets that no one (really) uses anymore. All their functionality has been summoned in the smart phone.

1. Walkman

This personal stereo was a treasure in the 80's and 90's. It was introduced in 1979 by Sony for a good 20 or so years before being completely replaced by the Discman.

2. Discman

This CD player replaced the cassette player Walkman just 5 years after it was introduced. On this I'll add the deck tape player, disc player DVD and the disc function of the laptop.

3. Pager

The pager was a small personal gadget that beeped when someone sent a text message. It was commonly worn around the belt in the 70's, 80's and 90's. Motorola dominated the market with this mini-notification bars.

4. Calculator watch

Ever had someone say "hey, your calculator has a phone" when making fun of the phone? This watch had a calculator built into it. Casio was the digital watch enterprise making these badboys in the 70's and 80's. The clout was worth the confusing buttons littered all over it.

5. PDA

No, not the public display of affection, which has also been sucked into the smart phone. PDA stands for personal digital assistant. Not like Siri. It was called a handheld PC or after it's manufacturer, Palm. It was a small bulky device with touchscreen, WIFI connections, GPS antennas, internal applications for word processing, calendar, email, web browser, and was able to install new apps.

It was the status symbol for businessmen in the 90's and 2000's.

6. Portable TV

Panasonic and Sinclair Research partnered up to introduce the portable TVs in the 70's and 80's. They never really gained popularity because Sony soon hit the market with the Watchman.

7. Antique mobile phone

The Motorola flip phone was a remarkable player. So was Siemens. They replaced the PDA for the businessmen, the rich and celebrities.

8. Film camera

Before the digital camera, there was the changeable film roll camera. After every 36 pictures it was time to reload for more but the target was not always accurate. So after they were developed that would be the time to find out that your treasured memories were burnt or blurry pictures.

9. Electronic organiser

I don't even know what an organiser on a smartphone does. But people in the 90's seemed to have this small electronic dictionaries that were also calculators, among other functions.

10. Game Boy

In 1989, the Nintendo Game Boy came and it was hard to imagine it would ever vanish or become obsolete. Not with super games like Mario, Tennis, Baseball and Tetris. It had competition but it was by far the market leader and represents for all the fallen game gadgets.

Looking back on this list makes a smartphone seem like magic or witchcraft. I use the thing but it still seems strange when I give it much thought. (Where do deleted things go?) Not that this hasn't been an ongoing question with all gadgets through out time. But still.