The Most Iconic Tech Gadgets Through The Years
The Most Iconic Tech Gadgets Through The Years
From the first home microwave oven, through the Apple 1 computer, all the way to AI-powered robots you can play with, we take a look at 50 iconic products that defined tech for the past 50 years. Take a walk down tech memory lane and shop their contemporaries.
1966: Panasonic Home Microwave Oven
Panasonic Countertop Microwave Oven, $170 BUY NOW
This microwave oven by Panasonic might seem gigantic by today's standards, but thanks to its ability to fit in a normal kitchen, it was a revolutionary compact in 1966. Before its arrival on the market, microwaves were only used in large restaurants and hotels due to their weight (more than 600 pounds) and price (about $5,000!).
More: 100 Tech Products You Didn't Know You Needed (Until Now)
1967: Sony ICR-100 Radio
Sony ICFP26 Portable AM/FM Radiowith integrated-circuit. A design and engineering icon, the radio is a beautiful piece of industrial design even today. Its rechargeable battery could deliver six hours of playback, though it used to take 14 hours to charge.
1968: Sony Trinitron TV
Sony XBRX850D 4K TV, from $1,198 BUY NOW
The first Sony Trinitron had a 13-inch screen, which is minuscule by today's standards. However, its excellent picture quality and ground-breaking technology for its time won Sony Trinitron an Emmy award several years after its launch. Sony's Trinitron remained synonymous with quality for decades after.
1969: Seiko Astron Watch
Seiko Astron GPS Solar Mens Watch, $1,356 BUY NOW
The Seiko Astron watch was the first product of its kind with a quartz movement. A decidedly upmarket offering, the Astron featured a solid gold case and a massive price tag. Eventually, thanks to their movements' higher accuracy and lower manufacturing costs, battery-powered watches quickly overtook their mechanical relatives in terms of popularity.
1970: Koss Pro4AA Headphones
Koss Pro4AA Headphones, $58 BUY NOW
By offering a blend of excellent sound quality and comfort, the Koss Pro4AA headphones quickly gained popularity among audiophiles and studio professionals. The biggest attestation about the headset's quality is the fact that it is still offered by Koss today. The company briefly retired the Pro4AA in the 80s, but quickly changed its mind due to popular demand.
1971: Intel 4004 CPU
Intel Compute Stick, $132 BUY NOW
The 4004 was the first commercially available microprocessor by Intel. It had four-bit architecture and ground-breaking silicone technology, which made it more powerful than any of its predecessors. Intel produced the 4004 for a decade.
1972: Pulsar Time Computer
Pulsar Men's Multifunction Watch, $101 BUY NOW
LED lights are all over the place today, but this surely wasn't the case back in the early 70s. As the world's first LED watch, the Pulsar Time Computer looked as high-tech and futuristic as it could be when it launched. It also carried an eye-watering price tag. The iconic design earned the Pulsar Time Computer a cameo in a James Bond film.
1973: Motorola Mobile Phone
Moto G, $200 BUY NOW
Yes, the first call made with a cell phone took place more than four decades ago, courtesy of Motorola. The headset at that time weighed a cool 2.2 pounds, so it wasn't exactly portable by today's standards, though surely a lot more groundbreaking. Due to their high costs, cell phones didn't begin to gain traction until the 1980s.
1974: Marantz 2325 Audio Receiver
Marantz NR1607 Audio Receiver, $699 BUY NOW
The Marantz 2325 home audio receiver quickly gained a cult following among audiophiles thanks to a blend of great sound, cool design, and excellent craftsmanship. Because of their quality, second-hand Marantz 2325 receivers fetch a pretty penny to this day.
1975: Sony SL-6300 Betamax
Sony CMTSBT100 Micro Music System, $198 BUY NOW
The Sony SL-6300 Betamax was the first Beta system VCR. Interestingly, the tech giant marketed the device as a "time-shift machine," thanks to its ability to play and pause content whenever the user wished.
1976: Apple 1 Computer
Apple MacBook, from $1,200 BUY NOW
The Apple 1 computer, as its name suggests, is the first product by the tech giant we all know today. A highly collectible item, the Apple 1 is worth a whole lot more today than it did during its heyday. Working examples in pristine condition carry six-digit price tags these days.
1977: Atari 2600
Atari Flashback 6 Classic Game Console, $40 BUY NOW
The Atari 2600 is credited with taking video game consoles mainstream almost 40 years ago. Each console shipped with a duo of joysticks and a game cartridge. The Atari 2600 remained in production for almost a quarter of a century.
1978: Nikon FE Camera
Nikon Df DSLR Camera, $2,746 BUY NOW
Top-notch industrial design and matching performance made the Nikon FE SLR camera a hit among photographers during its time. The camera's chassis and its iconic design remained in use by the manufacturer well into the 21st century. You can even order a Nikon DSLR with the iconic FE looks today.
1979: Sony Walkman
Sony Walkman Digital Music Player, $298 BUY NOW
Sony Walkman was synonymous with high-quality portable audio from the launch of the first cassette player in 1979. The compact device truly transformed the way people enjoyed music by allowing them to truly take their favorite tunes on the go.
1980: Microsoft Z-80 SoftCard
Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1070 Graphics Card, $400 BUY NOW
The Z-80 SoftCard was Microsoft's first-ever hardware product. Curiously, it was designed to work with the Apple II computer. Because it enabled the computer to run a wide array of business software, the Microsoft Z-80 SoftCard is responsible for making the Apple product more attractive.
1981: Sony Mavica Digital Camera
Sony Walkman Digital Music Player, $298 BUY NOW
The Sony Mavica from the early 1980s is the forefather of today's digital cameras. It was equipped with a CCD sensor, which captured NTSC images with a resolution of 570 by 490 pixels. Viewing the photos required a TV. The camera's video floppy could fit 50 photos.
1982: Sony CDP-101 CD Player
Sony CDP-CE500 5-Disc CD Changer, $300 BUY NOW
The Sony CDP-101 was the first commercially available CD player. Developed in partnership with Philips, the device features design elements we became accustomed to, such as a horizontal tray-loading system and a display panel that provides track number and playing time.
More: The Best Stereo Shelf Systems for Optimal Sound Quality
1983: Casio G-Shock
Casio G-Shock GWM5610-1, $91 BUY NOW
The first model of Casio's now legendary G-Shock family of rugged watches debuted in 1983. Sporting the model number DW-5000C, the first G-Shock had a 10-year battery, water resistance up to 100 meters, and the ability to survive a drop from up to 10 meters. Casio G-Shock DW-5000 series watches are available for sale to this day.
1984: Sony Discman D-50
Sony Walkman MP3 Player, $63 BUY NOW
Two years after launching the world's first CD player, Sony gave a portable version of it to the world with the Discman D-50. By delivering excellent audio quality in a portable form factor, the D-50 is responsible for popularizing the CD as a music storage format.
1985: Logitech C7 Mouse
Logitech MX Master Wireless Mouse, $70 BUY NOW
We all know about Logitech and its excellent computer mice and keyboards, but the company's journey as a market leader began more than three decades ago with the C7 three-button mouse. Priced below $100 when it launched in 1985, the peripheral quickly was a breakthrough in both design and value.
1986: Compaq Deskpro 386
HP Pavilion All-In-One Desktop Computer, from $789 BUY NOW
Because of its advanced Intel 386 chip with 32-bit architecture, the Compaq Deskpro 386 desktop computer delivered a significant boost in performance over its predecessors. At the time, Compaq took pride in beating its rivals from IBM in launching the first PC to the market.
1987: Nokia Mobira Cityman 900
Nokia 105, $20 BUY NOW
The Nokia Mobira Cityman 900 was one of the more reasonably sized mobile phones when it launched (it weighed less than 2 pounds with its battery on). Following its release, the Finnish company quickly established itself as a leader on the market for mobile phones. Its reign lasted for roughly two decades until the launch of the Apple iPhone in 2007.
1988: Sony GV8 Video Walkman
Sony Walkman Digital Media Player, $1,198 BUY NOW
Sony's GV8 Video Walkman was a groundbreaking mobile device for its time, thanks to its ability to record TV on the go. The gadget had a 3-inch color display, acrylic panels, and adjustable viewing angles.
1989: Motorola MicroTAC
Moto Z, $700 BUY NOW
Sporting an iconic flip cover, the Motorola MicroTAC mobile phone was the most compact offering on the market when it debuted. The storied manufacturer produced various iteration of MicroTAC with improved hardware well into the 1990s.
More: Moto Z Review
1990: Nintendo SNES
Retro-Bit Retro Duo Twin Video Game System, $39 BUY NOW
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) is a legendary gaming console, which offered iconic games to its players. The catalog included legendary titles such as Super Mario World, Super Mario Kart, and Street Fighter II, among others. The console didn't arrive in North America until 1991, but it launched in Japan as Super Famicom in 1990.
1991: Apple PowerBook 100
Apple iPad Air 2, from $399 BUY NOW
The PowerBook 100 by Apple was an entry-level model when it debuted in 1991. However, it impressed with its compact design and built-in trackball. The latter made navigating through the System OS an easy affair.
1992: IBM ThinkPad
Lenovo ThinkPad Yoga X1, from $1,555 BUY NOW
With iconic angular design, all-black body, excellent keyboard, and a signature red dot for navigating the OS, ThinkPad laptops are synonymous with excellence as work tools to this day. The legendary product family debuted in 1992, but it has not changed its design language even after becoming part of Lenovo.
1993: Apple Newton
Apple iPad mini 4, from $338 BUY NOW
The Newton personal digital assistants by Apple were not a successful product family, but they paved the way for a product that redefined mobile computing a decade later. In 2007, Apple returned with another touchscreen device called the iPhone, and changed the world.
1994: Sony PlayStation
Sony PlayStation 4 Pro, $399 BUY NOW
More than two decades after the original arrived, the Sony PlayStation name still stands as a giant in the video game industry. The first PlayStation quickly became a must-have gaming device thanks to a combination of sleek design, comfy game pads, and (crucially) a vast library of top-notch games to choose from.
1995: Microsoft Windows 95
HP Spectre x360 Convertible Laptop, from $1,050 BUY NOW
Microsoft Windows 95 quickly gained popularity as a desktop operating system after its debut. It offered an easy to navigate graphic interface, which looked incredibly sleek for its time. It included two staples which are part of Windows even today - the Start button and the taskbar. Another fun fact about the OS was a promo video of it, which starred Rachel and Chandler (Jennifer Aniston and Matthew Perry) from the massively popular sitcom Friends.
More: HP Spectre 13.3 Review
1996: Nokia 9000 Communicator
Microsoft Lumia 650, $199 BUY NOW
By fusing a portable computing device with a mobile phone, the Nokia 9000 Communicator was handily the most advanced communication device during its time. Nokia sold mobile devices with such a form factor for more than a decade after the original's launch. The Nokia 9000 Communicator also quickly became part of pop culture thanks to a cameo in the blockbuster movie The Saint.
1997: Palm Pilot
HP Elite x3, $799 BUY NOW
With a stylus pen and a large touch-sensitive LCD display, the Palm Pilot became synonymous with productivity on the go quickly after its debut. Palm devices were a factor in the market for advanced mobile device for a tad over a decade after the original debuted.
1998: Panasonic A-310 DVD
Panasonic DMP-UB900 4K DVD Player, $700 BUY NOW
The Panasonic A-310 was one of the first commercially available DVD players to arrive on the market. A technological powerhouse, the player delivered video quality and audio performance at a fairly reasonable price. Working examples of the player offer a great way to keep your old DVD collection alive even today.
1999: Sony AIBO ERS-110
Sphero Star Wars BB-8 Droid, $110 BUY NOW
Robots are all the rage these days, but Sony was already in the game with AIBO in 1999. Designed to look and act as a real dog, the first-generation AIBO delivered realistic behavior that made him a hit, especially in Japan. Sony based the robot's behavior on research in artificial intelligence - another hot tech topic today.
2000: Canon EOS D30
Canon EOS Rebel T6i DSLR, $749 BUY NOW
As the first digital SLR camera developed entirely in-house, the Canon EOS D30 was a pivotal product for the storied manufacturer. Before its release, Canon teamed up with Kodak in releasing digital cameras to the market. The EF lenses that the D30 used are utilized by its successors to this day.
2001: Apple iPod
Apple iPod nano, $98 BUY NOW
In a manner befitting a new millennium, Apple disrupted the music industry with the launch of the iPod digital music player in 2001. The sleek MP3 player could fit 1,000 songs, and came with access to a digital music store called iTunes. Apple sells iPod players even today.
2002: Palm Treo 270
BlackBerry Priv, $550 BUY NOW
When it launched in 2002, the Palm Treo quickly established itself as a productivity powerhouse, thanks to offering both a backlit QWERTY keyboard and a touch-sensitive display. The device ran Palm OS.
2003: Bose QuietComfort QC2 Noise-Canceling Headphones
Bose QuietComfort 35 Wireless Headphones, $349 BUY NOW
The QuietComfort 2 headphones were not the first noise-canceling headphones that Bose launched to the mass market. However, with improved design, ergonomics, and sound quality over its predecessor, the QC2 became so popular, that Bose offered it until 2009. The storied audio manufacturer owns the market for premium noise-canceling headphones to this day.
2004: Motorola RAZR
Moto G Plus, $250 BUY NOW
Thanks to an ultra thin, metal-clad body, the Motorola RAZR looked like nothing else when it arrived on the market in 2004. Its eye-grabbing design and excellent craftsmanship made the RAZR an incredibly popular mobile phone - Motorola sold well over 100 million units during its production run.
2005: Sony PSP
Sony PlayStation Vita, $198 BUY NOW
The Sony PlayStation Portable delivered console-grade graphics in a portable form factor with superb design and excellent ergonomics. The PSP was the first credible rival to the Nintendo DS, and received multiple design and hardware improvements during its time on the market. Today, a PSP successor, dubbed PS Vita, is still being sold.
2006: GoPro Hero Digital
GoPro HERO5 Black, $400 BUY NOW
The GoPro brand is synonymous with action cameras today, and this is the model that started it all. The company's first digital action camera had a handy wrist strap and the ability to capture 10-second VGA clips, as well as still images at 640 by 460 pixels.
2007: Apple iPhone
Apple iPhone 7, from $649 BUY NOW
It will be a massive understatement if we say that the first Apple iPhone changed mobile communications after its arrival in 2007. In addition to sporting innovative design and top-notch hardware, the iPhone introduced mobile apps to world as well. The move created a multibillion dollar industry. Nine years and hundreds of millions of devices sold later, the iPhone is still the definition of a premium mobile device.
2008: T-Mobile G1/HTC Dream
Google Pixel, from $650 BUY NOW
A year after the iPhone's arrival, Google introduced a brand-new mobile operating system called Android. Designed and manufactured by HTC, the T-Mobile G1 was the first smartphone to run the OS. Known as HTC Dream in other global markets, the smartphone featured both a touchscreen and a sliding QWERTY keyboard. Apps were also available for the phone, courtesy of the Android Market.
2009: Panasonic Lumix DMC-GH1
Panasonic LUMIX DMC-GH4, $1,498 BUY NOW
The Lumix DMC-GH1 was Panasonic's second mirrorless camera with Micro Four Thirds sensor. Unveiled shortly after the Lumix DMC-G1, the GH1 featured the ability to capture HD video with advanced manual controls and stereo sound. The camera was popular among video makers, thanks to its compact size and the quality footage it captured. Today, Panasonic's GH cameras are still synonymous with offering high performance in both still images and video capture.
2010: Apple iPad
Apple iPad Pro, from $599 BUY NOW
Just like it shook the mobile phone industry with the iPhone in 2007, Apple transformed mobile computing with the the iPad in 2010. The sleek tablet ran iOS just like Apple's smartphone, and (crucially) offered access to the App Store. Today, the tablet is offered in a trio of display sizes.
2011: Samsung Galaxy Note
Samsung Galaxy S7 edge, $603 BUY NOW
When it debuted in 2011, the Samsung Galaxy Note looked comically large by the contemporary smartphone standards. Its 5.3-inch display simply dwarfed all other smartphones at the time, while the S Pen stylus it packed looked like a nod to a bygone era, not like a piece of innovation. Funny enough, today giant phones are the norm, not an exception. The stylus pen, on the other hand, has been adopted by a number of Samsung rivals.
2012: Sony RX1
Sony RX1, $2,800 BUY NOW
When it arrived in 2012, the Sony RX1 digital camera was nothing short of an engineering marvel. Somehow, Sony's engineering team had managed to fit a full-frame sensor into the body of a compact camera, thus allowing photography enthusiasts to achieve exceptional results in a lightweight package. The RX1 is still available for purchase.
2013: Curved TVs
Samsung KU7500 4K TV, from $748 BUY NOW
During CES in 2013, both LG and Samsung introduced televisions with curved display panels. The latter delivered more immersive viewing than their flat relatives, thus quickly rising in popularity after their launch. Today, curved TVs have become more affordable than ever, with prices of Samsung and LG models starting well below $1,000.
More: The Best 4K TVs
2014: Moto 360 Smartwatch
Moto 360 2nd Generation, from $350 BUY NOW
When it made its official debut in 2014, the Moto 360 smartwatch carried an aura of desirability than none of its rivals possessed. The Android Wear device wasn't perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but it deserves credit for making smartwatches viable fashion accessories.
More: The Best Smartwatches for Discreet and Stylish Connectivity
2015: Amazon Echo
Amazon Echo, $180 BUY NOW
The Amazon Echo launched in 2014, but it wasn't widely available until the following year. Powered by the tech giant's Alexa smart home platform, the sleek wireless speaker can control connected appliances, order pizza or paper towels, or call you an Uber, among many other things. Amazon quickly established Alexa as one of the go-to smart home platforms by constantly updating it with new functionality.
2016: Anki Cozmo
Anki Cozmo, $180 BUY NOW
And today's tech merges artificial intelligence and robotics all in one tiny package. The Anki Cozmo hides a sophisticated AI behind a cute face and friendly personality. Well-priced and tons of fun to play with, Cozmo is also an excellent platform to learn about coding and robotics.
Take a trip down tech memory lane.