Technology of the 1980s/90s/2000s (Decade), How I Love Thee

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In a world that feels more chaotic every day, I’ve found a haven in something simple but powerful: technology from the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s. There's something so special about these old devices that takes me back to simpler times. Here's a glimpse of what I’ve been diving into lately:
-Old Game Boys: There’s just something magical about the portability and simplicity of the classic Game Boy. Whether it’s the original gray one or the Color and Advance models, they never fail to bring back memories of gaming on long car rides and lazy afternoons. No fancy graphics, just pure gameplay. It’s a feeling that modern systems can’t quite replicate.

-Laserdisc Player: I picked up a Laserdisc player recently, and wow, the nostalgia is real. The massive discs, the sound of the player whirring to life, and the specialness of watching a movie on something so unique. It’s like stepping into a time machine. It’s a piece of tech that was ahead of its time but never truly caught on, and there’s something about it that feels more personal than modern streaming.

-Laptops with Win 98, 2000, XP: I’ve also gotten my hands on several laptops from the late 90s and early 2000s, each running Windows 98, 2000, or XP. The user interface, the nostalgia of the sounds, and the nostalgia of how slow everything runs—it’s like visiting an old friend. They might not be able to handle the demands of today’s internet, but they make me feel connected to a time when everything seemed a bit more straightforward.

There’s just so much joy in these old items. When the world feels overwhelming, I find myself turning to them as an escape. It’s not just about the technology; it’s about the memories, the simplicity, and the feeling of being a kid again in a less complicated time.

Anyone else find joy in older tech? What’s your favorite retro gadget?

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I have a fully functional first generation Microsoft Zune.

A few GameBoy Advange units. An original SP and Micro, A modified SP with a better screen, a customized Micro, and a DS in a custom shell.

An original PlayStation with controllers (pre-analog-stick).

All still fun to use.

Upgraded technology does often have a downside, and then there's the price of upgrading, so the old stuff can feel a lot better in many ways. I still use a Windows XP desktop computer for recording music. It's the only thing that I can plug my old sound cards into (no PCI slots on new computers) and I'm damned if I'm buying all that lot new. I wouldn't even know how to use the new stuff. It works, what else matters?

I also retain a deep fondness for laserdisc. I never had one but i knew a guy who did and I loved those big cardboard sleeves they came in, like LPs. The artwork was always good. I think the size of the discs made them very susceptible to rot though. I wonder how many discs remain playable?

I also love Minidisc. I made a thread about it somewhere. Part of me would still rather have physical media and a limited amount of music instead of mass storage and all the choice in the world. Minidisc was a great portable format and the players were art to me in the same way that clockwork is art.

The original cream Gameboy had an amazing design, I'm tempted to get one. Very iconic

When CDs were first introduced, they were quite expensive. The first CD players I saw were for about $600 to $1000 or more. I figured that they would never go anywhere unless they dropped in price to under $200. The first time I saw one advertised for under $200, I went and bought it.

At that time, CDs were not at all common. After I bought the player, I went to a large record store to buy something to listen to. In one of the largest record stores in the city where I lived at that time, there was one single display table about three feet square containing CDs, nearly all classical music.

CD writers were especially expensive. Well after you could buy a CD player for less than $200 and they were being put into computers, my company looked at buying one of the first commercially available CD writers and it would have cost something like $60,000. In today's money, that would probably be more like $100,000.

I advised waiting. Several months later, we purchased a CD writer for about $4,000.

Great thread OP! I love the original cream Gameboy too. My first memory of it was seeing it over my cousin's house and he was playing "Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening". I also remember him playing Tetris on it. I never had the original but ended up getting a Gameboy Pocket one year for Christmas and loved it.

I also have good memories of Windows 3.1, 95, ME. I love the bootup sounds and OS from the time.

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I collect obsolete technology, as it often becomes valuable with the passage of time. Things that people think are worthless now might become a treasure later on. For example, I have 16 PS1s and 14 PS2s in my stash of vintage gaming stuff. Some of them cost me nothing as people were literally throwing them away when they upgraded to PS3s many years ago. I have had people offer me $100 for one because they wanted to relive part of their past. I will wait until the value gets higher before I sell them one.

As for laserdisc players, I have two of them. One is from 1984, and the other was made a decade later. Both are usable, but I put them into controlled storage to keep them that way. You have to be careful that the player never gets moved in an upside-down position as that can cause all types of issues with the laser alignment. I have at least 100 movie discs in my collection, including a rare Duran Duran video disc.

Do not get me started on my unopened VHS collection...