10 gadgets from the past that changed the world

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Over the past 50 years, mankind has invented a lot of useful things, but these devices have become just a technological breakthrough.

Today it is difficult to surprise the sophisticated consumer with anything. Nanotechnology, robotics and, of course, all kinds of technologies for personal use make life much easier. It's hard to believe that a brick-sized phone and an 8MB flash drive were once called innovations. But it was they - the innovations that changed the world forever.

1. Regency TR-1 - the first portable transistor radio receiver

Year of issue: 1954.

A radio in your pocket - thanks to developments from Texas Instruments and IDEA. The transistor radio cost $ 50 but didn't sell well. A couple of years later, Sony released a more commercially successful analogue. However, it was Regency TR-1 that laid the foundation for open-air rock and roll.

2. Zenith Space Command - the first wireless TV remote control

Year of issue: 1956.

The world's first widely used remote control was presented by Zenith Radio Corporation (currently a subsidiary of LG Electronics).

Unlike its predecessors, released in 1950 and 1955, the remote control was wireless and worked due to high-frequency sound. When the button was pressed, a tiny hammer hit the aluminum bar inside the device, emitting ultrasonic signals. There were only four buttons, like the rods: on / off, volume control, up and down channel switching. And so, apparently, the era of laziness began.

3. Lear Jet Stereo-8 - the first car radio

Year of issue: 1965.

The eight-track cassette recorder, which is the object of jokes today, has forever changed listening to music in the car. The first Lear Jet Stereo-8 turntables appeared as an option on Ford vehicles, and this was a watershed moment.

Car enthusiasts no longer depended on radio stations - now they could enjoy their favorite music while driving.

But not everything was so smooth: eight-track tapes were short-lived, sounded bad and took up a lot of space. And in the early 1970s, they were replaced by more compact audio cassettes, and later by CDs.

4. Polaroid SX-70 Land Camera - the first instant camera

Year of issue:1972.

Look into the lens, press the button and watch your photo develop. Everything is extremely simple. The compact seven-by-four-inch device is the first camera to automatically take a complete shot.

No waiting or mechanical manipulation for the development of the picture - it is already ready!

The device has become so iconic that even today, in the era of digital photography, many are returning to snapshots. And, as in the good old days, they accumulate cards with memorable events in albums.

5. Texas Instruments SR-10 - the first multifunctional compact calculator

Year of issue:1973.

That all changed back in the early 1970s when Texas Instruments introduced the first pocket calculator. However, already in 1973, the world saw the SR-10. It is a compact counting device that supports the functions of calculating reciprocals and square roots. It’s scary to imagine how long math lessons at school would have lasted if not for this invention.

6. Sony Walkman TPS-L2 - the first cassette audio player and the world's first lightweight headphones

Year of issue: 1979.

The Sony Walkman TPS-L2 is the beginning of a new era in the world of electronics. The portable device with its classic design has won the hearts of music lovers around the world. In addition, the company made the first audio players with two headphone jacks. This helped to shake off the anti-social music player status.

7. Motorola DynaTAC 8000X - the first portable cell phone

Year of issue: 1983.

DynaTAC, affectionately referred to as brick, weighed over a kilogram and cost $ 3,995. But now it was possible to talk on the phone and not depend on the wire. The "brick" had enough power for a whole hour of conversations and memory for storing 30 numbers. No cloud storage, just hard core. And yet, in those days, the apparatus was the object of envy.

8. Nintendo Game Boy - portable gaming device

Year of issue: 1989.

The compact game console was an instant dream come true for millions of children around the world. The first Game Boy was equipped with a monochrome display and came in the same design as a gray body. Later, more powerful and compact versions with an enlarged and already color display appeared.

9. Sony DCR-VX1000 - the first mini-DV digital camcorder

Year of issue: 1995.

The DCR-VX1000 from Sony was the first camera to capture video in miniDV format and transfer the recording to a PC. The device cost $ 4,000, but saved thousands of dollars that used to be spent on digitizing analog frames.

The video quality was significantly better than that of its predecessors. And soon there were more affordable models. Just imagine: if it were not for her, we would never have seen the program "My own director".

10. M-Systems DiskOnKey - the first flash drive

Year of issue: 2000.

For 20 years, people have been predicting the death of the floppy disk. And the appearance of a vault the size of a finger gave her a death sentence. The USB flash drive with 8 to 32 MB memory was easy to use and did not require any drivers to be installed on the PC. DiskOnKey ushered in a new era of moving files from one device to another.