There were so many crazy and amazing things from the 80s that aren’t part of our lives today, and according to Ultimate Classic Rock, cassette-based answering machines are one of them. In those bygone days, before voicemail was even a thing, folks could go home and listen to messages on mini cassettes.
You could insert the recorder into the top of the machine like a portable player, and outgoing messages were recorded on small cartridges that fit on the side of the phone. These little gadgets and items were built for convenience and were considered a valuable part of modern life at the time.
Before phones could show us the time, pretty much everyone wore a watch. They also became a fashion statement, and one of the most interesting was Swatch, created by a Swiss company founded by Ernst Thomke, Elmar Mock, and Jacques Müller. This line was developed in response to the ‘quartz crisis,’ when inexpensive watches competed with European ones.
The Swatches were essentially cool, high-tech, affordable, and also came in vibrant colors, which made a lot of people want to buy them. They were also popular because folks could match them with different outfits.
Gaming in the 80s was on a whole other level, and even though it might not have been as high-tech as it is today, everyone seemed to enjoy themselves thoroughly. One example from that time was the Commodore 64, an 8-bit home computer that became so popular that nearly 17 million units were sold.
It was also so beloved because it was sold in regular retail stores instead of only to hobbyists, which brought it to many middle-class households. That’s probably why it holds a Guinness World Record for being the best-selling single desktop computer model of all time.
Nowadays, when you meet someone new, you either take down their number or find them online through one of many social media sites. In the 80s and 90s, there was a unique way to contact people: phone books, which listed every person, business, and company alphabetically.
They were also big enough to use as booster seats, and were called the Yellow Pages because of their distinct yellow color. Having your phone number listed for everyone to find might seem like an invasion of privacy, but at the time it was a great way to connect with a long-lost friend or find services without saving a lot of numbers.
The 90s were a glorious time for games, toys, and fun stuff that kept children and adults occupied. According to The Odyssey Online, one such thing was ‘Bop It,’ a line of audio game toys that gave people commands they had to follow at an increasing pace with each level.
This item was based on ideas originally patented by Dan Klitsner, but since its creation, the toy has changed a lot and no longer resembles what it once was. Despite its fairly simple design, children used to love the game and stay occupied with it for a long time.
Gaming keeps evolving over time, and in the 90s, most children loved playing on their Game Boys. Nintendo developed and marketed this handheld console, releasing it in Japan on April 21, 1989. Later, in North America and Europe, the Game Boy was part of a large marketing campaign that paired it with Tetris, which helped broaden its appeal.
The monochromatic display drew a lot of criticism over time, but Nintendo's Pokémon series helped maintain its popularity, and multiple redesigns let folks enjoy the console for years.
