It’s the end of the year, and all those lists are starting to crop up — you know, the ones that count down the best of the year.
I started to read one about the top 50 gadgets of the last 50 years, and counting up which ones I actually owned. It’s shocking:
- Sony Walkman
- Apple iPod
- TiVo
- Palm PDA
- Motorola RAZR
- TI Speak & Spell
- Nintendo Game Boy
- Apple Newton Messagepad
- Roomba
- Iomega Zip Drive
I wonder how much money I have spent buying gadgets and gizmos over my lifetime — probably more than the gross national product of some small nations.
Perhaps not by coincidence, I’ve just started reading Affluenza, targeting the American propensity for conspicuous consumption.
Eek, everything on your list but the Speak & Spell, the Game Boy and the Palm (I had a Handspring for awhile). And I am thinking of getting a RAZR.
As much as I like the cutting edge there’s very little here I bought wen new.
1. Sony Walkman TPS-L2
10. Regency TR-1
17. Texas Instruments SR-10
36. Iomega Zip Drive
That’s about it, and I only had #17 because I was a Real Estate agent and needed to do compound interest.
Of more surprise to me I had every camera on the list.
8. Polaroid SX-70 Land Camera
23. Kodak Instamatic 100
43. Polaroid Swinger
And I remember using them… A lot. The SX-70 was a favorite of mine.
This for me is just a reminder that I have always had a camera in my hands and my current love of photography is deeply rooted in my being.
ye gads !! shades of Lito–you come by it honestly