90’s Gadgets
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In our other article for today we reviewed some of the most important gadgets that came out during the 80s, while in this one we have a look at the ones that were launched in the last decade of the 20th century.
This was the decade when the videocassette recorder (VCR) came out, which as you probably know is a type of video tape recorder that can record video and audio from a TV broadcast on a removable videotape cassette that contains magnetic tape.
SEGA Mega Drive (Source: images.wikia.com)
The SEGA Mega Drive came out in Japan back in 1988 but Europe and the rest of the regions got it in 1990. In the U.S., the console made its debut in 1989 where it is known as the Sega Genesis, due to the reason that the company that made it wasn’t able to secure legal rights to the “Mega Drive” name in that region. This was the successor of the Master System and it was Sega’s fifth home console
During the 1990s we saw the introduction of the pager which is a fairly simple personal telecommunications device for short messages. The one-way numeric pager is capable only of receiving messages that contain a few digits, in most cases a phone number. Also available are alphanumeric pagers and two-way pagers that can send and receive e-mails, SMS messages and numeric pages.
On January 3rd 1996, Motorola introduced the very first clamshell/flip mobile phone in the form of the now legendary StarTAC.
Between 1990 and 1993, the Super Nintendo Entertainment System (aka SNES, Super NES or Super Nintendo) was introduced by Nintendo in Europe, North America, South America and Australasia. As you probably know, the NES is a 16-bit video game console, one of the most important of all times.
Nintendo 64 (Source: images.wikia.com)
We also have to mention the Nintendo 64 (aka N64) which was the third video games console launched by Nintendo and it came out in June 1996 in Japan. North America got it in September while Europe and Australia in 1997. It was the company’s last console that used ROM cartridges for storing the games.
Another gaming console that came out in the 90s was the Sony PlayStation which revolutionized the industry thanks to the use of CD-Roms. During its lifespan, Sony managed to sell more than 100 million units of the PS1/PSX.
The first digital camera was launched in 1994 and it was available for a whopping $800. The QuickTake came with a fixed focus but didn’t have a zoom and you weren’t able to preview the photos on the camera. The product was discontinued three years later, but it will be remembered as being the first consumer digital camera that worked with a personal computer.
