3 ms·

I got one of these as a gadget-loving teenager and loved the hell out of it. The way the buckle of the wristband hid a tiny stylus was very cool and surprisingl

I got one of these as a gadget-loving teenager and loved the hell out of it. The way the buckle of the wristband hid a tiny stylus was very cool and surprisingly effective. I even had a Game Boy emulator installed and it worked surprisingly well (other than having too few buttons). I think smartphones and the cloud have diminished the opportunity for us to feel excitement for specialty gadgets like we used to. Folding phones and VR kind of do it for me. I'm curious if any other commenters have products today that still give them the "gadget hype" reminiscent of 2000s tech culture.

jasmcole 3y ago
Me too! Other recent gadgets that have scratched the same itch are the Steam deck and folding phones, though nothing quite captures the feeling of the gadget experimentation going on back then.
wvenable 3y ago
Only two "recent" purchases of modern technology gave me "gadget hype": The first was a GPD Pocket -- as it reminded me of old palmtops that I used to have and is still a reasonably powerful computer. The other was the Quest 2 VR headset. I've instead been collecting vintage and retro portable computers. I have a few Sharp pocket computers that I'm working on interfacing with my desktop. I have a great condition Tandy Model 102. And I have a complete with box HP 660LX coming the mail next week. It seems like technology is almost too powerful for gadgets to be hype-worthy now. I was hyped for the Pebble Smartwatch but now I have Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 that's way more powerful but doesn't give me gadget hype feelings.
jckahn 3y ago
The Steam Deck and Framework laptop get me pretty excited!
flir 3y ago
Phone with a thermal imaging a few years back. The Flipper Zero, but I can't justify spending the cash on it. A phone with a 15,000mAh battery more recently. 3d printing in general. Two of these are, as you say, phones.

jasmcole 3y ago

Me too! Other recent gadgets that have scratched the same itch are the Steam deck and folding phones, though nothing quite captures the feeling of the gadget experimentation going on back then.

wvenable 3y ago

Only two "recent" purchases of modern technology gave me "gadget hype": The first was a GPD Pocket -- as it reminded me of old palmtops that I used to have and is still a reasonably powerful computer. The other was the Quest 2 VR headset. I've instead been collecting vintage and retro portable computers. I have a few Sharp pocket computers that I'm working on interfacing with my desktop. I have a great condition Tandy Model 102. And I have a complete with box HP 660LX coming the mail next week. It seems like technology is almost too powerful for gadgets to be hype-worthy now. I was hyped for the Pebble Smartwatch but now I have Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 that's way more powerful but doesn't give me gadget hype feelings.

jckahn 3y ago

The Steam Deck and Framework laptop get me pretty excited!

flir 3y ago

Phone with a thermal imaging a few years back. The Flipper Zero, but I can't justify spending the cash on it. A phone with a 15,000mAh battery more recently. 3d printing in general. Two of these are, as you say, phones.