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Mobile phone
When Nokia phones were first mass produced this year. I saw people with them but I was slow to get on the mobile phone train. It was shortly after that I finally got a Motorola cell phone. A flip phone at that. There were no fancy touch screen or anything but I was able to make a personal call from somewhere other my house. -
Computer
First got my home computer in 1996. It came with a bulky monitor. Also had to use dial up services. That was the only option at the time. It locked up the phone line so there were quite a few missed calls. I was finally able to communicate with my family from back home instantly via email instead of snail mail. First got introduced to chatrooms online. Spent hours talking with my friends from high school. It was all new and exciting. And addictive. -
DVD
My family got our first dvd player for Christmas in 1997. I remember being really excited about this because I didn't have to fast forward or rewind on a VHS tape. I can get to the scene I want just by clicking a few buttons on the remote. Blockbuster was famous at the time. I had to wait inline to get in to rent dvd movies. I had bought alot of the disney movies on VHS that I didn't know what to do with but don't want to throw away so I still have them. -
Camcorder
Upgraded to a Sony handycam as a birthday present in 1998. We finally put to rest the camcorder that uses VSH tapes. I could see in real time what I was taking a video of so that was a major bonus. I was taking videos of family gatherings, trips, games, etc,. I put that thing to use! Then smart phones were invented. It can do the same thing and it's a lot less heavier and so my handycam is sitting lonely in my closet ever since. -
TV
Bought the big screen TV toward the end of the 90's. It had a 50" screen and sits on the floor. Family movie nights became the norm. We'd watch tv late into the night. We kept it for a few years until the flat screen tv came out and we bought one during a Black Friday sale.