Technology Timeline

VCR

1988

I spent my early years watching movies on our VCR player. I always hated it when my siblings didn't rewind their movies when putting them back. My mom still owns all of the classics (including Disney) on VCR tapes.

Internet

1990

Seriously, what did people do without the internet?

Compact Cassette

1992

My first real interaction with technology came in the form of cassette tapes. When I was really young I didn't have my own player, so we would listen to our tapes in the car. My personal favorite was the Bengals cassette I shared with my older sister.

Boombox

1997

Every teenager HAD to have a boom box in the 90's! The bigger the better. You could even detach the speakers and place them around your room for the ultimate surround sound experience.

Discman

1998

In junior high and high school I could make my music portable using my Discman. I could put my headphones on and drown out my parents awful music in the car. I remember taking my Discman to the gym and being annoyed that my CD was skipping as I was trying to run on the treadmill.

DVD Player

1999

I was in 9th grade when my dad bought us our first DVD player. We couldn't use it very often because we only owned a couple of DVDs. Even Blockbuster only had a small wall of rent-able options.

DVD burner

2000

I became all too familiar with Napster and Limewire when my family purchased our first DVD burner.

Cell Phone

2002

I got my first cell phone when I was a senior in high school. No texting or wifi, but you could play a mean game of Snake.

Portable MP3 Player

2003

I bought my first portable MP3 player when I was in college to take to the gym. It held about 30 songs.

iPhone

2007

My first iPhone was amazing, but I was too cheap to pay for data.