With CES this week I have been thinking back to what gadgets shaped the decade and left us where we are today. So here are my choices for what gadgets changed the way we looked at things.
The Sony PS2
Despite the Sony PS3 being in production for years now the Sony PS2 is still around and still being bought and loved. Why do I choose a simple video game machine? Because it did more than play games actually. I watched my DVDs on one for years and it also hooked into the internet and at one time you could even get a hard drive for it. It used to be my main piece of hardware for my TV since I did not need a DVD player and it had this huge library of PS1/PS2 games when I got tired of movies. It was all those basic ideas that evolved into the Sony PS3 and the XBox and started people looking at the lowly video game machine as an entire internet enabled home entertainment system. People may still buy the Wii but they want the PS3 and that BluRay crisp movie watching goodness. Plus the one size fits all Sony Network is free unlike XBox.
The Apple iPod
Who knew? Back when Napster was the scourge of the internet destroying the music industry and the money they loved here comes that innocent, recently down on it’s luck, computer company Apple. With a digital music player. A what? Then Apple says hey guys if we sell a song for a buck on this iTunes thingy we created we can get people to buy music from you again. An entire industry was changed shortly there after.
The Apple iPhone
On what other hand held device out there do you have the option where you can buy an eBook from Fictionwise or Barnes & Noble or Amazon or All Romance eBooks and read it right there? Oh, and make a phone call and Twitter what you are reading about too! There you have it. The Apple iPhone which is much more a functional computer which changed the whole idea of a cell phone as we know it and not the Kindle and certainly not Sony and not any stupid eInk device it’s Apple who is getting people to buy eBooks and getting them interested in eBook Readers. I bet you when the Apple Tablet comes out an entire industry will be changed shortly there after.
Tags: That's Not eBooks
katiebabs wrote,
Dare I admit I don’t own any of these? I am techno loser.
And no Wii either!
Link | January 5th, 2010 at 7:13 pm
erastes wrote,
Haven’t had or will ever be able to afford the apple products but I really agree with the PS2 – I have had mine now for six years and it’s never given me a day’s trouble. (Unlike the PS3) It’s retroactive-gaming (unlike the PS3) and I can have it on all day and all night and it never gets bothered about how hot it gets. The step-up from the graphics from PS1 to PS2 was startling, and then there were all the other things you could do with it – online gaming, dvd playing… as my ps3 won’t play the ps2 games and I still have about 50 ps2 games (and even some PS1 ones) that I love dearly and replay often, I can’t see any time soon when I’ll be getting rid of the trusty PS2. *hugs it*
Link | January 6th, 2010 at 2:38 am
TeddyPig wrote,
I wish your PS3 Slimline was not all messed up like that. Sony can get something right every once in a while but give them time and they muck up even the best stuff. They have been cutting corners on their product line so much it is starting to show in the quality. It’s too bad really.
Sony dropped all those wonderful options from the PS2 and then Sony dropped all the wonderful backwards compatibility from the PS3. Now the PS3 Slimline is having issues and they are not working on them. They lost the TV battle and it really shows this year since they have no promised affordable OLED TV so Vizio (The cheapest TVs on the planet) is even beating their ass. What are they bringing to the table? An eBook Reader that is already out of date and hard to read unless you get the midget screen version? That will be crushed when Apple brings out the Tablet. That is how the mighty fall.
Link | January 6th, 2010 at 6:43 am
Mandi wrote,
I got an iphone for Christmas..I am in lurve.
Link | January 6th, 2010 at 7:48 am
MB (Leah) wrote,
The iPod was the single most adored item to come out for me. My Sony Walkman and CD players were attached to my hip almost all the time, but how inconvenient to have to carry all those CD’s and Tapes? I got my iPod the min they became Windows friendly and it’s the one item I use constantly and will not ever let go of. Unless… someone figures out how to implant a chip in my head that I can download anything to listen to at any time. heh.
I just bought a PS3 for the DH for Xmas and so far it’s working great. He loves it! We do have a wii and PS2, but it’s only my DH who uses the PS’s. So I can’t really comment on those. I’m not a gamer.
Link | January 6th, 2010 at 11:13 am
Teddypig wrote,
Well you should try a bluray movie then.
Oh and just be warned about the yellow light of death seems to be a general hardware issue on the PS3 slimline it was the first I heard of it.
Here is an interesting video going over possible fix.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U70SgRDVcBo
Link | January 6th, 2010 at 12:21 pm
ShellBell wrote,
Dare I admit I don’t own any of these? I am techno loser. And no Wii either!
Katiebabs, you’re not the only one. I don’t one any of them either – not even a Wii!
Link | January 7th, 2010 at 2:24 am
ShellBell wrote,
ooops … that should read ‘I don’t own any of them either!
Link | January 7th, 2010 at 2:49 am