The Decade in Gadgets
A then-and-now look at the technologies in our lives

|
1999
|
2009
|
|
AOL
|
Google
|
|
You’ve Got
Mail
|
Already got it on my BlackBerry
|
|
1-GB inboxes
|
1-GB attachments
|
|
1999
|
2009
|

|
Mix CDs
|
Playlists
|
|
Walkman
|
iPod
|
|
Napster
|
iTunes
|
|
Radio
|
Pandora
|

|
1999
|
2009
|
|
Long-distance
charges
|
Cell phone
minutes
|
|
Swiss army knives
|
iPhones
|
|
Awkward
silence
|
“Sorry,
one sec, I have a message”
|
|
1999
|
2009
|

|
Postcards
|
Twitter
|
|
Instant messaging
|
Video Gchatting
|
|
Classifieds
|
Craigslist
|
|
A politician’s paper
trail
|
A golf star’s text-message
inbox
|
|
1999
|
2009
|

|
VCR timers
|
TiVo
|
|
Reruns
|
Hulu
|
|
Other
people’s boring baby videos
|
YouTube
|
|
Who Wants
to Be a Millionaire?
|
Jon Gosselin, Balloon dad, and everybody else
|
|
1999
|
2009
|

|
Karaoke
|
Rock Band
|
|
Myst
|
World of Warcraft
|
|
Super Mario Bros
|
Super Mario Bros Wii
|

|
1999
|
2009
|
|
Magazine
subscriptions
|
RSS
subscriptions
|
|
Bookshelf
|
Kindle
|
|
Calling an
expert
|
Going to
Wikipedia
|
|
Going to the library for research
|
Going to
Wikipedia
|
|
Buying an
Encyclopedia for your kids
|
Telling
them to go to Wikipedia
|

|
1999
|
2009
|
|
Stopping for directions
|
GPS recalculating route
|
|
FM radio
|
Satellite radio
|
|
Toyota
Camrys and Ford Trucks
|
Toyota
hybrids and ... Ford trucks
|

|
1999
|
2009
|
|
Travel
agents
|
Travelocity
|
|
Remembering airline tickets
|
Printing boarding passes
|
|
Meeting at the gate
|
Removing shoes at security
|
|
1999
|
2009
|

|
First
impressions
|
Facebook
profiles
|
|
Photo
albums
|
Facebook
photos
|
|
High school reunions every decade
|
Facebook
updates every 10 seconds
|
|
The silent
treatment
|
Unfriending
|

|
1999
|
2009
|
|
General Electric
|
General Electric
|
|
Microsoft
Office
|
Microsoft
Office
|
|
Y2K
|
Never mind
|
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