Nostalgia comes from the Greek: Its literal meaning is an ache for the past.
Today's gadgets are streamlined and simplified—pure touchscreens stripped of ornament—which spurs our longing for bygone hardware.
There's a wave of new technology that scratches that old itch. From the iTypewriter's retro blend of the 20th and 21st centuries to the Atari Arcade that brings old-school style arcade gaming to the iPad, the comeback now looks like the ultimate innovation.
Some are purely concepts at this point, but the majority are currently available for sale.
Sony put CD and cassette players on the back burner for MP3 players
Product: Sony Walkman MP3 Players
Cost: Sony has three models of MP3 players ranging from $49 to $299.
About: Sony Walkman devices used to be all the rage before MP3 players made their way onto the market. The first Walkman devices in the 1980s only played cassette tapes but eventually evolved to play CDs, MiniDiscs, and more recently, MP3s and other digital audio files. These days, the main appeal is the Walkman name, for those who remember the pre-iPod era.
iTypewriter lets you type on your tablet like a modern-day Ernest Hemingway
Product: iTypewriter
Cost: To be determined
About: Typewriters have been around since the 1860s and became standard in offices, newsrooms, and government agencies for all correspondence. But with the emergence of personal computers and word processors in the 1980s, typewriters grew obsolete. Yet they linger in one way: The layout of virtual keyboards on touchscreens still uses the old QWERTY typewriter layout, designed to slow typists' fingers down so the mechanical keys wouldn't jam against each other.
The iCade brings traditional arcade gaming to your home
Product: iCade iPad arcade cabinet
Cost: The iCade ranges from $69 to $99 on ThinkGeek
About: Before personal video gaming devices became a staple in US households, kids actually had to go local businesses or arcades in their neighborhood to play games.
The iCade actually stared off as an April Fool's joke but it turned into a real product because customer demand ended up to be incredibly high.
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
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