90s Tech Every Singaporean Born In The 80s Will Remember

Gather round kids, gather round. Once upon a time, there was no internet. No Instagram. No TikTok. No Spotify. If we wanted music, we had to turn on the TV and tune into MTV. Or listen to the radio and hope our favourite songs came on. If we wanted music at our fingertips, we’d have to buy cassette tapes or CDs.

It was only 30 years ago but the world of everyday tech has changed immeasurably. The size of the gadgets we put in our pocket have shrunk and it seems crazy to think that text messages used to cost a fortune.

Here we’ve put together a visual list of 90s tech relics that live on in the hearts of every Singaporean born in the late 1970s to the 1980s.

Credit: Gumtree

VHS tape

Short for Video Home System.

Year released: 1976 in Japan, 1977 in the USA.

Year obsolete: 2006. The last movie to be released on VHS was A History of Violence.

Successor: The DVD.

Walkman

Credit: Wikipedia

Year Released: 1979

Year Obsolete: 2010

Successor: MP3 player

PlayStation 1

Credit: Lukiegames

Year Released: 1994

Year Obsolete: 2000

Successor: PlayStation 2

Floppy Disk

Credit: Carousell

Fun fact: The 3 1/2 inch floppy disk released in 1997 can only hold up to 240 megabytes.

Year Released: 1970s

Year Obsolete: 2000s

Successor: CD-Rom

Electronic Organizer/Diary

Credit: pinterest

Year Released: 1975

Year Obsolete: 2000s

Successor: Personal Digital Assistant

Gameboy

Credit: jogos

Year Released: 1989

Year Obsolete: 1998

Successor: Game Boy Colour

Nokia 3110

Credit: Wikipedia

Year Released: 1997

Year Obsolete: 1998

Successor: Nokia 5110

iMac G3

Credit: flickr

Year Released: 1998

Year Obsolete: 2003

Successor: iMac G4

Coin-op Arcade Machine

Credit: ellaloves

Did you know that there is a niche market for arcade machine restoration?

Year Released: 1980s

Year Obsolete: Never

Successor: N/A

Pager/Beeper

Credit: Carousell

Year Released: 1950s (!)

Year Obsolete: late 1990s

Successor: mobile phones

IBM Aptiva

Year Released: 1994

Year Obsolete: 2001

Successor: IBM NetVista

Were you around in the 1990s? What are some of your fondest memories from the 90s?