Lauren Novak

There were a lot of new gadgets that gained popularity in the '80s. While they were nowhere near the technology we have today, some of it was actually pretty advanced! Most of these gadgets made way for the awesome stuff we can use today. Here is a list of some of the best '80s gadgets that you may have forgotten about. Let's get nostalgic and reminisce about this list. Check off how many of these items you owned... perhaps you still do! 1. ZX Spectrum ZX Spectrum / Wikipedia If you're a gamer, you might remember the ZX Spectrum for playing video games. They aimed to compete with the Nintendo and Sega but add something unique. It was a special keyboard for your computer that had different functions to play games with or learn computer programming. 2. Speak and Spell Speak and Spell / Flickr Did you or your kids have a Speak and Spell? It held different games aimed to help children improve their vocabulary and spelling. It was actually one of the world's first handheld PCs! 3. Sony Walkman Sony Walkman / Wikipedia Before we had smartphones and iPods, there was the Walkman! It was a portable cassette player and was one of the first ways that people could listen to the music they chose on the go. It came with portable headphones and you could also listen to the radio. 4. Nintendo Game Boy Original Nintendo Gameboy / Wikimedia Commons The Game Boy was released in the late '80s and continued to be popular well into the 2000s. Kids could play games on the go and Nintendo went on to release many different versions of the popular device. Did you use to have one? 5. Motorola MicroTAC Motorola MicroTAC / Flickr This was the first flip phone and it cost $3,000! TAC stood for Total Area Coverage because it got great service for the time. Many handsets looked like this for years to come. If you couldn't afford this cell phone, you likely had a chunky "brick phone." Read on to the NEXT page to see what other gadgets you might have forgotten about... 6. Polaroid Sun AF 660 Polaroid Sun AF 660 / Wikipedia Polaroid cameras have begun to become popular again, so we should not forget the original! This was one of the first Polaroid cameras which allowed us to get our photos instantly. This was a big deal in the days where you had to get photos developed and wait days or weeks to see the pictures you took. Do you remember the devastation when your photos didn't turn out right? 7. Sharp pocket computer Sharp pocket computer / Wikimedia Commons Small computers started popping up in the '80s. They looked like calculators, but they could be used to program BASIC code or type up your work. Did you have one of these? 8. Apple Macintosh 128K Apple Macintosh 128K / Wikimedia Commons Who knew Apple would become such a huge company with iPhones, Macs, and so much more? One of the first personal computers was the Apple Macintosh. 9. Casio Databank Casio Databank / Wikimedia Commons Databank watches were the original smartwatches. They are actually still sold today! These watches have their own very tiny keyboard. 10. Simon game Simon game / Wikimedia Commons The game is simple, but it is still sold today. It is similar to the Simon Says game because you just have to repeat the order of the colors that flash. It is very simple, but it was actually a big deal in the '80s! How many of these gadgets did you own? Do you still have any of these in your home? If you enjoyed this nostalgic article, please SHARE with your friends and family who miss the gadgets of the 1980s! RELATED: Do You Remember Cap Guns? Did You Own A Cap Gun or Two Back In The Day? Watch the video below to see teens react to some of these '80s gadgets: