Good Morning Lovelies, 

Technology has always been something that has interested me! I love the idea of getting a new gadget to play with. Something I believe comes from my dad, who also loved to play around with TVs, computers and more. He made sure that each of us was able to fix an appliance when it went wrong and wasn’t afraid to try and learn how to himself if we had to teach him. 

It was this love of gadgets and gizmos that led to me being very lucky as a child. Often second hand but sometimes new, I was raised with so many nostalgic 90s/00s items that made my childhood incredibly special. From game consoles to music players, I truly believe that I was raised in a time when the world just knew how to make something smart without it being smart. 

Upon reflecting on this, I thought I would share with you some staples from my teenage years that I still have a huge amount of love for today. In fact, after writing the following, I am very tempted to find them and get them out to play with again…

iPod Classic: My pride and joy. Still sitting nice and neatly in one of my drawers, my iPod Classic was my world. I would spend hours every day loading it with new songs, making sure the playlists and edits were all up to date. Once ready, I would pop my headphones in and dance around my room until I had to go out, to bed or I was embarrassingly caught by one of my parents. The thrill of knowing that a long car journey was coming up wasn’t because of the destination. No, it was knowing that I would be able to put my music on and look out the window for hours, pretending I was in my own music video. If it rained, you were onto a real winner when it came to a slow song. 

Playstation Two: Singstar, Pop Stars: The Rivals, Eye Toy and even the ease of using it as a DVD player. When it came to my Playstation Two, I used it for everything. The hours I would spend singing along to the Singstar tracks in hopes to beat my highest score probably gave my neighbours headaches. I am sure that they were very thankful when I started to use it only as a DVD player when I got older. Although, they probably didn’t need to hear the endless streaming of Twilight that I used to watch every day of my teenage life. 

Nokia 6111 Phone: Having had a few phones passed down to me from my mum’s to my brother’s, this phone was my first original phone. Pink and white, the endless sliding up and down, it was a sturdy phone that I still have sitting in its box in my house. If I brought a new sim card for it, I swear it could probably still work. I would spend hours with my friends Bluetoothing songs back and forth, whilst also trying not to spend all my credit texting them later on about school gossip. 

Wii: I don’t think I will ever be able to part with the Wii that currently sits unused in our TV cupboard. It is an heirloom to me that reflects the endless days I would spend playing on it. I even had Just Dance party nights whenever a new version of the game was released. I simply love it and I am going to say that I don’t think any game console has compared since. Wii Sports will always be the king of games!

Portable DVD Player: A DVD player seems like an agent thing on its own, especially after Blu-Ray and streaming services were introduced. Yet, the wonders of being able to play your DVDs whilst on the go, such as when in the back of the car on a long journey with your parents was incredible. We used to go on lots of family caravan trips, with my dad owning the TV selection the moment we arrived. When I could, I would escape to another room and watch all my favourites on this. 

Nintendo DS Lite: I begged and I mean begged for a Nintendo DS Lite for Christmas upon them first being released. I didn’t care what game it came with, I just wanted to have one. For months, I was told I wasn’t getting one. So, you can imagine my utter joy when I opened the silver console on Christmas Day. Complete with Cooking Mama, Nintendogs and a few of the Imagine games, I was in my utter element. I still have it now and will even get it out to play at times. No handheld gaming system, including the Switch, has ever compared. 

Honestly, tech was just the best in the 90s/00s! It may seem boring and basic to some now but these gadgets and many more were the epitome of cool and I won’t have a bad word said about them! 

Did you play with any of the above lovelies? Or did you have something even better? Let me know! Although, I may take a while to reply, as I think a game of Cooking Mama is calling me!

Joey X