5 ’80s Gadgets We Wish Would Make A Comeback

1980 heralded a decade of distinctive style choices, implausible motion pictures, music, and TV exhibits (together with those who maybe have not aged almost so properly). Many who keep in mind that unstoppable period will miss the influential know-how of the ’80s. Now, with on a regular basis that has handed, some know-how that appeared so superior is all however laughable now. Smartphones, for example, have been troublesome to think about for the typical individual when you think about the Motorola Dynatac 8000X, the primary cellphone to hit cabinets.

At a hefty 1.7 kilos and with a good heftier price ticket of $3,995 (the equal of round $11,700 now), it has a essential place within the historical past of phone tech, however completely no place in your pockets in 2025. Sometimes, although, simply typically, nostalgia and practicality collide. There are a number of creations from the ’80s that folks would like to see make a comeback right this moment, modernized in various levels. Not just because they’re remembered so fondly, however as a result of it could really serve a necessity and be a wise thought to take action. Modern know-how has remodeled society in so some ways, and there is actually no comparability between the 2 eras.

Nonetheless, there are specific niches that it does not fill in addition to some know-how from the previous. Crucially, too, the widespread use of streaming companies and downloads has resulted in a decline within the availability of bodily media. Each of those units continues for use right this moment in some capability, by way of re-releases and fanatics, however has maybe not fairly achieved the extent of mainstream comeback they deserve. 

The rise of MP3 gamers was an interesting motion to behold. You may personal 1000’s of songs and lots of of albums with out bodily proudly owning any of them in any respect. There’s all the time one thing to be stated for bodily media, although, from DVDs to CDs and, earlier than both, the cassette tape. This format’s greatest pal was Sony’s Walkman, a transportable music participant that, to many right this moment, certainly seems to be monumental and impractical. So, too, would possibly cassette tapes themselves. Collectors, nevertheless, can not seem to get sufficient of cassettes.

 Northeastern University affiliate music professor Andrew Mall defined to the Northeastern Global News, “The sales are still minuscule, but what’s been bringing it back is the interest in the cassette as an aesthetic object.” Vinyl boasts wonderful album artwork that you would show on the wall and a extra resilient physique that retains audio high quality for longer, however you actually could not play one on a transportable machine. Cassettes are additionally cheaper and simpler to provide.

Both, after all, have that very same attraction of really proudly owning one thing and build up a group. In August 2025, Taylor Swift opened up preorders for her upcoming album “The Life Of A Showgirl,” with cassette being one of many codecs obtainable as a result of, as Mall stated, “The cassette didn’t ever really die.” Neither did the cassette participant. A brand-new Walkman mannequin with cassette-playing performance can be simply as area of interest however would have very actual attraction. The Walkman has an interesting historical past, and its story is not over but.

VHS tapes are in an analogous scenario to cassette tapes in some ways. It’s one other know-how that by no means disappeared solely, nevertheless it has develop into more and more unpopular. Often, although, those that have VHS gamers are ardent supporters of the format. One YouTube channel showcases the perfect of the footage it is gathered from outdated VHS tapes, and communities develop round those that nonetheless share the glory of the VCR. The video-loving neighborhood has grown considerably, however this additionally presents an issue. VCRs are not manufactured wherever in any respect.

Japan’s Funai Electric stopped manufacturing VCRs in 2016, resulting from declining gross sales and issue securing components for the format. The firm was believed to be the final bastion of cassette participant manufacture on the planet. This naturally implies that new fashions are extremely scarce, and with fanatics trying to snatch them up, costs may be unpredictable. Unfortunately, so can the situation of the machine itself.

You by no means fairly understand how a system will perform once you purchase a used one from a retailer or storage sale, and as Funai Electric found, new components for broken or worn machines are considerably troublesome to return by. That leaves worldwide communities of VHS fanatics with rising collections and a troublesome time discovering dependable gamers by way of which to utilize them. There is software program that may switch the content material on a VHS tape into digital, however to take action is to disclaim the physicality of the expertise, which is so vital to the format’s attraction for therefore many within the first place. 

Modern smartphones have giant storage capacities that usually result in an inclination to be fairly snap-happy. What’s wanted, typically, is a distinct technique of pictures. One that’s bodily and ensures that each picture counts. At the identical time, it needn’t be costly professional-level gear. In this area, one of many defining applied sciences of the Nineteen Eighties was the Polaroid digicam. The speedy potential to have one thing to show on a wall or elsewhere was a part of the attraction. The digicam high quality that so many have at their fingertips right this moment means on the spot cameras have their downsides. After all, if anyone is blurry in a digital shot, you’ll be able to merely delete it and take a look at once more.

If you may have the identical subject with a bodily shot, you’ve got misplaced one of many precious images in your roll of movie, and they are often distinctly expensive. The excellent news for nostalgic on the spot digicam followers is that the know-how hasn’t essentially disappeared, and followers have stored it greater than afloat. In reality, Digital Camera World journal famous in December 2025 that Fujifilm’s Instax movie was proving too common and manufacturing was in want of a lift.

Capacity was boosted by way of a money injection of round ¥5 billion (the equal of about $32 million) that enabled the nation to extend the manufacturing of the dear materials by about 10%. Instant cameras are nonetheless in appreciable demand, then. Fujifilm’s Instax digicam has basically claimed the crown from Polaroid. Though the latter initially stopped producing on the spot cameras in 2007 and manufacturing its movie in 2008, it has since returned to the market with a recent Polaroid vary. It can be splendidly nostalgic to see it as an on the spot digicam powerhouse once more. 

In the Nineteen Eighties and Nineties, folks did not but have the enjoyment of sharing trip images to social media and household group chats as quickly as they have been taken, however they might look ahead to an evening of sharing all these slides with household and associates on their return. So many had members of the family who had retained a treasure trove of outdated photographs from birthday events, weddings, holidays, and different important events, and in some circumstances, they’re all that is left of most of the folks depicted in them. It’s true, after all, that companies permit for some such content material to be transferred to digital, however this will depend on the experience obtainable, probably risking dropping the unique. 

Those who want to make use of the unique know-how on the codecs they bear in mind can hope that they may all the time have allies who can restore, service, and supply the machines they require to take action. In 2024, SilvergrainClassics journal interviewed two such folks: Manfred Schmidt and Thomas Fassung, the managing administrators of heidi-foto. This retailer in Munich, Germany, has specialised in analog pictures and slide projectors for many years.

Both acknowledge that the format is area of interest and has develop into more and more difficult, with Fassung telling the outlet, “Nevertheless, the procurement of film has become difficult … prices have risen enormously.” Nonetheless, the crew boasts the professional information that anyone nonetheless wanting to make use of such a machine may wish. “If someone only wants to look at a few old slides occasionally, they are ideally equipped with a single-image projector from Leica, for example,” Schmidt notes. “The devices are robust and easy to use. If someone frequently looks at slides because projection is an integral part of their presentation style, there is no getting round a Rollei MSC twin.”

The pager, actually, is the epitome of a tool that has one job and performs it with aplomb. Mobile telephones additionally grew to become common across the similar period, however ended up doing completely the whole lot else along with their unique goal: communication. Another piece of kit that many a busy Nineteen Eighties skilled would all the time have had readily available is the Filofax, a big and diversified private organizer for storing names, addresses, paperwork, different contact particulars, and work necessities collectively in a single place. 

This, too, is commonly merely seen as a job for a smartphone or different digital software program right this moment, however there is not any doubt that there is nonetheless a bonus to holding all of this data collated and stored collectively bodily. For these discovering their display screen time notching up ever increased, it may be an unlimited breath of recent air to spend a bit of time with a pen and paper, and plainly Filofax itself acknowledges this. FLB Group managing director Susan Graham instructed The Drum in August 2024, “We aren’t trying to convert people who use digital back into paper, but we are enhancing the paper experience.”

Through further options equivalent to wellness and health data to finish, and app performance that permits the digital and paper realms to be stored synced, the Filofax has remained related in its area of interest, and its attraction may proceed to unfold. With QR code/app compatibility, and possibly a return to performance just like the Anoto text-scanning pen the units used again on the flip of the Millennium, maybe it may develop into a fully-fledged workplace titan as soon as extra.