Skip to main content
Blog

The Evolution of Tech: Then and Now.

The Evolution of Tech: Then and Now.
iD Mobile
iD Mobile Employee

Last month, the world said goodbye to the iPod, which was officially discontinued by Apple after more than 20 years (we know, it makes us feel old too). And it made us think about how much all tech – not just portable music – has changed over the years. From dial-up modem and the Sega Genesis to wireless earbuds and even smarter smartphones, come with us on this journey through tech history…

 

The evolution of mobile phones

At their conception, mobile phones were simple, brick-like devices with one – and only one – purpose. To make phone calls. But things have changed quite drastically since then. These days, smartphones are no longer just phones, they completely rule our lives. In fact, the average person touches their phone a whopping 2,617 times every day! But how did we get here?

The world’s first mobile phone: 1983

It’s been almost 40 years since the world was introduced to the Motorola DynaTAC 8000X, the world’s first consumer mobile phone. And by the late 80s, more and more features were being added to the phone – including SMS (yes, you couldn’t always text on a phone) and mobile gaming.

 

Lights, cameras and colour: the 90s and early 00s

In the 90s, big brands like Nokia and Siemens introduced colourful displays and swappable covers. And vibration and email were added, too. And it didn’t slow down in the 00s. Sony Ericsson released a mobile with a clip-on camera (the T68i) and soon camera phones started to pop-up everywhere. But that wasn’t the only new feature. Predictive text, GPS, personalised ringtones, and the invention of picture messaging meant mobile phones were really teching it up a notch.

 

Smarter phones: 2007 – 2011

Swiping and scrolling quickly replaced the traditional button navigation. The LG Prada may have been the first touchscreen phone, but it was soon overshadowed by Apple’s first iPhone in May 2007. It boasted superior displays, bespoke mobile apps, and extremely user-friendly navigation.

 

Man’s new best friend: 2012 – present

The UK’s first 4G service launched in 2012 and voice recognition become commonplace. Smartphones soon become the centre of modern life. And today, they’re even more advanced. The best smartphones include built-in heart rate monitors, emojis, fingerprint scanning, face recognition, video calling, superfast 5G, mobile payments… our phones can do it all.

 

The music revolution

 Sony introduced the first Walkman (the ultimate portable music player) in 1979, and it completely changed the music game. This easy-to-carry cassette player allowed you to listen to your favourite tunes wherever you went – a novel idea at the time. But we’ve come a long way since cassette players.

The Compact Disc: 1984 – 1998

Because of the popularity of the Walkman and other portable cassette players, it was a no-brainer for the CD to follow suit. Discs quickly replaced tapes, so it was only right for Sony (they weren’t the only brand, but let’s be real, they were the best) to introduce the Sony Discman in 1984.

 

Rise of the MP3: 1998 – 2001

Looking back, we can totally see how clunky portable cassette and CD players were. At the time, we simply didn’t care about the size. But as tech improved, players got smaller and music libraries got bigger. Say hello to MP3 players!

 

The i-Age: 2001 – 2007

Steve Jobs introduced us to the iPod in 2001, claiming “you can fit your whole music library in your pocket”. He wasn’t wrong. But people cared much more about the sleek design and ease-of-use. And when the iTunes Music Store launched online, they became even more popular.

 

The smartphone shift: 2007 – 2014

Music streaming apps eradicated the need for purchasing or downloading songs before transferring them to your phone. Instead, now you only needed to search for a song and you could listen to it straight away. In fact, streaming is so revolutionary that not many MP3 players (including Apple’s iPod) don’t exist anymore.

 

The world went wireless: 2015 – present

Wireless headphones and earbuds have made it easier to listen to music than ever before – from the smart features of Apple AirPods, Samsung Galaxy Buds or JBL Live+ to the true noise-cancelling tech of over-ear headphones.

 

Video gaming through the years

 Pac-man, Pong, Space Invaders… gaming has changed a lot since the early days. 3D graphics, online gaming, and interactivity are commonplace. And it sometimes makes it easy to forget how far gaming has come.

The first consoles

The first real gaming consoles were created in the late 60s and 70s. But these consoles – like Atari and Magnavox – were only designed to play one or two games. It wasn’t until the early 80s when video gaming as we know it today finally arrived. We saw a shift from built-in games to cartridge-based consoles. And the 80s also saw the rise of the Sega Mega Drive and Nintendo Entertainment System (NES).

 

The PlayStation generation: 1990 – 2000

Some consider the 1990s to be the Golden Age of video games. Gaming shifted again, this time from cartridges to CDs, and from 2D graphics to 3D graphics. Sony finally entered the game (get it?) in 1994 with the ground-breaking PlayStation. Sega tried to maintain their stronghold with the release of Genesis and Dreamcast (which was truly a pioneer in terms of internet capability). But the rise of Sony, and Nintendo’s continued success with the Nintendo 64, saw Sega trailing behind.

 

The big players: The 00s

Nowadays, the video games market is completely dominated by three major players – Xbox, Nintendo, and Sony. And it was the same in the early 00s. Sony released the equally impressive PlayStation 2, and Nintendo finally modernised with the DVD-based GameCube. Microsoft made its first entry into the industry with the critically acclaimed Xbox. But this was only the beginning. These three brands only got stronger in the late 2000s with the release of the Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 – which all took the gaming world by storm.  

 

High performance gaming: 2010s – present

In more recent years, digital downloads, 4K and 8K resolution, as well as spatial audio, high-performance SSD and variable refresh rates have all revolutionised the market. With their latest consoles, the Xbox Series X, PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch, all three of the big players have now gone digital. Each one offers up their own online gaming services, Xbox Live, PlayStation Plus and Nintendo Switch Online.

 

A brief history of the internet

The birth of the internet: 1965 – 1991

In 1965, Lawrence Roberts made two computers in different places ‘talk’ to each other for the first time. But it wasn’t until 1991 – almost 30 years later – when the World Wide Web was invented as a way of sharing research between scientists.

 

Dial-up of interest: 1992 – 2000

The first version of the internet available for commercial use was known as dial-up. Never heard of it? To put it simply, dial-up internet operated through your phone line. Which meant no phone calls could be made while the internet was in use. Leading to shouts of “Mum, get off the phone” throughout households in the UK.

 

Broadband and Wi-Fi: 2000 – 2008

In the early 00s, broadband slowly started to replace dial-up, thanks to faster speeds and stronger connections. Plus, unlike dial-up, you didn’t have to ‘switch it on’ every time you wanted to use it. At the same time, wireless routers started to become commonplace (replacing ethernet cables that had to physically be plugged in), and Wi-Fi hotspots started popping up in cafés, restaurants, and businesses.

 

Fibre optics: 2008 – present

Superfast fibre optic broadband was the next step in the evolution of the internet. It utilised fibre optic cables as opposed to copper ones to improve data speeds and give everyone a much smoother internet experience.

 

The future of tech

 What’s in store for the next generation of technology? Facebook’s move into the metaverse signals the rise of virtual reality. And 3D printing, delivery drones, and artificial intelligence are more present than ever. That’s not to mention the slightly weirder sweat-powered smart watches and energy storing bricks (yes, really, that’s a thing!). And although we might not know exactly what the future holds, if the past is anything to go by, things will keep changing – and quickly, too.

 

Giveaway Time:

To enter this month's giveaway we want you to tell (and show!) us what your oldest/favourite bit of retro tech that you still own is. Nokia 3210 still as good as the day you bought it? Or maybe that old hairdryer still works better than today's high tech versions. Whatever it is, send us a pic!

Those who share their thoughts (feel free to add pics!) will be in with the chance to win... one of two £50 Currys gift cards!

The competition ends at 23:59 on 22nd July 2022, and we'll announce the lucky iD community winner shortly after. Good luck!"

IMPORTANT INFO: Winners will be notified by Private message on the Community. The message will come from the official iD Mobile account or from on of our Community mods (Our mods can be identified by a small ‘iD’ badge on by their profile picture. You can check your private messages by clicking on your icon on the top left of the screen, and selecting ‘Private messages’. When you receive a private message on the Community, you’ll also receive an email informing you that you’ve received a message on the Community - this email will be sent to the email address you registered on the community with, if you signed up with Facebook, the email will be sent to the address registered on your Facebook account. So, keep an eye out! 

Did this article interest you or help you find an answer to your question?
77% found this helpful
This topic has been closed for comments

23 replies

MymsMan
Active Contributor
  • Active Contributor
  • 60 replies
  • July 4, 2022

IBM 5140 laptop, 640KB memory, B&W screen, 2x720KB floppy disk, DOS 3.2 still works

 

 


Mel Berycz
Active Contributor
  • Active Contributor
  • 7 replies
  • July 4, 2022

I still have my Clairol Big Shot Hairdryer and Diffuser. I bought it 30 years ago and it’s still working well. 
I’m not replacing it until it blows it’s last hair 😂


Kev Roberts
New
 Contributor
  • New
 Contributor
  • 3 replies
  • July 4, 2022

Old tech..in my 50 yr  old car..a radio with 3 stations and an aerial a meter high...

 


Ron Newland
New
 Contributor
  • New
 Contributor
  • 1 reply
  • July 4, 2022

In 1999 I purchased a Fujifilm MC1200 digital camera in a PC world boxing day sale the first digital camera I owned, it was a 1.3 mega pixel and I used it quite often on holidays all over Scotland.

It still takes great pictures but at 1.3 pixels not a patch on my phone camera but in those days phone cameras were few and far between 

 


  • Active Contributor
  • 5 replies
  • July 4, 2022

My LG flip phone was like having a Star Trek communicator, I loved it! 


  • New
 Contributor
  • 4 replies
  • July 4, 2022

My Canon 1014E Super 8 movie camera from 1973. It's so mechanical, so noisy and so beautiful, and it still works perfectly to this day. It doesn't record sound and it's mighty expensive to run, but it's a fascinating example of what photography was at 50 years ago. Tom.


ChezMadonna1966
New
 Contributor

Got to be my Nicky Clark hairdryer it’s got a four foot cable and still fab I have had it for 14 years used every day.


Sxfoxstar
Active Contributor
  • Active Contributor
  • 7 replies
  • July 4, 2022

I don't have any of my old tech as I always have to sell it to pay towards the next bit of kit!


Nathan James Hesketh
New
 Contributor

I have a motarolla star tac, huge antenna, massive face to phone ratio, fifty letter texts!


  • New
 Contributor
  • 1 reply
  • July 4, 2022

My wife gave me a Casio G shock watch for Christmas 17 years ago and after dropped from a great height dunked the Mediterranean to a depth of 25 meters it still keeps perfect time. 


Mel Berycz
Active Contributor
  • Active Contributor
  • 7 replies
  • July 4, 2022
Andy B wrote:

My wife gave me a Casio G shock watch for Christmas 17 years ago and after dropped from a great height dunked the Mediterranean to a depth of 25 meters it still keeps perfect time. 

I have a G shock as well. Bright yellow used for scuba diving and snorkelling. I think I bought mine in 2000


CrazyDaisyB60
Active Contributor
  • Active Contributor
  • 27 replies
  • July 5, 2022

In 1979 a door to door salesman sold me a Moulinex whisk and an EKS food weighing scale. The top bit of the scale broke last year but it still weighs ok with a different top on! The whisk still works perfectly. 43 years old both of them!

 


  • Active Contributor
  • 7 replies
  • July 5, 2022

Not sure how to add a new item but my oldest first Pocket mobile phone is the ThornPhone.

Unlike the earlier ones this Actually  did fit in my inside pocket of my Suit...

I still have 2 of these as I worked for Thorn EMI

 


ChezMadonna1966
New
 Contributor

My dad gave me a CB hand held radio”stranger things”in 1983 and it still works brilliantly pick up all sorts,from door intercoms to taxi drivers.


We have an old amstrad computer still, those were good back in the day, very retro too!


Paul Barry
New
 Contributor
  • New
 Contributor
  • 1 reply
  • July 5, 2022

My first PC back in the 80`s, Purchased on day of release in the UK…..23 April 1982😁

 


  • Active Contributor
  • 37 replies
  • July 6, 2022

Hitachi camcorder since 1983 - weighs a ton but still going strong, and Candy tumble dryer since 1988 which is still invaluable in winter and when it rains


  • Active Contributor
  • 6 replies
  • July 6, 2022

I still have my old blackberry playbook, 1st generation.  It still works can I can read mail and see my calendar on it, but it is a little heavy despite the small size and the lack of newer apps is a shame.


Stephen Maltby
New
 Contributor

Motorola M200, a second generation “brick” circa late 80s


  • Active Contributor
  • 5 replies
  • July 13, 2022

I got this kitchen timer in the 80s, I think. It was free with the product mentioned on its face. I have used it every day since then and it is still working fine. The button battery seems to last for years as I have rarely had to replace it.

 


  • New
 Contributor
  • 1 reply
  • July 13, 2022

This is a Brothers typewriter I've owned for over 30 years. I've shown the children recently in the school I work in who all where clueless at what it was!


  • Active Contributor
  • 28 replies
  • July 18, 2022

This is my Samsung D600. I absolutely loved it and only upgraded when the battery started to go! Cool slide action, shiny silver and took perfectly good photos and videos! Just slipped into practically any pocket you wanted.


noz901
Active Contributor
  • Active Contributor
  • 6 replies
  • December 8, 2022

Atari ST 520 FM. Great times in my youth playing the likes of Sensible Soccer, Cannon Fodder, Chaos Engine, Monkey Island, Premier Manager...