Over the years, I’ve accumulated quite a lot of gadgets. This was before I woke up, realized that capitalism is destroying the planet, and started asking myself the sustainable question “do I really need this shit?” whenever I feel the familiar urge to purchase something. Now I ask, and the the answer is usually “no”. Because of that, the heap of gadgets isn’t growing as fast as it did.

Two thumbs up! It’s also a question you should start asking yourself.

Lately, I’ve had an unexpected onset of nostalgia, which has prompted me to dig around in the basement for old gadgets. Here are some of the stuff I found:

• A Logitech V-UH9 webcam. It’s so old, the plastic case has turned yellow.
• A Konica Q-M100V digital camera. This was my very first digital camera. If I remember correctly, it came with a whooping 2 megabytes of SD card storage space.
• No less than 6 MP3 players! I found a 4th and a 5th generation iPod classic, but I can’t find my 3rd generation iPod Nano. The very first MP3 player I purchased, a Frontier Labs NEX II, is also missing. But I found my Jens of Sweden MP-110 player. I also uncovered a Creative ZEN Stone MP3 player that I have no memory of purchasing.
• A Nike+iPod Sports Kit.
• The very first iPhone.
• A first generation Apple Airport Express.
• A Samsung Galaxy Android camera. The camera is not that old (2012), but it was a very interesting concept where Samsung fitted a proper compact camera with the Android operating system. Unfortunately, the result was a very mediocre gadget that was neither a good camera nor a good phone.
• A Canon EOS 300D. The Digital Rebel, the very first DSLR.
• A Sleeptracker. “Waking up has never been easier. Say goodbye to blurry mornings - wake up alert and energetic everyday with SLEEPTRACKER®.”
• An HTC Desire Android smartphone. The Desire was one of the first commercially available Android handsets.
• A Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0. The first Android tablet.
• A pair of Sennheiser PXC 250 NoiseGard headphones. One of the first noise cancelling headphones that actually worked(-ish).

Technology Gold Junk

The real gems, my C64 (which isn’t strictly mine, my father bought it from a colleague) and my Amiga 600 (which I think I purchased with my own money) are both stored in my parent’s basement. One day I hope to make room somewhere and set everything up, and once again watch Kanon Korven loaded from the original ​5 1/4-inch floppy disk.

But what do I plan to do with all this junk in the immediate future? Well, first of all, it’s not junk, you heartless bastard! It’s important technology history. In a few years time, you’ll go to a museum and see a lot of the gadgets listed above, and they’ll be guarded as well as the British crown jewels.

Nah, I kid, it’s all junk that should be recycled.

But the digital hoarded in me have a hard time letting go of it¹. And even if it’s junk, I have an idea how it can be useful. In the coming months - or years - I want to take a closer look at some of the items in the pile, and write some posts about them.

It probably won’t be interesting for anyone but myself, but at this point that’s the hallmark of this site anyway.