We’re over halfway through our countdown of the world’s 80 most unbelievable gadgets from the ’80s, and here we’ve got numbers 40 through 31! In case you missed it, we’re counting down some of the most iconic and influential tech gadgets that were created in what is arguably the best decade. Check out even more hilarious and useful gadgets below, and stay tuned for part six!
Number Forty: Bose Aviation Headset Series I. Introduced in 1988, these headphones, which were noise-resistant, became iconic for their high quality. This is the gadget that really put Bose on the map as a brand.
Number Thirty-Nine: Milton Bradley Big Trak. This strange-looking gadget was supposed to be a computer-controlled tank and was introduced in 1980. Kids could type commands into a keyboard to control the tank.
Number Thirty-Eight: Polar Sport Tester PE300. The first of its kind to assess heart health, this monitor was truly a gem and set the bar high for future monitoring devices like it. It was introduced in 1987, but to this day Polar still stands as one of the leading heart monitoring brands.
Number Thirty-Six: Korg M1. The Korg M1 was an electronic keyboard and then some. Introduced in 1988, users could use this gadget to access a MIDI sequencer, and it could hold up to 7,700 notes.
Number Thirty-Five: Lite-Brite. Introduced in 1982, kids today are still fascinated by the Lite Brite. The iconic toy had staying power far into the ’90s and allowed kids to let their creativity flourish in a way that had never been seen before.
Number Thirty-Four: Polaroid 660 Camera. Does the rainbow stripe on that camera look familiar? It might be because it’s used as the icon for Instagram, the most popular photo-sharing app today. It was Polaroid’s very first instant development camera and was introduced in 1982.
Number Thirty-Three: Game & Watch Super Mario Bros. Introduced in 1983, this gadget was Nintendo’s first foray into portable gaming. Perhaps what’s most interesting about this gadget is that users could play both sides of the device as Mario and Luigi. Talk about a childhood dream come true!
Number Thirty-Two: Sony CDP-101 CD Player. This giant gadget was the world’s very first CD player; however, months passed before people realized just how big CD players would become. Introduced in 1982, Sony’s prototype would set the bar for future CD players to come.
Number Thirty-One: Sharp PC-1211 Pocket Computer. Finally, 1980 saw the year of the pocket PC. People who owned this gadget could program nearly 1500 steps via BASIC and revel in the 200-hour battery life.
