In today's ever-evolving digital age, new electronic devices and video games are constantly hitting the market at a breakneck pace. The more technology advances, the faster the updates seem to fly by.
Recently, a series of viral illustrations on X titled "Classic Electronic Devices & Video Games from the 40s Generation" perfectly captured the evolution of music players, game consoles, and communication devices we grew up with. The accompanying text is so spot-on it's got countless netizens nodding in agreement and buzzing with nostalgia.
This fantastic series comes from manga artist and VTuber Yano Toshinori (@hosimaki). Taking game consoles as an example, Yano-sensei drew his first gaming experience: the "Famicom," specifically noting, "Started playing with 'Dragon Quest III'." Next up was the "Super Famicom (SFC)," with the caption "played the heck out of it." The "white SEGA Saturn" was described as "got absolutely wrecked by 'Super Robot Wars F'." Of course, many other consoles followed: Nintendo 64, PlayStation, Dreamcast, GameCube, and more – it's practically a complete history of home consoles! If you're from the same generation, you're probably already feeling all the feels.
And let's not forget the handheld consoles that kept us company, from the Game Boy, Game Gear, and Game Boy Advance to the PSP, right up to today's Switch. It all seems to have transformed in roughly thirty years.
He didn't miss out on communication devices either. Elementary school meant "rotary phones" – "only saw them at grandma's house." By middle school, it was "push-button phones" – "nervously calling friends and asking 'Is [friend's name] home?' (and those cordless extensions!)." High school ushered in the era of pagers and "lines of people waiting at payphones to make a call." Then came PHS, early "brick phones," flip and slider phones, and finally, smartphones. This sequence truly feels like a walk through history.
The evolution of music players is another trip down memory lane, from early cassette players, CD players, MiniDisc (MD) players, and MP3 players to iPods, and eventually iPhones and other smartphones. Each device marks a distinct era.
Yano-sensei began sharing this series in late April, and he recently re-uploaded them with the hashtag "#IJustDrewForFunButTheResponseWasUnexpected." It's clear that these personal experiences are what make them so incredibly relatable.
Looking back, it really makes you think: "Wow, we truly lived through so many golden eras!" In those days, before information became so overwhelming, companies had the chance for their technology and creativity to truly explode, leading to the birth of so many iconic products.
While everything is more convenient and powerful now, there's a reason people sometimes say, "Those were the good old days." That unique excitement and the feeling of new trends emerging? We might never experience anything quite like it again.