14 Tech Gadgets From The 1980s That We Want Back Right Now

Sure, the 1980s had their downside (try looking at a picture of yourself from high school and I’m sure that first you’ll cringe and you’ll then agree).

But scrunchied-ponytails aside, it was also a decade of technological strides and advances — and some totally awesome gadgets.

From the actually groundbreaking to the simply fun, there are definitely some gizmos that we wish were still around today.

You can't talk about 80s tech without mentioning the Sony Walkman. The TPS-L2 model even had two headphone jacks for social listening.

The Nintendo NES came bundled with Super Mario Brothers so ... enough said?

We loved the ZX Spectrum, a personal home computer that featured classics like Atic Atac and Manic Miner.

Sure, Armatron couldn't do all that much, but this crane-like robot still seemed high-tech at the time.

Yes, we can watch Breaking Bad on our tablets these days, but everything would be cooler on the teeny-tiny screen of the Epson ET-10 Pocket TV.

Teddy Ruxpin, the odd but endearing talking stuffed bear, was the best-selling toy of 1985 and 1986 and fine, we'll admit it, we kind of miss him.

Instagram is great and all, but sometimes we just long for the real thing, like this Polaroid 660.

In the age of the smart watch, sometimes we just long for the simpler times of the good, old fashioned Casio C-80 Calculator Watch.

Atari's consoles hit the market in the 70s, but Ms. Pac-Man, Space Invaders, and half of our other favourite games were pure 80s gold.

*Clap on! (CLAP, CLAP) Clap off! (CLAP, CLAP)* The Clapper let us deal with the lights while always remaining on the comfort of our couches.

80s parents loved Texas Instrument's Speak and Spell because it was educational. 80s kids loved it for its awesome congratulatory voice.

Boom boxes were to the 80s what absolutely no sound system is to us today (sigh).

We'll be forever grateful to VHS for giving us the previously impossible thrill of watching a movie or a TV show on our schedule, not the networks'. (And now we have nowhere to play our Rainbow Brite tapes.)

Want another blast from the past?

See how technology ruined your childhood toys

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