As a millennial, we literally were born on the edge of the digital world, and the era before. Outdated products were disposed of, and replaced by new ones. Today, I want to discuss about those products from 20 years ago.

Pagers

Recently, a piece of news has become a heated topic on the internet — pagers detonated in Lebanon, causing at least eight people to be killed and nearly 3,000 wounded.

The first question from a millennial is, what is a pager? You might have never heard of it. You might have seen its appearance in those doctor TV shows like Grey’s Anatomy (I only watched part of the first episode, so correct me if I am wrong)…

In the 90s last century, cell phones were the newly-emerged technology, but they were too expensive for normal people to afford. Pagers were still the most prevalent means to communicate.

But don’t opinionatedly assume that pagers are the product from the last century, they still exist in the nowadays world in a disguised way.

Does this look familiar? This is the beeping machine from the fast food restaurants to remind you to collect your order. Again, let’s get back to the news in Lebanon. While pagers are considered outdated technology, some advantages can still be obtained. Hezbollah uses pagers to avoid electronic surveillance and reduce digital footprints…

PSP

When I was in primary school, my parents bought me a knock-off version PSP, where I could download videos from the PC and import them onto the device. This device was equipped with a lot of classic games like Super Mario, Contra, and Metal Slug… which brought me back to the 90s generation. At that time, a classmate of mine owned an authentic PSP, on which he played a lot of games different from mine. Also, the resolution looked much cooler… I was so envious.

So, 2 years ago, even if I already had a Nintendo Switch and PS4 at home, I still bought a second-hand authentic PSP, only to make up to myself 15 years ago. The games nowadays are already open source, I can download all games for free. However, the feeling would never be the same as what would happen if I had an authentic device when in primary school.

waist drums

Waist drums are one of my personal childhood memories of advertising. Rhythmic sound from waist drums and gongs spread through the entire neighborhood, with players (mostly retired old but energetic women) marching triumphantly in a particular order.

The reason for the disappearance of such a line of work, I assume, can be several. First, it disturbed the serenity of the neighborhood inordinately. Second, they are replaced by digital advertisements already, which can spread wider and can be advertised anywhere at any time.

Growing up, some kind old ladies, who were the friends of my family, were doing such jobs out of interest. Therefore, every time I saw the waist drum march coming by, nostalgia rose.

All in all, talking about these outdated products is not just discussing the products themselves. It is more about the specific memory attached to the products. Embedded with special emotions, old products can travel through time with you, reminding people of those warm memories.