2000s Tech Gadgets Millennials Obsessed Over

Why Millennials loved our T-Mobile Sidekicks

Sidekicks were it. They were the iPhones of the early '00s. I said it and I meant it. Everyone either had a Sidekick, wanted a Sidekick, or was not in the '00s loop. There was something extremely satisfying about flipping up the screen of your Sidekick to reveal the QWERTY keyboard below. They came in a variety of colors, looked super cool (for '00s standards at least), and the Sidekick provided a cool alternative to the standard, lame flip phone everyone had at the time.

While all of that is lovely, there is one particular perk that made the Sidekick the legend it is: they put a swift end to the dreaded T9 texting for those of us who got tired of clicking a key three times to get the letter "c."

For those of you who weren't around for the Sidekick experience, we Millennials were just really excited to have a convenient QWERTY keyboard hidden below a flippable screen (and we were really tired of T9 texting).

Company

T-Mobile

Released

2002

Why Millennials loved our iMac G3s

I've had many computers over the years. I don't remember all of them, but I remember my aunt's iMac G3 that I used every single time I got the chance. iMac G3s may be one of the most memorable computers to date. While the iMac G3's tech specs were better and newer than previous Macs (32MB of RAM and a G3 processor), there was one big reason Mac users really loved the iMac G3: fun colors, otherwise known as iMac G3 flavors.

The iMac G3 was different than any other computer on the market. First, it came out in the iconic Bondi blue (as in Bondi beach in Australia), but it then expanded to, strawberry, blueberry, lime, tangerine, and grape. Eventually, the iMac G3 came in 11 colors and two wonderful patterns. If you were there, you know typing away in front of an iMac G3 was a satisfying experience and a '00s right of passage.

Company

Apple Inc.

Released

1998

Why Millennials loved our Giga Pets

In the '00s, Giga Pets and Tamagotchis were almost better than real pets. I begged for a Giga Pet, did extra chores, and promised to be the best kid on the face of the planet to get a Giga Pet. After a game of hot and cold (Do kids still play hot and cold?), I finally got my first Giga Pet and it is an epic moment in my childhood memory bank. Every kid in the late '90s and early '00s wanted or had a Giga Pet.

Giga Pets were the digital pets you had to feed and take care of pretty diligently only for them to die two very short weeks later. Since smartphones weren't yet mainstrea, Giga Pets were the portable friend that hung from your keychain and went everywhere with you. You just had to be there. Plus, you could collect all the animals: digital doggie, compu Kitty, micro chimp, virtual alien, baby t-rex, and bit critter. Eventually, other Giga Pets came out, and today you can even get an Angelic Unicorn Giga Pet. Who wants to see who can keep their unicorn alive longer?

Company

Tiger Electronics and Hasbro

Released

1997

Why Millennials loved our Game Boy Advances

Every Millennial has their favorite, most nostalgic Gameboy. In the early '00s, the Game Boy Micro, Game Boy Advance SP, and Game Boy Advance all came out, one after another, after another. It was portable gaming heaven. We all knew it. We all treasured it.

If you didn't play Baldur's Gate, Castlevania, Donkey Kong, or Mario Bros on Game Boy Advance, I'm sorry. I remember taking turns with my brother's Game Boy Advance, and counting down the clock for when my time came. We Millenials spent 100 USD, or our parents did rather, on these portable gaming devices and every dollar was well-spent. We gamed for hours (GBAs had up to 15 hours of battery life), and we lived our best '00s life.

Though GBAs are no longer manufactured, fans can still buy a renewed Game Boy Advance, if they know where to find them.

Company

Nintendo

Released

2001

Why Millennials loved our Furbies

My dad surprising me with a Furby is one of my favorite memories of all time. I had been asking for one for weeks, and on his way home from work he grabbed me one. I think he might of instantly regretted it though, because my Furby never stopped talking. Constant talking in Furbish at all hours of the night, totally freaked out the entire family, and my Furby ended up locked in a kitchen cabinet. Sorry, Furby.

Besides being totally creepy, I think my Furby meant well and was actually adorable. After a few weeks, he stopped talking Furbish and we became good pals. If you had a Furby, you know what I mean. The Furby was part adorable, part creepy, but absolutely '00s tech at its finest. I may, or may not, have added the Starwars Furbacca Furby to my wish list. You can take a girl out of the '00s, but you can't take the '00s out of the girl.

If you really love Furbies, check out Howchoo's Furlexa, a Furby Alexa created here at Howchoo. Furlexa is the '00s meet 2021, and I'm here for it.

Company

Tiger Electronics and Hasbro

Released

1998

Why Millennials loved our GameCubes

Can we just talk about what a huge decade the '00s were for Nintendo? While Nintendo's Famicom came out in the early '80s, and both the '80s and '90s were huge for Nintendo as well, I am kind of partial with the advancements made by Nintendo in the '00s. We all know how fast technology moves, right? We know how quickly it changes and grows, and how suddenly the products you buy can become obsolete.

The graphics got better, the specs got more impressive, the design got more updated and exciting. The GameCube was a huge part of that. I remember playing The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker on GameCube and feeling like I'd stepped into a very advanced, technological future playing on a GameCube. Very '00s, and one of the best consoles of all time, in my humble opinion, GameCube was where it was at.

While they were discontinued in 2007, you can still find renewed GameCubes online pretty easily.

Company

Nintendo

Released

2001

Why Millennials loved our MP3 players

The first MP3 player came out in 1997, so it's only natural that they would be so central to what made up 2000s pop culture. Creative Zen MP3 players were the real deal back in '00s land. They were cute, tiny, and easy to use (in terms of '00s tech anyway). After years of bulky cassette tapes and CDs, being able to have about 4,000 of my favorite songs in one place without carting around my cd case, was pretty revolutionary. This was the type of convenient tech that brought Millennials from the '90s to the 21st century.

Company

Creative Technology Limited

Released

2005

Why Millennials loved our Xboxs

Xbox has sold over an estimated 84 million units in its lifetime, which isn't very surprising considering today's current gaming culture and Xbox's popularity as a console. For many, Xbox is an all-time, absolute favorite gaming console. Gamers are loyal to their consoles to a fault. Xbox fans are no different. I remember when we got our first Xbox. Everyone who ever got an Xbox remembers their first Xbox. I still remember my dad and little brother playing games for hours on end in our living room.

Called the Xbox 1 at first (DirectX box in some places), now known as The Original Xbox since Xbox released the newer Xbox Ones, this Xbox was pretty iconic. It was especially iconic since it was released with games like Halo: Combat Evolved. While Xbox has often been out-competed by PlayStation in their sales, The Original Xbox was a moment in the '00s that we Millennials cherish and will continue to cherish.

Company

Microsoft

Released

2001

Why Millennials loved our Motorola Razr V3s

Hear me out, Motorola Razr V3s were pretty sleek. Anyone who had the V3 will understand that, they were absolutely sleek, especially for 2000s tech and what cellphones looked like in the early '00s. I mean, they even came out in pink in 2007. What's not to love, right?

What other generations need to understand about the '00s is that they were a huge time of tech advancement, especially if considering cellphones during the '00s. They weren't as big and bulky. Yes, they came with T9 texting, which I have a special kind of disdain for, but they were much more compact and came with a 1.3-megapixel camera. They were fancy, okay?

So fancy that Motorola sold 130 million Razr V3s, and it's still one of the best-selling cellphones of all time. Epic, if you ask me. Epic enough that people are still selling and buying the V3 online regardless of its discontinuation in 2007.

Company

Motorola

Released

2003

Why Millennials loved our iPod Minis

Apple, like Nintendo, made amazing use of the 2000s. Being known mainly for the Macintosh computer, Apple amped up their game several notches in the 2000s by releasing several products including the first iPod in 2001. Only three years later, Apple released the first iPod mini. This is the iconic Apple moment I remember most in terms of portable tech.

Every single kid in my school wanted an iPod Mini. They came in a cute, colorful selection. They were compact, and they held about 1,000 songs. While there were eventually other comparable MP3 players on the market, like the Creative Zen, they didn't come out until the following year or couldn't compare. At that point, Apple had already embedded their colorful, compact, MP3 player into the heart of Millennials everywhere. If you were there, you know the '00s were big for making products that had previously been cumbersome, small, and especially big for the miniature products that launched, redefining what compact could really mean for portable tech.

Company

Apple Inc.

Released

2004

Why Millennials loved our PSPs

PlayStation Portables were on another level. PSPs, as they are otherwise affectionately known, amped up the handheld console game several impressive notches. My little brother got one of these for Christmas and we watched Click with Adam Sandler. On PSP, you could play games, watch movies, you could do it all. The graphics were the best I can remember seeing on a handheld in the '00s.

PSPs have a huge soft spot on my heart. Unfortunately, they were discontinued after ten splendid years. However, there are many PSPs for sale out there today. I may have put one in my shopping cart with the intention of giving it a home. You can't stop me!

Company

Sony

Released

2005

Why Millennials loved our iPhone 2Gs

This first-generation iPhone, the iPhone 2G, was a big moment for Apple. While other cellphones on the market like the Sidekick, Razr, and Nokias were pretty much dominating the 2000s cellphone market, iPhone scooted in and took its place in the spotlight in 2007 and Apple never looked back.

This was an absolutely iconic moment in '00s technology, and it's no wonder Apple makes up nearly half of the smartphone users in today's current technological climate; however, we couldn't be where we are today without the very first, one of the cellphone gems of the '00s, the iPhone 2G. They were unlike any phones that were on the market at that time, with its fancy touchscreen and the now beloved App Store.

Company

Apple Inc.

Released

2007

Why Millennials loved our external webcams

Before the age of Facetime and the commonality of video chatting, Millennials had external webcams. They were an exciting part of '00s culture that gave us the ability to communicate will people all over the world. While they were released for consumer use in 1994, they didn't truly become mainstream until the late '90s and early '00s.

But external webcams weren't just a part of '00s communication, they helped pave the path for the reality TV craze with shows like Big Brother, which came out in 2000. It wasn't uncommon for people to set up webcams in their homes and record their every living moment. People logged on to watch strangers brush their teeth, do calisthenics, vacuum, and list goes on. It was a weird time, not that it's really all that different than the way influencers and Instagram users record their daily lives for consumption today.

Of course external webcams are still being bought and used today, but they aren't as necessary in today's digital age. They did, however, influence today's digital age in a big way.

Company

Connectix

Released

1994

Why Millennials loved our USB flash drives

It's crazy to think that USB flash drives came out in 1999, becoming one of the most relied upon tech gadgets of the 2000s. To put this in perspective, it was only 22 years ago that the USB flash drive was made available to consumers when we started storing our pictures and school papers on these bad boys to protect ourselves from data loss, do our school work, and become the technologically responsible Millennials we truly wanted to be.

Like many tech gadgets on this list, what made USB flash drives was their portability. They were small and practical in comparison to external drives or floppy disks. It's not surprising that USB flash drives, while not as depended on as they were in the '00s, are still relevant technology being used today. While today's USB flash drives are a much faster and better version of the original, we have to honor the original, right?

Company

M-Systems

Released

1999

Why Millennials loved our Wiis

The Wii is the interactive, cool, inventive piece of tech that Millennials wanted, needed, and wished for. They were slim and compact in comparison to other consoles on the market that tended to be bulkier. They were the beginning of at-home gaming that got gamers moving and getting exercise while gaming, and they came with the legendary controller that also acted as a wand.

That wand became your baseball bat, golf club, and tennis racquet. Families and friends jumped around their living rooms in a fashion that was new to the '00s gaming world, but has now been normalized with VR headsets. Wii was the beginning of normalizing and paving the path for motion controls, more interactive gaming, and even VR gaming. Gamers still love and buy the Wii, not just for how it influenced today's tech, but how ridiculously fun it was to play. Nintendo, you killed it.

Company

Nintendo

Released

2006

Why Millennials loved our CD burners

Let me really take you back to the '00s for a minute: Limewire, road trip CDs, having someone make you a CD (a type of romantic gesture we no longer experience), rubbing toothpaste on a cd to fill the scratches (still not sure if this actually worked or was a '00s myth), and more Limewire. If you are a Millennial, you made a CD mix for one of your friends. You experienced Limewire at least once. You probably had a CD you played on repeat as you got over your first heartbreak. Most of all, you most definitely burned a CD.

Burnable CDs came out in the late '90s but became truly mainstream in the '00s. If you were there, you know that a freshly burned CD had a warm, metallic smell that is unlike anything else. It was extremely satisfying and a bulk of the way many Millennials consumed their music. CD burning is pretty much a thing of the past now, but there are still some old-school souls and CD burning happening out there. However, it just isn't the nostalgic, epic thing it was in the '00s.

Company

Pioneer, Phillips, and Sony

Released

1997

Why Millennials loved our BlackBerrys

The work-centered BlackBerry was a must-have in the early '00s. Many workplaces used these handy pieces of tech to communicate and streamline their business methods, but the BlackBerry was known for so much more. The addictive click, click, click of the compact, cute keyboard. The BlackBerry specific notification and alert methods. The obvious cool factor of being a proud owner of a BlackBerry and the elevation of status that came with it. It really cannot be any surprise that BlackBerry made a list of '00s tech loved by Millennials. I never had a BlackBerry. But did I fantasize about having one? Yes. The answer is yes.

While the entire BlackBerry line was discontinued in 2016, it was picked up by TCL the very next year. Today, BlackBerry lovers can still buy their favorite BlackBerry, and I don't care what anyone says, they're still cool.

Company

BlackBerry Limited

Released

1999

Why Millennials loved our DVD players

Toshiba released the first DVD player in 1996. Knowing that I've lived during a time when DVD players were released, and seeing them slowly become more and more irrelevant during an age of Netflix and streaming, is just part of being a Millennial. If you were around to know what it really meant to have a DVD collection and a DVD player with surround sound, you know what it meant to watch a movie, like really watch a movie and feel like you were in the theater. This was a big fad in the '00s. Why not bring the theater to your home with speakers, a cool DVD player, and a collection of DVDs you never got bored of?

I'm not saying there aren't still DVD players out there in many homes, that people don't still have DVD collections, or that they are completely irrelevant. They aren't. My point is, DVD players and DVD collections are slowly becoming a thing of the past, and they do not mean to today's tech culture what they did to '00s tech culture.

Company

Sony

Released

1997

Why Millennials loved our Hit Clips

I picked this picture because I had this exact Hit Clips and these exact clips. Yes, NYSYNC and Britney were my jam when I was ten! Yes, I danced around my bedroom listening to these minidiscs. Hit Clips were minidisc players that went belly up because of the understandable rising popularity of MP3 players.

They weren't the most practical way to listen to music, but they were fun. They added some variety and excitement, plus they were really cute. Anything mini is always cute, and I think that was the thought behind this classically '00s but obsolete tech. While they only lasted about four years (discontinued in 2004), they are still on the market if you look hard enough, so you can buy a Hit Clips today if are feeling nostalgic.

Company

Tiger Electronics

Released

2000

Why Millennials loved our digital cameras

In the '00s, Millenials didn't have smartphones that held thousands and thousands of photos and tons of internal phone storage like we do today. Cellphones were a totally different experience in the 00's, and while the first camera phone did come out in the early '00s, the photos cameras took back then were not as beautiful as they are today.

Millennials had digital cameras. They were a must for higher-quality photos. I remember going through our digital camera and importing photos to our family computer (most people didn't have several computers in one home in the '00s). Today, we take pictures constantly, but this was not part of '00s culture. We were just happy to have our digital cameras and more opportunities to capture special memories.

Though the first digital camera was released in 1989 (it was a big one, trust me), sleek, practical digital cameras with memory cards weren't a reality until the late '90s.

Company

Olympia, Sony, Toshiba, and more.

Released

1989 (first flash memory card for digital cameras in 1996)

Why Millennials loved our Tivos

I had some real-life TiVo envy growing up. To all of my childhood friends that had this cute, convenient DVR in their homes, I resented you for a long time for being TiVo owners. Just know that. TiVos meant never missing your favorite show, because it was recording at home while you were out with the family or staying over at a friend's house. They meant watching and rewatching the episode that blew your mind because it was just that good.

Today, we have streaming services that mean watching whatever you want whenever you want, but if you are a Millenial, you know how spoiled we are today in this way. It's a ridiculously luxurious thing to have access to any show or movie at any time. In the '00s, this wasn't part of our tech climate, and the TiVo made life a little more convenient before the time of streaming. If you had it, you loved it. If you didn't, you were jealous of everyone who did (like me).

While the old school version of TiVo is no longer, TiVo is still around today, and I think that's lovely.

Company

Xperi (TiVo Corporation before this)

Released

1999

Why Millennials loved our Palm Pilots

PalmPilots were really revolutionary in the mid to late '00s. During a time when mobile phones didn't quite function the way they do today (cellphones were not the all-in-one organizer they can be today), PalmPilots bridged the gap between organizations, computers, and cellphones. These PDAs were iconic, and they were known for their ability to help users stay organized in a way no other products had done yet.

Today, we have iPhones with apps and apps assisting with scheduling, business, calendars, budgeting, and the list keeps going. In the '00s, we had PalmPilots. They were insanely popular, perfect for those with busy lives or jobs, and helped redefine how we see technology in terms of how it could impact our day-to-day lives.

PalmPilots went out of fashion around 2011, when mobile phones began doing it all for us, and extra products became obsolete.

Company

Palm, Inc.

Released

2005

Why Millennials loved our portable DVD players

As I mentioned, I have a soft spot for DVD players and DVD collections. There is something beautifully nostalgic about watching a movie on surround sound with your family or friends on a DVD player. It wasn't that long ago when renting a movie on Netflix meant waiting three days for a DVD to be mailed to your house and popping it into your DVD player with incomparable anticipation. Yes, that was real life in the '00s. It was pretty rad, to be honest.

In the late '90s, portable DVD players became available to consumers, and in the early '00s they became extremely mainstream. Everyone had a portable DVD player or knew someone who did. I know I am not the only one who watched romcoms in the car or at the park with my friends. Right? Millenials loved our portable tech about as much as today's techy consumers love their smartphones (almost). Portable DVD players are still around today, but they don't have the impact they once did.

Company

Panasonic

Released

1998

Why Millennials loved our Talkabouts

The Motorola Talkabout T900 was a big deal. The entire Talkabout line was a big deal. Walkie-talkies and two-way pagers with QWERTY keyboards were it. While two-way pagers came out in the '90s, one-way pagers were still the more dominant option into the year 2000. That's when this beauty was released and techies started to see the huge appeal of two-way pagers and QWERTY keyboards.

These pagers became the standard in the early '00s for many people who still didn't have cellphones. Remember, cellphones weren't yet normalized like they are today. While a steady incline of cellphone users increased with each day and each new cellphone release, two-way pagers like this one were exactly what the doctor ordered. This is kind of punny because they were heavily used in the medical field (you had to be there).

Company

Motorola

Released

2000

Why Millennials loved our Kindles

We all love our e-books right? As a book lover, it breaks my heart that paperback and hardcover books are somehow slowly going out of style, but I also enjoy a good e-book. Being able to look up a word, making extensive notes (without filling up the margins like I'm known to do), and make bookmark after bookmark after bookmark as I read, is pretty amazing. Having many books downloaded onto one, slim product is also a big e-reader perk.

In fact, the first e-reader, released in 2007, could hold a whopping 1,700 books, and I have to say that sounds pretty enticing for anyone who loves to read. The e-reader also presented many options for those with accessibility needs. Small, unreadable words became a thing of the reading past.

Amazon is still doing great with e-reader sales and regularly comes out with the new Kindle models, even though many readers can download and read e-books on their smartphones.

Company

Amazon

Released

2007

Why Millennials loved our Blu-Ray players

Sony released the first BPD prototype in 2000, but Blu-Ray discs and players weren't mainstream until the mid-'00s. We all know that Blu-Ray technology was revolutionary for how we watched movies and tv shows, because the high definition and bigger disc capacity that came with Blu-Ray was a very new, very impressive jump from the average DVD we were used to at that time.

I still remember watching my first Blu-Ray movie, and my dad going, "It looks so real. Look at the definition," and his excited chuckle as he experienced a new type of tech. I get it, it sounds cheesy and ridiculous compared to the tech experiences we have today, but it was so revolutionary, so unlike anything the average family had seen before, that Millenials were pretty crazy for it. Every family wanted to trade in their DVD player for a Blu-Ray player, or at least add it to their TV stand.

Of course, you can still buy Blu-Ray players today, but streaming services have made them less exciting or practical than they once were.

Company

Sony

Released

2006

Why Millennials loved our bedazzled cellphones

Bedazzled phones were the trend Paris Hilton supposedly started (some say). Yes, we had #trends too, they just came without the hashtag. Also, cellphone charms. I had the cutest bedazzled Hello Kitty cellphone charm and a pink phone with an impressive amount of crystals. In fact, most cellphones in the '00s came with a hook for hanging charms, or the charms plugged into the phone jack.

The bedazzling craze was a gem (pun intended), and the early '00s tech standard. It simply wasn't enough to have a cellphone. A bedazzled cellphone was way more fun. It was part of the '00s cellphone aesthetic, and we loved every minute of it.

Admit it, you kind of want one now.

Company

N/A

Released

Early '00s

Why Millennials loved our CRT TVs

While CRT TVs go way, way back, CRT TVs were still big in the '00s. This isn't because they were new or fancy or exciting, but it was because buying a flatscreen or LED LCD TV (or plasma) in the mid-'00s was really expensive. I'm taking several thousand dollars. Today, you can go buy a really nice HD TV for a few hundred to 1,000 USD, but in the '00s, you were likely to spend more like 7,000 USD (if not more). When LED LCD TVs first came out, the cost was outrageous, and unless you lived in a very wealthy household, buying one wasn't practical for most families.

This means that if you were a Millenial, you most likely had a CRT TV like the one pictured. In fact, it was probably a Sony Trinitron, because it was a popular and affordable CRT TV during the '00s. If I'm being honest, I sometimes really miss my old CRT TV. I had a tiny, mini CRT TV in my bedroom, and I stayed up late watching HBO when my parents were sleeping and they were none the wiser. It was glorious.

While you can still find CRT TVs today, it can be difficult to find quality ones in good condition, since they are considered obsolete tech. However, some retro gamers really prefer CRT TVs.

Company

Sont Corporation

Released

1998

Why Millennials loved our Flip Ultras

These little compact cuties (you know how much we loved our newly compact tech in the '00s), were epic and I miss mine very much. If you've never seen one of these, Flip Ultra HDs were mini camcorders. After years of big, bulky camcorders to record videos and capture special memories, the Flip Ultra was a breath of fresh air. This baby fit in your purse or glove compartment, held up to 120 minutes of video, and was just the kind of cute tech we loved in the '00s.

However, Flip Ultras were discontinued in 2011 because they couldn't compete with the ever-improving smartphones. I mean, what can compete with smartphones that include everything you need all in one device? If you're feeling super nostalgic, you can still find Flip Ultra HD cameras if you look around.

Company

Pure Digital Technologies

Released

2006

Why Millennials loved our Cybikos

This little handheld computer was geared at teens. Coming out in the year 2000, this PDA came with a QWERTY keyboard and was known for its two-way radio text messaging system. However, Cybikos were also used to game back in the 2000s. The Cybiko Xtreme was especially exciting because of its MMC memory card and easy-to-use plug-in for the MP3 player.

It also had an upgraded processor and looked a lot cooler in my opinion. It really seemed to offer a somewhat all-in-one experience for its users. Chat with your friends. Play a game. Listen to music. It even came with an add-on slot on the back. It was a lovely PDA and a big bridge in the gap between the mobile phone and computer. PDAs were that practical middle-ground for Millenials in the '00s. It's another great product that paved the way for the portable tech we know and love today.

Sadly, Cybikos only lasted two generations and never made a comeback, but I still love this obsolete tech.

Company

Cybiko Inc.

Released

2000