Device Museum

This is the Device Museum. It's like a really specific hall of fame.

Almost everything on this page is something noteworthy that I own, or used to own. The criteria for what goes on this page is a little loose, but these generally all have some combination of having a cool design, being battery-operated, having usefulness or lasting appeal, being somewhat obscure, and/or not being overpriced. Please don't feel compelled to buy anything here- this is a collection of my life experiences, not paid advertisements. (Some of these companies also don't deserve your money, which are marked with a 🛑. Also I don't own any of these photos, or most of the sound samples that play from clicking on them.)

One more thing: none of these devices need a phone app, paid subscription or online account to work. They just work. You are NOT doomed to owning nothing.

20Q

🇭🇰 Radica Games
2003, discontinued

The Radica Games 20Q is a toy that asks you up to twenty questions and guesses what you're thinking of. As long as the object was generic enough, it would almost always guess it correctly with an unexpectedly vast dictionary. Very fun design, makes cool sounds too. This was easily a childhood staple for long road trips or empty Sunday afternoons.

2026-JAN • See more photos
Still have it? YES

Dream Machine ICF-C318

🇯🇵 Sony
2006, discontinued

The Sony Dream Machine ICF-C318 is a wall-powered alarm clock with an AM/FM radio, automatic DST, and two alarms. I initially bought this as a throwaway prop for a college project, but instead kept it and started using it as my alarm everyday. Having a dedicated alarm clock (that also isn't ugly) hasn't meaningfully improved my life compared to using a phone alarm, but it looks nice in my room.

2026-JAN • See more photos
Still have it? YES

H1n Handy Recorder

🇯🇵 ZOOM
2018, discontinued

The ZOOM H1n Handy Recorder is a portable condenser microphone that lets you record audio on the go. While not as good as the larger Handy Recorders or even modern smartphone mics in some cases, this is still useful for recording great audio without a clunky interface. It also works as a USB microphone in a pinch, a feature I've actually needed to use several times.

2026-JAN • See more photos
Still have it? YES

PUGG

🇸🇪 IKEA
1999

The PUGG from IKEA is an analog wall clock with a circular, stainless steel frame. This thing has been on the wall of my childroom bedroom for as long as I can remember. (It's still there right now at my parents' house.) Just looking at it, it's no wonder they still make these things. Timeless, even.

2026-JAN • See more photos
Still have it? YES

Cube World

🇭🇰 Radica Games
2005, discontinued

Cube World is a toy series from Radica Games that consists of plastic, rotation-sensitive cube devices that each contain an animated stick figure. Connecting the cubes together via magnets allows the toys to communicate with each other and display animations of the stick figures visiting the other cubes. These are so horrifically expensive on eBay now, but this toy design is too genius to not feature on this page. Special thanks to Shane Deptula for recreating these in 3D, because almost all the actual photos of this toy I could find are way too grainy.

2026-JAN
Still have it? YES

MC-101

🇯🇵 Roland
2019 (New price is a bit high, buying Used recommended)

The Roland MC-101 is a portable music production station, also known as a groovebox. As someone who has a hard time using computer DAWs like a normal person, I've tried an embarassing amount of grooveboxes. The MC-101 clears the competition with how many quality instruments and sounds it has preloaded, not to mention the built-in FX, the roomy 128-step limit per sequencer pattern, the random instrument generator, and the lack of dependence on PC or phone software. This is a do-it-all box that can make a full-sounding music track with just a few AA batteries. Big fan of Roland. (The Yamaha Seqtrak might actually take the MC-101's spot once I try it, though it's nowhere near as durable.)

2026-JAN • See more photos
Still have it? NO

Naväge Nose Cleaner

🇺🇸 RhinoSystems Inc. ⚠️
2015

The Naväge Nose Cleaner is an electric sinus rinser that helps clear your nose whenever you're sick or have allergies. I only bought this because I had to get rid of a gift card, but it's since helped me get through so many colds. I used it just today because I'm suffering with a cold while typing this, and I'll never take clear breathing for granted again. If you need a sinus rinser, I would also consider alternatives like a NeilMed or Nasalfresh MD because I think RhinoSystems is starting to get a little too comfortable being the most popular option. The color and shape of this thing looks sick though so it's gonna stay on this page.

2026-JAN • See more photos
Still have it? YES

Roboquad

🇭🇰🇨🇦 WowWee
2007, discontinued

The Wowwee Roboquad is a toy robot that's built like a spider, walks like a crab, and acts like a dog. It traverses your home and expresses as much autonomy and personality as a toy robot with around 72 different behaviors from the time could. It also takes C batteries which is really inconvenient, and my mom never let me have one as a kid. I'm putting this here to remind myself to finally buy one someday, as soon as I can commit to the amount of space it's gonna take up.

2026-JAN • See more photos (theoldrobots.com)
Still have it? NEVER HAD ONE

Weekender Chronograph

🇺🇸 Timex
2015

The Timex Weekender Chronograph is a chrome-plated analog wristwatch. It has this backlight called Indiglo that's a really nice turquoise color in the dark. I've worn several different watches over the years that I've mostly forgotten about, but I do vividly remember this one that I found used on eBay a few years ago. I can't remember why I stopped wearing a watch every day- this was the last one I used to wear and it's a lovely shade of blue. I should start wearing it again at some point.

2026-JAN • See more photos
Still have it? YES

Sansa Clip+

🇺🇸 SanDisk
2009, discontinued

The SanDisk Sansa Clip+ is a tiny MP3 player with microSD card support up to 16GB. Not much I can say here beyond how ubiquitous MP3 players were back then, so obviously I had one too. But this one was my favorite because I loved how crisp the blue-and-yellow screen was. It's no longer very useful these days, unless I need a tiny source of music with a 3.5mm headphone jack somewhere. Apparently you can also hack it and load a custom firmware called Rockbox onto it too, though I've never tried.

2026-JAN • See more photos
Still have it? NO

Flip Video UltraHD

🇺🇸 Pure Digital Technologies (Cisco)
2009, discontinued

The Flip Video UltraHD is a portable camcorder with a fixed camera lens and a quick-to-record control scheme. It unintentionally pioneered the muscle memory of instantly recording videos with modern smartphones, though it would record videos horizontally instead of vertically. I was obsessed with this camera as a kid simply because of how different it looked to my mom's standard point-and-shoot camera, and eventually saved up to buy one with my own money. They were essentially toy cameras, especially since they had a big giveaway sweepstakes through Go-Gurt. The 1280x720 60fps video quality on it was alright- better than most cameras at the time, but it became quickly outdated. GoPros then devoured whatever remaining usefulness these had. The spring-loaded USB arm on the side is still cool, though.

2026-JAN • See more photos
Still have it? YES

i-Cy

🇯🇵🇺🇸 Sega Toys (via Tiger Electronics)
2007, discontinued

The i-Cy from Sega Toys (and Tiger Electronics in the US) is a music-reactive toy that looks and sounds like a penguin. Among the list of common Gen Z nostalgia tropes is the iDog toy family, a set of toys shaped like animals (mostly dogs) mixed with Apple's 2000s design language. It's a classic for a reason though: you could play any song in front of these things and they would "dance" to the beat. Somehow I didn't have one growing up, but if I did, I definitely would've had an iCy. He looks chill. Insert a "back in my day" rant about Club Penguin here.

2026-JAN • See more photos
Still have it? YES

SHOCKWAVE RQ-SW6

🇯🇵 Panasonic
1996, discontinued

The Panasonic SHOCKWAVE RQ-SW6 is a cassette player with auto reverse playback, an Extra Bass System toggle, and an AM/FM radio. Cassette players were before my time, but it's something I'm slowly getting into. With musicians getting sick of Spotify's revenue split and algorithmic torture circus, some are starting to turn to physical media to distribute their music on Bandcamp and such. I'm not really a fan of collecting CDs or vinyl records, but modern cassette tape releases interest me for some reason. I was originally searching on eBay for a used Walkman, but stumbled on this instead for way cheaper. I'm quite glad I did because it sounds great, a lot better than the cheap Jensen models off Amazon.

2026-JAN • See more photos (walkman.land)
Still have it? YES

Juke

🇰🇷 Samsung
2007, discontinued

The Samsung Juke is a cell phone exclusive to Verizon that is very small and has a swiveling open/close mechanism. My parents each had one of these phones a while back, and they were fun to fidget with. I'm surprised I didn't break the spring inside them, but I guess that's a testament to the build quality. Not much else to say here, it's just a fun flip phone.

2026-JAN • See more photos
Still have it? NO

PO-33 K.O!

🇸🇪 Teenage Engineering 🛑
2017 (Overpriced, only buy this Used)

The Teenage Engineering PO-33 K.O! looks like a calculator with its plastic housing removed, but it's actually a music production groovebox with sampling and sequencing capabilities. Even though they have immense talent in graphic and industrial design, all of Teenage Engineering's self-published products are either too flimsy, egregiously overpriced, or both. Despite all of that, the PO-33 is one of the best ways to experiment with composing and recording songs that sound like anything, no computer or phone required. The audio quality is solid, the controls make sense, and it is a fun introduction to music hardware (for non-musicians) in general. It's not very durable, but it's the only device of its kind in its price bracket. Only buy this used if you really want it, as TE's standard pricing is poor value for the money.

2026-JAN • See more photos
Still have it? NO

3DS (Original)

🇯🇵 Nintendo 🛑🛑🛑🛑
2011, discontinued

Make no mistake: Nintendo is a litigious, price-gouging, anti-consumer husk of its former self. It should never be monetarily supported in its current Disney-like state. Setting that aside, the 3DS is a remnant of the company's better era. It's a portable video game console with a fascinating glasses-free 3D screen, and a design language with UIs and soundscapes that resonate with an entire generation. The impact Nintendo has left on popular culture is unfathomable, and I can't deny that the 3DS is one of the most significant and formative devices I've ever owned. This console made me feel like I was entering the future as a kid; the high-tech, light-themed kind of optimism where everything was going to be bright and amazing. The games were good too.

I highly recommend buying a used 3DS (not 2DS) just for the incredible 3D technology alone, on top of the plentiful hacking resources that let you play everything from the defunct eShop for free. Just be sure to get the original 2011 model, as everyone on eBay is scalping all the other 3DS variants for way too much money.

2026-JAN
Still have it? YES

(Did you know you can click on the images to hear what each device sounds like? It might not work if you're on an iOS device though...)