Category

TECH

Gadgets and software that suddenly felt unavoidable.

1. 1997 · #10

   DVD Comes Home

   The first DVD players reached U.S. stores in 1997. Most living rooms were still VHS, but the idea that movies could look that sharp — and skip that fast — started the living-room argument that would end the videotape.

2. 1998 · #9

   The iMac and Windows 98

   Apple's candy-colored iMac G3 and Microsoft's Windows 98 arrived months apart. Suddenly the family computer was a design object — or a mandatory upgrade — and the internet felt like furniture.

3. 1999 · #9

   Napster

   A college kid's file-sharing app made the entire record store feel optional. Labels panicked. Listeners filled hard drives. The music business has been arguing about 1999 ever since.

4. 1999 · #2

   AOL Instant Messenger

   The buddy list was the social network. Away messages became literature. If you were a teenager in 1999, you did not call — you waited for that door-creak sound.