• PC World
• »Computers

Must-Have Tech of the 1990s

What a difference a decade makes: Can you believe you used this technology just over ten years ago? Remember unwinding with a game of Doom or pulling out your PDA to look up a phone number? Join our look back at your first PDA love, not-so-portable music and the days long before Mac could ridicule PC.

Whether you're 23 or 53, you might remember that life was a bit different in 1990s. Every man, woman and child had yet to be outfitted with a cell phone and a high-bandwidth Internet connection, and bulky tech was the norm. VC-backed startups were flush with cash and dot-com workers dreamed of big-time dollar signs at the end of their long work days. The economy was strong and unemployment low. Newspapers were healthy and hadn't yet been overthrown by online news sites, and their headlines shouted about a different Clinton (and his trysts with an intern). And yes, we checked: Gas really cost less than US$1.25 a gallon.

Over a decade later, you can't imagine life without your iPhone. And some tech toys of the '90s seem almost primitive.

Have you got 10-year nostalgia? Take a look at our time trip, then click here to add your own thoughts on the biggest technology differences between the decades.