Believe it or not, your smartphone, earphones and other popular consumer tech products were not as convenient as they were before. Here are 5 devices that evolved into their wireless forms today.
Earbuds and Headphones
Earphones accompany Walkmans, iPods and similar audio gadgets, and they were all wired, meaning you had to learn how to detangle and position them so you won’t get caught up. Nowadays, you can get a totally wireless and high quality earbud, like the Skullcandy Crusher Evo Wireless Over-Ear Headphone.
Mobile Phone
Landlines were the earliest form of mobile phones, whose sole job was to allow you to talk to another person over great distances. These devices were considered cutting-edge and advanced during their time, but they did not have the capabilities of smartphones, such as texting, browsing and playing games.
Keyboard and Mouse
Although there were laptops that had their own batteries, the accessories that came with them were not wireless. For instance, the mouse had to be connected via USB or PS2 port, as well as the keyboard (through the same port).
Game Controllers
The earliest game consoles had wired gamepads that were usually attached to the unit itself, except for the gameboy (which was a handheld). Over time and with the advancement of technology, companies such as Sony and Microsoft began to tinker with wireless frequencies to cut the cable and allow the user to play without the hindrance of wires.
Wi-Fi
The internet did not start out wireless- one of the first modems made use of 28.8kbps as the bandwidth and had to be connected to a phone line. The dominant internet technology was the LAN cable, which was also limited to the speed available during those times. Computers had to be tethered to the modem in order to connect to the world wide web.