A 1991 Radio Shack ad shows how much technology has changed — and what a smartphone replaces
By
vinnyglennon
The bagel they save for the regulars. Don't skim, savour.
Summary
The author recounts finding a stack of Buffalo News front sections from early 1991 (during the First Gulf War) for $3. They reflect on how a 1991 Radio Shack ad shows items (like a cordless phone, answering machine, portable CD player, etc.) that are now all replaced by a single smartphone. The article is a nostalgic, personal reflection on technological change and local history in Buffalo, New York.
Key quotes
· 2 pulledSome people like to spend $3 on a cup of coffee. While that sounds like a gamble I probably wouldn't take, I'll always like to gamble– especially as little as three bucks– on what I might be able to dig up on Buffalo and Western New York, our collective past, and what it means for our future.
I recently came across a big pile of Buffalo News front sections from 1991, every day for the first three months of the year… collected as the First Gulf War unfolded. $3. I probably could have chiseled the guy down a buck, but I happily paid to see what else was in those papers.
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