Tech Archives : The Retro Network

Windows 95: The Big Bang of the Desktop Era

Windows 95 arrived like a pop‑culture event, turning the Start button into a symbol of the moment home computing finally felt exciting, accessible, and unmistakably modern.

The Things All ’90s Living Rooms Had

Mickey Yarber

A warm look back at the unforgettable clutter, comfort, and charm that made every 90s living room feel perfectly familiar and wonderfully chaotic.

Breaker Breaker: The CB Radio Craze That Took Over The 70s

Mickey Yarber

The 1970s CB radio craze turned everyday Americans into road‑ready personalities, creating a nationwide culture of slang, handles, and open‑road connection.

From Free Discs to Freefall: The AOL Story

Mickey Yarber

AOL rose by making the internet simple, social, and inviting, turning chat rooms, instant messaging, and curated content into a digital home that defined online life before the open web left it behind.

Rewinding the VHS vs. Betamax Showdown

Mickey Yarber

The VHS and Betamax war was a clash of vision and strategy, a moment when two rival formats fought for space beneath the living room television and only one became the way an entire generation watched movies at home.

Merlin: Strategy, Memory, and the Rise of Electronic Play

Mickey Yarber

When video games like Pong began lighting up bars, basements, and rec rooms in the 1970s, the toy industry felt the tremors. Electronics were no longer the domain of hobbyists and engineers; they were becoming

Talkboy: From Home Alone to Every Kid’s Wish List

Mickey Yarber

In the early 1990s, one toy captured the imagination of kids everywhere: the Talkboy. It was a handheld cassette recorder that could change the pitch of your voice, making it sound deeper or higher. The

Teddy Ruxpin Was the Talking Toy That Became a Phenomenon

Mickey Yarber

At some point, anyone who had a stuffed animal wished that it could talk. Kids look upon these toys as friends and companions, so it’s only natural for them to wish they could come to

Simon: The Memory Game That Frustrated a Generation

Mickey Yarber

There was never enough Simon to go around. This was one of those toys that could languish alone in the corner of a kid’s room, in desperate need of a battery or a good dusting-off,

AOL Is Putting An End To It’s Dial-Up Internet Service

Walter King

For many people who grew up in the 1990s, they remember the beeps and buzzes of the AOL online service starting up as much as they remember any other sounds of the era. Now, after living far

Time Capsule: 1981 Mattel Electronics Catalog

The Retro Network

Most of us grew up in the glory days of catalogs. While we mainly remember the Sears Wish Books at Christmas, there were numerous other catalogs as well. The thing they all had in common

Big Trak: The Programmable Tank That Drove Our Childhoods

Mickey Yarber

November of 1979 was the moment the future finally arrived in the American living room. When the holidays arrived a month later, many American children (mostly boys) were treated to the toy of their dreams,

The George Foreman Grill

Jeff Sheldon

Do you remember the George Foreman Grill? I had one of these babies in my college dorm room, and even though it was against the rules, this little baby grilled me up a piece of

Retro Commercials: Polaroid Instant Camera for Christmas

OldSchool80s

I don’t know about you, but commercials can often take me back to my formative years as quickly as any song or movie can. That is why we will continue this semi-regular feature on ’80s commercials

6 Tech Toys From the ’80s

Karen Flieger

These days we have our Nintendo Switches, Playstations, X Boxes, smartphones, and tablets. (I’m actually typing this article on my Christmas present from last year.) Back in the ’80s, in addition to gaming consoles, there