Back in time to 2014: these gadgets were most popular ten years ago

Kevin Hofer

31.12.2023

Translation: Megan Cornish

2023 is history. Instead of consulting a crystal ball for 2024, I’m looking back at the hyped-up gadgets of 2014. My trip into the past shows there have been few revolutions in the last ten years, but a lot of evolutions.

Time Magazine gives us a rundown of the best gadgets every year. This includes 2014. Yes, you read that right: not 2023; 2014. I took a look at the list from the renowned magazine from ten years ago. I wanted to know which gadgets from the top ten back then found their way into our everyday lives. The short answer? A hell of a lot. The long answer leads me to conclude that no truly new, earth-shattering gadgets have come out in the last decade.

Here are Time Magazine’s top 10 in ascending order.

1. Apple Watch

Strictly speaking, the Apple Watch only launched in 2015. But it was introduced in autumn 2014, which is why list author Sam Frizell put it at the top. He wrote that Apple could be the first company to make wearables ubiquitous.

Ten years later, many people actually wear smartwatches, but they’re not ubiquitous. There are even apparently people who will never buy one. And sales of classic watches haven’t collapsed; in fact, the market has actually grown except for the coronavirus years. This trend is likely to continue in the coming years. Significant growth is also forecast for smartwatches.

Even if smartwatches have become established, they weren’t and aren’t disruptive. Rather, they’re a complement to the smartphone. This is probably mainly based on how to use them, which is more complicated than with smartphones. The watches are also inferior in terms of performance.

Thanks to artificial intelligence, both of these points could melt away in the next few years. If your smartwatch is connected to the internet, the computing tasks are outsourced to the cloud and the interaction takes place verbally via a chatbot. For me, it’s still questionable whether this will finally help smartwatches achieve a breakthrough. Having a visual interface is essential for me. I don’t like talking to my device.

2. Smart home

Frizell has the SmartThings Starter Kit second on his list and the Ring doorbell tenth. I’ve grouped both gadgets together under the term smart home. I’ll focus on the smart home as a whole rather than looking at the products in detail.

Even though the beginnings of the smart home date back to the 1960s with the ECHO IV, there has been recent progress in the field, especially in the last ten years. Technology that was new in 2014 has since been further developed and can now be found in some places. But we’re still a long way from a world like the Jetsons, which Frizell mentions in his list.

Smart lighting is probably the most common smart home technology today. I have also seen video doorbells being used, but only in detached homes. In any case, home automation is likely to become widespread, especially in owned apartments and houses. Who’s going to make major changes in a rented apartment – or is even allowed to do so?

Not every door lock or thermostat can be retrofitted, making home automation tricky in older buildings. Even when it comes to newer buildings, the owner must be willing or able to spend the required amount.

In addition to physical incompatibility, there are also various connection standards. At least something is being done here, thanks to the Matter standard. Nevertheless, I don’t think we’ll be living like the Jetsons, even in ten years’ time – except perhaps at The Line, if the megalomaniac project is ever finished. The only question is: who wants to live like that?

3. DJI Phantom Vision+

It’s hard to imagine, but ten years ago a DJI drone was actually innovative enough to make Time’s top three gadgets list. This isn’t a criticism on the magazine; it’s more a slight on my long-term memory. In my head, threats to private citizens were all the rage in 2010. But apparently the market didn’t take off until the mid-10s.

Since then, barely six months go by without DJI announcing a new drone that hardly differs from the next-best or worse model. In fact, private drones have evolved significantly. In 2014, despite all the hype, it took a lot of dexterity to control a drone so that you didn’t get seasick while taking photos. Today, even preschool children can do it.

They’ve also become increasingly easy to handle and affordable. Even the smallest YouTuber takes drone footage these days. Frequent flying brought politicians into the picture, regulating the whole thing. Drones have definitely become part of society today – even if the regulations have put an end to the Wild West years.

4. Oculus Rift Development Kit 2

Oh, virtual reality. How often has it been predicted to make a breakthrough? In 2014, it was Oculus Rift that turned everything on its head. Oculus was bought by Facebook for two billion dollars that same year. Ten years later, Facebook is called «Meta» and the VR headsets carry the same name. Company founder Mark Zuckerberg changed the name because he wants to create the Metaverse – his vision of a virtual, immersive internet. A VR headset is apparently a requirement.

No one really believes in the Metaverse anymore. The hype surrounding Meta’s VR headsets isn’t what it used to be. This year, however, Meta’s fiercest competitor, Apple, introduced its own VR headset: the Vision Pro. The latter has often succeeded in improving and cleverly marketing existing products in the past. Maybe VR will finally catch on. Or not. Who wants to put something like that on their head?

Overall, virtual reality headsets are no longer a novelty – not that they even were in the nineties. But they’re certainly more present in society than they used to be.

5. iPhone 6 Plus

The eighth (!) model of the iPhone made it onto the list because of its large screen. Back in 2014, large meant 5.5 inches. Now there are only a few smartphones with smaller screens. Fans of small phones today long for a 5.5-inch screen.

I find it amazing that a gadget made Time Magazine’s list because of its screen size. Especially since the iPhone 6 Plus was Apple’s answer to the Samsung Galaxy S5. Samsung was already making larger smartphones, so the trend was actually started by another company.

6. GoPro Hero4

I also wonder why the action camera from GoPro is on the list. Like the iPhone or the Oculus Rift, it’s more evolution than revolution. It just improves what already exists and doesn’t really do anything new. It’s something that continues to this day at GoPro. Sure, things are getting better and better and that’s good and important. But, basically, they’re still action cameras. The same goes for newer players in the market such as Insta360. Action cameras were already established back in 2014.

7. Mophie Space Pack

The Mophie Space Pack is actually a nice idea: the protective cover combines battery and flash memory expansion. The latter is outdated in the age of cloud storage and video and music streaming. But smartphone batteries are still in short supply today. Since most people keep their phone in a case anyway, this could be a good combination.

Battery cases like this are still available today. Mainly for iPhones. This is probably due to their prevalence and the correspondingly large number of battery cases that can be made. But they didn’t really establish themselves. I suspect that they just make the smartphone too heavy and bulky. There are also cheaper alternatives such as power banks, which are also more versatile than the charging case.

8. Jawbone UP3

After the Apple Watch, another wearable – the Jawbone UP3 – made it onto Time Magazine’s list. Fitness trackers were available in 2014. However, according to author Sam Frizell, the UP3 does everything better than its predecessors. Jawbone was one of the first to use slim bracelets instead of bulky watches.

Ironically, the UP3 delivered the lethal blow to Jawbone. The company, founded in 1999, was already struggling with financial problems in 2014. The UP3 was also a defective product and sold poorly as a result. Fitbit, Garmin, Apple and the like fought for market share with Jawbone. The company went bankrupt in 2017.

Even though Jawbone no longer exists, fitness trackers are still in vogue.

9. iPad Air 2

I don’t understand why the iPad Air 2 made it onto the list. It was neither the first iPad nor the first iPad Air. It was just product maintenance in the form of a new chip and a slightly adapted appearance. The device has done absolutely nothing new.

Be that as it may, the iPad Air is still available today. The latest version is from 2022.

More evolutions than revolutions

Many of the gadgets in Time’s top 10 list weren’t really new in 2014. Most of them were developments of previous models. The scary thing is that you could also put many of these top 10 gadgets on the list for 2023 – the updated versions, of course.

This shows me that there have been no real revolutions in gadgets in the last ten years. The gadget world is still waiting for the next disruptive technology – something that will permanently change our everyday lives. The last such gadget comes from the company that I have criticised more than once in this list for its non-revolutions: Apple. With the first iPhone in 2007.

Kevin Hofer

Senior Editor

kevin.hofer@digitecgalaxus.ch

From big data to big brother, Cyborgs to Sci-Fi. All aspects of technology and society fascinate me.

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