An archive of elegant things we stopped making — starting with the machine that put a thousand songs in your pocket.
Vol. 01
Portable audio
2001 → 2014
The Index · 01 — 08
Catalog of the retired.
01 / Sony
Sony Walkman TPS-L2
Two AAs, a leather case, headphones. Private music for the sidewalk — 400 million sold.
19792010Outlived the cassette it was built to carry
02 / Apple
iMac G3
Bondi Blue jellybean with a handle. Saved Apple. Killed the floppy on the way in.
19982003Flat panels put the CRT out of work
03 / Polaroid
Polaroid SX-70
Chrome, leather, folds flat. Sixty seconds from click to keepsake — then the film ran out.
19722008The film stopped; the cameras kept waiting
04 / Research In Motion
BlackBerry Bold
Clicky keys, red blink, inbox on your hip. Servers died in '22. Instant paperweight.
20082022Glass won the argument
05 / Nintendo
Game Boy
Four greys, four AAs, thirty hours. Underpowered on purpose. Still outsold the flashy ones.
19892003Succeeded by its own descendants
06 / Everyone, briefly
The Camcorder
Weddings on a shoulder, tapes in a shoebox. VHS-C, Video8, MiniDV — all lost to the phone.
19832006The phone in your pocket learned video
07 / Nokia
Nokia 3310
126 million units. Snake II. Charge it on Sunday. Floors broke before it did.
20002005The app-store era
08 / Motorola
Motorola Razr V3
Thin metal, lit keypad, snap shut. 130 million. Then phones went flat and mute.
20042008Glass rectangles
Timeline · 2003 — 2022
The order in which we said goodbye.
01
2003
iMac G3
Flat panels put the CRT out of work
02
2003
Game Boy
Succeeded by its own descendants
03
2005
Nokia 3310
The app-store era
04
2006
The Camcorder
The phone in your pocket learned video
05
2008
Polaroid SX-70
The film stopped; the cameras kept waiting
06
2008
Motorola Razr V3
Glass rectangles
07
2010
Sony Walkman TPS-L2
Outlived the cassette it was built to carry
08
2014
The body lies in state upstairs.
iPod Classic
Streaming made owning quaint
09
2022
BlackBerry Bold
Glass won the argument
Nothing here failed.
Everything here was simply finished.
Volumes
Issued one at a time, as we finish grieving.
01
Portable Audio
iPod Classic · Walkman TPS-L2
Now showing
02
Telephony
Razr V3 · Nokia 3310 · BlackBerry Bold
In preparation
03
Image Making
Polaroid SX-70 · The Camcorder
In preparation
04
Computing & Play
iMac G3 · Game Boy
In preparation