Top 10 Real High-Tech Devices in Movies That Look Hilariously Dated Today

If you were a business executive or venture capitalist at the beginning of the century, chances are you probably had one of these. Before the world was introduced to smart phones, the PalmPilot or one of its variants was your right-hand man, allowing you to store a vast amount of contacts, organize your schedule and granting you access to the Internet. Sound familiar? Now, modern phones make Personal Digital Assistants look like a toy you buy for your kids to make them feel special when you take them to Bring Your Child to Work day.

Back when “Johnny Mnemonic” was released, the ability to store a whopping 160 gigabytes on one device was probably enough to blow your mind. Nowadays, you can get that same amount of storage or more on a simple flash drive. In this sci-fi action thriller, the titular hero trades out his childhood memories to make room for this now-miniscule amount of memory space. If he only waited a few years, he could have stored terabytes-worth of info in his noggin instead!

It’s hard to look back on the Motorola DynaTAC and consider it a cell phone. Just look at the size of this thing; it’s a brick! The portable phone looks like a device that should be able to launch missile strikes or control a satellite. How are we supposed to believe Gordon Gekko’s a high-rolling Wall Street player when he makes calls on this? It’s just plain silly today. At least they acknowledge it in the 2010 sequel and we all shared a good laugh. And yes, most cell phone tech looks dated after some time, including the flip phone from “Romy and Michele's High School Reunion.”

You know when you buy a new couch or bed and then have the difficult task of figuring out how to get it through the door and into your apartment? Well in the ‘80s, that’s what it was like when you bought a new “micro” computer. And this machine used by Matthew Broderick in the 1983 Cold War sci-fi flick is supposed to be the small version?! If there was a Starbucks back then and you ordered a tall hot chocolate, would that be the equivalent of a super-sized soda at McDonald’s? Well, that does sound pretty awesome, so we surely hope so! At least the IMSAI 8080 helped him successfully hack into his school district’s computer system, so it had that going for it.

So “Back to the Future” only showcased Marty’s Walkman, but we’ll take this opportunity to also mention the later music player known as the Discman. Despite how ridiculous they appear today, these devices were a music lovers’ dream just a few decades ago. They allowed you to take your music on-the-go anywhere. Now that we all have some sort of mp3 player, the idea of carrying a large device while lugging around your collection of tapes or CDs seems crazy. But at least the Walkman was recently given some retro love in 2014’s “Guardians of the Galaxy.”

Yet another victim of modern phones; texting certainly made the pager obsolete. Just imagine trying to set up a girl’s night out or plan your next poker game using this device. Think about the amount of work it would take versus just sending a group text. Now, on top of that, picture how cool you would look strapping these bad boys to your belt and displaying them for the whole world to see. Not exactly the most appealing fashion accessory any more, now is it, Cher?

Unix systems. An interactive CD-ROM. It’s hard to believe that this technology actually ran the entire park in this science fiction adventure film. These computers look more like dinosaurs in a movie filled with, well, dinosaurs. With the new “Jurassic Park,” perhaps the studio should consider showing off a separate exhibit in which tourists can view the first flick’s old security systems and learn how the dinosaurs were even able to escape in the first place.

For those too young to remember, there was a time when email was this bright, shiny new thing. And when you got the friendly reminder telling you that “you’ve got mail,” it always brought a smile to your face. Back in the day, AOL was an online bigwig and the cool thing to use. Not only could you send and receive electronic mail, you could also chat with your friends online via Instant Messenger. Let’s not forget the good ol’ sound of dial-up! Of course, none of this seems so special any longer thanks to the various ways of communication we have today, most notably Gmail, Facebook and much much more.

The use of the medium of film versus digital images is still a highly debated topic today – though many directors still opt to shoot on film. However, in the commercial market, using photographic film to capture stills is widely unheard of. When was the last time you bought a disposable camera and had it developed at a one-hour photo shop? Chances are it’s been awhile. We’re living in a digital age, and with technology getting better and better, film is becoming more and more a thing of the past.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions:
- Sega Game Gear
“Surf Ninjas” (1993)
- Car Phone
“Sixteen Candles” (1984)
- Answering Machine
“Swingers” (1996)

In the “The Ring,” the dated quality of the VHS footage definitely added to the creepy factor, but it also makes one wonder that if the movie were set today, would anyone even have a VCR to play the cassette on? Our guess is that poor Samara would be waiting a long time for some poor sap to come by and convert her tape into a DVD. Though fans still have plenty of nostalgic love for this storage format, videotape is likely to be completely off the market sooner rather than later - if it isn’t already.

Do you agree with our list? What’s your favorite outdated high-tech device from a movie? For more hilarious top 10s published daily, be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com.