As 2019 has come to a close, it’s time to look back at some of my favourite things, gadgets and so forth from the 2010s.
Gadgets
2010: Apple iPad
The original iPad is what helped kickstart the tablet market, which is still dominated by Apple to this day. While Android tablets have come and gone (like the Google Nexus 7 or Samsung Galaxy Tabs), nothing will come close to the simplicity and that comes with an iPad.
2011: Samsung Galaxy Note
If it wasn’t for Samsung trying something different with their Galaxy Note line, then we wouldn’t have seen the rise of phablets. Nowadays, huge phone screen sizes have become the norm with some as big as 6.8-inches and 5.8-inches on the smaller side.
Related: Galaxy Note10+ Review
2012: Philips Hue
Even though Philips has been making lightbulbs for a long time, they’ve only recently been gaining more popularity thanks to their Hue smart lighting system. Once you’re in the Hue ecosystem, you’ll never want to go back to traditional bulbs again.
2013: Pebble Smartwatch
It seemed like it was only yesterday that I got my first Pebble smartwatch (the Original e-ink Pebble) and then moved on to the Pebble Time.
Their watches were dead simple to use and offered a great way to stay in the loop. While Pebble might be gone as a company, their spirit lives on in the community they created.
2014: Amazon Echo
2014 was an interesting year for Amazon, the company not only launched its first smartphone (which flopped hard), they also released the first smart speaker. It offered a way to help us get quick answers to random questions, tell jokes, inform us about the weather and later push forward the idea of a smart home.
If it weren’t for Amazon, then we wouldn’t have Google Home or even the Apple HomePod.
2015: USB-C
USB-C has easily been my favourite innovation from this decade. Now that most Android phones support it and even Apple supports it (apart from their phones), it makes it vastly easier to have just one cable and one type of port for everything.
2016: Google Pixel
Google has come a long way with its hardware products but that changed with the introduction of their first self-branded smartphone. It showed what a great Android smartphone was like according to Google with an amazing camera, smooth software and fast updates.
Related: Google Pixel XL Review
2017: Apple iPhone X
While Apple isn’t always the first to adopt new technology, they’re usually the ones that are able to perfect it. And with the iPhone X, they helped mass market the idea of face unlocking on smartphones.
Related: iPhone X Review
2018: TCL 6-Series Roku TV
TCL is one of those companies that has blown up in the last year or so, and that’s in part thanks to their 6-Series Roku TV.
The 6-Series offers 4K HDR, easy to use interface (thanks to Roku) with quick access to all the streaming services you’ll need all for a starting price of under $1,000 for a 55-inch version.
Related: TCL 6-Series Review
2019: Oculus Quest
While VR has had a slow start over the past few years, the launch of the Oculus Quest is helping push the VR industry forward by offering an all-in-one virtual reality system just like consoles did for video games.
The Oculus Quest and VR are just going to get better thanks to advancements like hand-tracking and much more.
Movies, Shows & more
Apart from gadgets, here are some of the other items I enjoyed this decade.
Pocket Casts
Listening to podcasts has become a daily thing for me and if it wasn’t for Pocket Casts, then I don’t think I would be listening to podcasts as often.
I’ve been using the Pocket Casts since 2013 and it is still my favourite podcast app to date with a great design, multi-device support and much more.
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
Into the Spider-Verse was easily my favourite movie of 2018 and has now become one of my favourite movies of all-time. It tells a great, funny and heart-warming story while also being a visual masterpiece.
Paddington & Paddington 2
For those of you wanting to watch a funny, clever and heart-warming story, then you’ll want to watch the live-action Paddington film and it’s sequel Paddington 2.
Bob’s Burgers
If you couldn’t tell by now, I’m a big fan of animation. I’ve been watch cartoons my whole life from Looney Tunes when I was younger to watching shows like Bob’s Burgers.
2020 is even more exciting because the show is getting a feature-length movie, releasing on July 17, 2020.
BoJack Horseman
Despite getting off to the rocky start in it’s first season, BoJack Horseman has become one of the best shows of the decade. It’s not your average animated comedy, it’s more than that because the show talks about real issues such as mental health, alcoholism and more.
For those interesting in watching BoJack Horseman, the show can seem dark at times and I would recommend watching the first episode of the season then skipping to episode six. That latter half of season one of BoJack is where things get more interesting.
Sadly, the show is wrapping up it’s sixth and final season with eight more episodes on January 31st, 2020.
TheCanadianTechie 