From portable MP3 players to the indestructible Nokia 3310, the early 2000s were a golden era for gadgets, toys, and quirky items we've long since left behind.

Portable MP3 player 

My journey with portable MP3 players has been quite segmented. It all started when my dad, a massive prog-rock enthusiast, received one as a gift about 10 years ago. His collection was impressive! Hundreds of CDs ranging from King Crimson to Genesis, with modern gems like Pain of Salvation. While the gift seemed perfect for his massive library, he barely used it. He preferred to listen to music in his car and discover new bands through the ProgArchives website on YouTube.

A few months later, I inherited this little device and started building my own collection. I loaded it with Miles Davis's 60s jazz, Red Hot Chili Peppers albums, and some fusion bands like Snarky Puppy. Ripping CDs to fat WAV files became my hobby, and I'd use it to escape the family car playlist, feeling like a bit of a rebel.

Eventually, I abandoned it for the convenience of streaming platforms. But three years ago, I randomly dug it out of a drawer and rediscovered its charm for phone-free walks. Now it's gone missing again somewhere, but I'm sure I'll track down this trusty companion for another spin.

Silly Bandz

You want to be cool? Well, cut off your blood circulation while wearing way too many Silly Bandz on each arm! From animals to random objects, from blue to red, everything is possible with Silly Bandz. My favourites were the star shaped ones, as well as the animal ones.

If you have some glow in the dark ones, I want to trade please!! Also, maybe you could help me figure out what this weird shape is? No? I guess we’ll never know.

Nokia 3310

She is an icon, she is the moment… She is also… bulletproof? Playing snake and having no credit left, those were the days of the Nokia 3310. While most of us moved on from this phone way too quickly, my mom kept using it until 2015! Like seriously. That thing never dies.

V.Tech V. SMILE Console (specifically the pink one)

Long before my family's household could be blessed with (and afford) the Nintendo Wii, another kid-friendly console took the centre stage amidst the chaos of my childhood bedroom. When my parents decided I was (somehow) old enough for a bulky CRT, it didn’t take long for me to have a pink V.SMILE console to match. The highly saturated, vivid images of Dora the Explorer walking across the screen are still, till this day, engraved into my retina. Besides that, I could probably never forget the noises Spongebob's alarm clock  makes during one of the mini-games in the Day as a Sponge game. A nostalgic piece of childhood for sure, the V.SMILE brought me plenty of joy as a kid and I will remember it fondly for years to come.

Nintendo DS

Color me green and hang me from a tree cause imma leaf a review on the best console ever. the nintendo is cool. the games too. Unfortunately nintendon't cook like that anymore.

Roux Magazine

Roux Magazine is made by students at the University of Luxembourg. We love their work, so we decided to team up with them and bring some of their articles to our audience as well. You can find all of their issues on Issuu.