These two devices involved sitting down and learning how to type. The 1541 door would open up and your document would be pulled out on paper. Great for 1980's student assignments. It used to use paper 15 inches by 41 inches long. Sales plummeted after teachers complained students mocked them for carrying the 'toilet paper' like scrolls of student essays out to their cars.
This device was one of the earliest home computers. TRS-80 and offered one color of screen text - white on black. Background photos, screen savers and email alerts were not available in this edition.
Music albums available on 8 tracks at a time. It was difficult to carry around 8 track tape players while you jogged until the shoulder strap version came out.
A very rare 1960's Frisbee cleaning machine for people who loved playing Frisbee.
One of the earliest pita cutting machines out. It rotated at 33 and 45 RPM speeds (rounds per minute) and the needle would cut your pita bread into small strings. Yummy!
When children couldn't get along at the supper table, they'd be sent into the basement to eat at the Mean Green Table. A divisible table where you'd keep to yourself, no fighting over food. A safety net ensured you couldn't slide plates or salt and pepper containers at your sibling.
The paddles were an extra option in case you had to spank one's bottom. There were available in the 'Lil Bastard' version.
People used to buy wooden shelves to hold 'books'. A book was a collection of paper upon which text was printed. They were great for reading at bedtime without distracting your partner with glaring light. They could be read in waiting rooms, on docks at camp, in passenger seats of a car. People could even buy empty ones and write in them using a device known as a 'pen' or 'pencil'. These artistic drawings or stories were then framed and hung up, read aloud in class, or hidden under a mattress as a form of 'diary'.
Nowadays we can talk into our devices for memos and diaries, and tablets can be used at the beach where the sunlight is sure to reflect in our face. However one needs a tablet lest they miss a Facebook notification or Tweet about breakfast sausage while on holiday surrounded by nature.
And... finally, how most people my age view the younger generation's social interactions. (*)
(*) disclaimer: based only on the grumpy old folks I've bothered to survey as to whether mobile devices are helping or hindering social skills.