Credit: Source: Wikimedia Commons

There’s a high likelihood that you still have an old USB relic rattling around in a drawer somewhere in the house. It could be that flash drive you’ve not touched in years, not even for reinstalling Windows, or the SD card reader you have no use for anymore, or even the USB coffee warmer that you used a few times and got tired of. Many USB-powered devices, whether functional or recreational, used to add a bit of flair and whimsy to the PC experience, but ever since some of them were made obsolete, things haven’t been the same. I put together a list of five USB devices that I fondly remember, and I wish they would somehow re-enter the zeitgeist.

USB optical drive

Some of the old ways were better

Credit: Source: Wikimedia Commons

It’s been ages since DVD drives were part of my PC — I still remember using a DVD drive on the PC I built around 2010. Ever since disc drives gave way to flash drives and external hard drives, the dedicated space on PC cases reserved for the DVD drive became a distant memory. When my next PC ditched the DVD drive, I didn’t want to let go of the bygone era, so I bought an external USB CD/DVD drive. I wanted something that allowed me to keep using my game discs, music CDs, family video DVDs, and those driver discs that came with the motherboard.

In 2025, you may struggle to think of a reason to use a USB optical drive, but I think we should all consider bringing back this piece of culture. Everything that lived on my old CDs and DVDs now resides either on my PC, external hard drive, or the cloud. However, I still have those discs safely tucked away in my cupboard. They’re fully functional, and using them on a DVD drive, as intended, is an experience that can’t be replicated by any of my modern devices. If you want to own your movies instead of relying on compressed files on streaming apps, you could get a USB Blu-ray drive for a blast from the past. If you feel the same way I do about your old discs and data, join me in this intangible movement to bring back the humble disc drive, if only in an external form factor.

USB MP3 player

This one hits right in the feels

You’ve probably used more than one MP3 player in your time, and the ones that looked like USB drives were some of the most affordable ones you could find. In fact, they were nothing more than a USB stick that had the added ability to play the music files stored on it. Once you copied your MP3 files from your computer to the drive, you could be on your way, enjoying your playlist thanks to the 3.5mm headphone jack. These rechargeable music players were a huge part of many of our lives, but are nowhere to be seen today. The smartphone has replaced it completely, just like it has so many other devices and technologies.

I’d love to see USB MP3 players make a comeback because I believe that the decline in their popularity closely coincided with my lost habit of listening to music. I haven’t discovered new music since 2014, more or less, and I think if these nifty music players had stayed around, my love for music would not have been replaced with other hobbies like binging movies and TV shows, reading comic books, and playing online games. Of course, all of these interests could have co-existed with music, but only if USB music players were still in vogue. I think, most of all, they are a callback to a simpler time when we exchanged media using flash drives, burned DVDs, and played Flash games in the browser.

USB lava lamp

The lava has been dormant

Credit: Source: Wikimedia Commons

The original “Lava Lamp” company is still around, but I hardly know anyone who still uses these simple yet wildly interesting lamps anymore. Of course, the ones I remember using in my childhood were knockoffs that found their way to almost every household. They would be seen gracing bedside tables or TV consoles, with each one looking more ethereal than the last. Of course, they might seem goofy and kind of pointless to most people today, but back in the day, they were almost an essential household item.

The lava lamp making a comeback isn’t too far-fetched either. If I consider only PC users, we love to fill up our PCs with RGB lighting, illuminate our walls with countless panels, and even bring our desks and chairs into the fold. Adding a modern version of the lava lamp to your PC desk could become its next centerpiece, maybe even outshining your entire RGB setup. Features like customizable effects, syncing the lighting with that of the PC, and the ability to play music could make it a pretty convincing product. We just need more players getting in on the action to revive the iconic lava lamps.

USB paper shredder

Feels like boosted productivity

Credit: Source: Wikimedia Commons

The modern professional doesn’t use nearly as much paper as was customary back in the day. In fact, if you work from home on a PC or laptop, you’ve probably not used paper documents for work-related reasons in years. The need for shredding said documents, as a result, doesn’t exist. Paper shredders are still common in large workplaces, but USB paper shredders for individual use stopped being popular long ago. We’re not writing stuff on paper anymore — everything happens either on our computer, smartphone, tablet, or TV.

That said, I wish we could return to paper shredding just for the fun of it. If you’ve shredded documents before, you know how satisfying it can be. The near-instantaneous disintegration of unwanted or sensitive paper is a treat to watch (and hear), and I’d love to get back to using pen and paper, just so I could justify buying a personal USB shredder. I already use a physical journal for making notes. I could start making shopping lists and work checklists on paper, just so I could shred them after they stopped being useful. Shredding documents could become a nice bookend to each of my tasks, giving me the feeling of boosted productivity — I wouldn’t know till I try it, right?

USB TV tuner card

Your PC is up for some tuning

Credit: Source: Wikimedia Commons

TV tuner cards used to be huge back when the conventional TV viewing experience was limited to cable and OTA content. People used to add these cards to their PCs to receive TV signals and essentially turn their PC into a hybrid TV and DVR. Once cable and DTH services gave way to streaming apps, TV tuner cards became less relevant, reduced to niche popularity. They’re still around, but you probably don’t know a lot of people who’re still using them.

If you’re one of those who want to bring back this slice of nostalgia, you could still buy an affordable USB TV tuner card to watch local sports, regional news, and public broadcasts right on your PC. Bundled with an antenna, modern TV tuner cards can not only make use of all the processing power on your PC, but also its encoding abilities to capture video. You could use it on your laptop when traveling without worrying about network connectivity and buffering woes. You could also use a Raspberry Pi with a TV tuner card to watch live TV.

It’s time to revive these USB devices

Not all outdated technology is worth reviving, but I believe these five USB devices deserve a second run. Physical media and the “own your content” movement are already seeing a comeback, which is the perfect opportunity to bring back USB disc drives and MP3 players. Not all USB technology needs to be functional, however, since even USB lava lamps and paper shredders can elevate your PC setup by enhancing its looks or productivity chops, respectively.