A closer look

Before they were making flip phones for angsty teenagers in the 2000s, Motorola was busy equipping soldiers with heavy backpacks that could talk. They developed the SCR-300, a highly durable, two-way radio used during World War II that was colloquially dubbed the 'walkie-talkie.' It is a brilliant reminder that a lot of our most fun consumer technology originated directly from the military desperately trying not to lose a war.