You've probably seen everyone on social media sharing photos of how it started vs how it's going, with their career or life successes. But what about tech?

We're taking a look back through time to compare how our favourite devices and brands started out life and how far they've come.

Samsung Galaxy S vs Samsung Galaxy S20 FE

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It might be hard to believe, but the Samsung Galaxy S first hit the market all the way back in 2010. At the time it was one of the biggest phones available, taking on the likes of HTC and Apple's iPhone 4.

Stiff competition at the time didn't stop going Samsung from Samsung from strength to strength to become one of the most popular smartphone makers. 

Samsung's latest efforts in the form of the Galaxy S20 FE and Galaxy Fold show how far things have come, with snazzier screens and much more besides. 

Samsung Galaxy Gear vs Samsung Galaxy Watch 3

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Pocket-lint

Samsung's smartwatches are another area of significant change over the years. The first Samsung Galaxy Gear launched in 2013 to reasonable praise but now the Watch 3 makes it look incredibly dated thanks to a much sleeker design and improved specs too. 

GoPro Hero vs Hero 9

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GoPro

You're probably well aware of GoPro - sleek little action cameras packed full of great camera tech packed into a tiny robust device you can pop on a helmet, selfie stick, surfboard mount and a multitude of other things. But GoPro had much more humble beginnings. 

The original GoPro appeared in around 2004. It came about when the company's CEO and Founder, Nick Woodman, was on a surfing trip with friends around the coast of Australia and Indonesia. He wanted a way to capture the perfect swells and awesome views they saw while surfing. The result was a 35mm disposable camera strapped to the wrist in a robust housing. The original GoPro Hero was a lot more affordable than today's iterations - selling for around $40 - but then it was a much simpler affair back then. 

The GoPro HERO9, by comparison, has 5K video capture capabilities, can shoot 20MP stills and offers HyperSmooth 3.0 Video Stabilization too.

Samsung Galaxy Tab vs Galaxy Tab S7

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Samsung's first tablet; the Samsung Galaxy Tab, was revealed back in the hazy days of 2010. It ran Android 2.2 and offered the "full" Android experience when compared to other lesser tablets of the time. It was a chunky monkey by today's standards though and the Galaxy Tab S7 is certainly a sleeker, faster and pleasing device by comparison. 

The new Tab S7 sports an IPS LCD display capable of 1600 x 2560 resolution with HDR10+ dynamic range, 120Hz refresh rate and, of course, a much more up-to-date version of Android. 

Apple iPhone vs Apple iPhone 12

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Apple/Pocket-lint

The original Apple iPhone hit the market back in 2007 and it came to mixed feelings. TechCrunch said it would fail. We thought it had its limitations and Microsoft's CEO Steve Ballmer famously said "There’s no chance that the iPhone is going to get any significant market share..."

How things changed when 13 years later Apple is still one of the dominant forces in the sphere and the Apple iPhone 12 has launched with 5G, better cameras than ever before, Dobly Vision and much more besides. 

Apple MacBook laptop vs Apple MacBook Pro

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Jared C. Benedict/Pocket-lint

We tried out one of the original Macbooks back in 2006 and felt it was a bit of a mixed bag. It had great power but quite a few compromises including odd design choices - like spaces between the keys that would easily fill with biscuit crumbs

Still, as Apple does, the company kept on innovating and the newer Macbook and Macbook Pro models are tried, trusted and loved by many. 16 years made quite a difference. 

Sony PlayStation vs PS5

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Evan-Amos/Sony

Sony first smashed its way onto the games console scene back in 1994 with the original PlayStation. A compact disc system designed to compete with the dominant forces in the industry at the time - Nintendo and Sega. 

The PlayStation was a smash hit and sold over 100 million units in less than 10 years. 

Fast forward 26 years and the PS5 is now a reality. With AMD Zen architecture, 16GB of RAM, blazing-fast NVMe storage and more it's a real gaming monster compared to the original console.   

Nintendo Game & Watch vs Nintendo Switch

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Nintendo/Pocket-lint

Many might remember the origins of Nintendo with the original Nintendo Entertainment System in the early 80s. But the company actually started out with a series of handheld consoles known as Game & Watch,

How fitting then, that all these years later their most successful gaming machine is currently the ever-popular, sometimes hard to buy, Nintendo Switch

Amazon Kindle vs Amazon Kindle Oasis

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Pocket-lint

Launched back in 2007, the original Amazon Kindle was so popular it was given the honorary title of "the iPod of reading". It was a bit slow back then, but the Kindle was still one of the most popular E Ink devices to launch and boasted 90,000 books at the time of launch. 

Fast-forward to 2019 and the Kindle Oasis is more affordable, easier on the eye, has a battery life that can last as much as six weeks and more besides. 

Amazon Echo vs Amazon Echo

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Pocket-lint/Amazon

A few years ago it would have been an alien concept to have a smart assistant speaker in your home, then in 2014, the Amazon Echo appeared. A weird-looking cylindrical speaker with some smart. Alexa was suddenly a semi-useful member of our home and Amazon wouldn't stop there. 

Now in 2020, we're on the fourth generation of Amazon Echo speakers, with plenty of other devices available too. Amazon isn't the only brand with a speaker either. Apple, Google and others are at it, but Echo is likely the most popular still. 

Sinclair C5 vs Tesla Cybertruck

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Prioryman/TESLA

Ok, so these two are certainly not the same company and maybe not even a like-for-like comparison, but these two electric vehicles certainly show how things have progressed over the years when it comes to electric vehicles

The Sinclair C5 was produced back in 1985 and was met with a mixed reception due to slow speed, safety concerns, lack of weatherproofing and, of course, limited travel distance. Still it represented the start of things to come. 

Now, electric vehicles are far more common and are improving all the time, with the promise of many more on the roads in the years that follow. Including the bonkers futuristic Tesla Cybertruck. Things have certainly come a long way. 

VHS vs Netflix

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阪神強いなプラス/Pocket-lint

1976 was the year that VHS cassettes became a thing and in the years that followed these tapes became a staple of film watching in the home. We have fond memories of trips to the video store to rent a film - less so the hassle of rewinding before returning. 

Now, Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+ and more mean we can access all manner of films and shows in the blink of an eye. It's a different time alright, but that doesn't make VHS any less special. 

Cathode ray tube televisions vs The Wall

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Wikipedia/Samsung

The technology behind CRT televisions dates all the way back to 1890. But it wasn't until 1926 that the first viable television appeared. 

Televisions of yesteryear were heavy, bulky and had tiny screens. A century later and we've got gargantuan panels like The Wall and all manner of fancy flat-screen tech making televisions light, thin and eye-pleasingly crisp too. 

Atari 2600 vs Atari VCS

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Atari

In 1977 Atari was a big deal or at least it would be after it released the Atari 2600, a cartridge-based home video game system that would go on to loved by many. You could say that that Atari 2600 was the forefather of home video games consoles and the beginning of what we know and love today. 

 After an incredible start, Atari mostly fell by the wayside in the years that followed as Sega, Nintendo and others rose to glory. 

But it's making a comeback with the Atari VCS. It might look retro, but this new device is designed to bring the "full PC experience" to your TV. 4K, HDR and 60FPS gaming. Things have come a long way.