Laser Pointers

The first red laser pointers appeared in the early 1980s as large, unwieldy devices that sold for hundreds of dollars — tools for professors and executives, not kids. That changed as red laser diodes got cheaper: by the late 1990s a pointer that once cost $80 to $100 could be had for as little as $9 to $30, and they filled the racks of office-supply and electronics stores. Overnight, a professional presentation tool became a schoolyard craze.

And a menace. The tiny red dot turned up on classroom whiteboards, movie screens, athletes on the field, and — to everyone's alarm — on other people. Cats chased it across living-room floors; kids chased each other with it. Concern grew fast: in October 1998 the American Academy of Ophthalmology issued an advisory warning parents and schools about possible eye damage, and a wave of bans followed, with cities from Philadelphia to New York restricting sales to minors and school after school confiscating them. Police had their own worry — the red dot looked unnervingly like a handgun's laser sight.

Green laser pointers arrived around 2000, brighter and more visible, and by the 2000s the story shifted to far more serious misuse, including beams aimed at aircraft and the strict laws that followed. But the pure 90s artifact is the cheap red keychain pointer — the impulse-buy gadget that every kid had for a season, and that every teacher learned to dread.