The Xbox was launched it the US on November 15th 2001. Originally titled the 'DirectX Box', it was the first American-made console since the Atari Jaguar in the mid-90s. It was also the first console to have a built-in hard drive. It was primarily designed to compete with the Dreamcast, PlayStation 2, and GameCube.

The console came about after collaborating with Sega to try and port Windows CE to the Dreamcast. As a start, four DirectX engineers took apart a few laptops to construct a prototype using a Windows operating system. The system was vaguely announced as early as 1999, but was delayed several times. It turned out the Microsoft marketing department hated the name 'Xbox', but it had proven popular during focus groups. (Putting an 'X' in a product name always seemed very 90s to me, though.)

The controllers were also an issue for some people as they were big, bulky, and difficult to use. A smaller controller (originally designed for Japan) was later released, but not before it was dubbed the second worst controller in history (the worst being the Atari Jaguar controller, of course).

Xbox Live went online in November 2002; it was different from the Dreamcast and PlayStation 2 services in that it required a subscription fee and broadband connection (this was before broadband had fully taken off). The service ended up being quite successful because Microsoft had better servers, easy to work online menus, and great multiplayer games such as the Halo series. (https://www.smh.com.au/technology/your-turn-a-brief-history-of-microsoft-and-the-xbox-20131113-2xeyx.html )

Las Vegas' popular "Only Vegas" campaign, which used the now famous "What happens here, stays here™" tagline, found a new market of young travelers seeking a complete resort experience. Ultra lounges, mega-nightclubs and world-class restaurants began opening at a fevered pace, and Las Vegas continued to be the city where the rich and famous came to play. (https://www.nevadaresorts.org/about/history/ )

As pop artists filled arenas, electronic dance music rose in popularity in Las Vegas’ underground scene. Small, more mainstream events would pop up throughout the 2000s, but everything would change when Paul Oakenfold took up residency at the Perfecto at Rain in 2008. With light shows, aerialists and stilt walkers, Oakenfold’s show came with a uniquely Vegas flashiness.

Electronic dance music-focused clubs popped up one after another, as these mega residencies became the norm. They packed nightclubs and swimming pools throughout the Strip. Today, Las Vegas rivals Ibiza with its ability to draw in big names like Tiësto, Zedd, Diplo and Steve Aoki. (https://www.visitlasvegas.com/experience/post/evolution-of-entertainment/ )

The first device with the BlackBerry name was a pager released in 1999 called the BlackBerry 850. The pager, like the better-known smartphones that came after it, was particularly notable for its keypad that users could operate via thumbs. The name BlackBerry derived from this keypad, since the globe-shaped buttons resembled blackberry fruits.

The company’s first smartphone, the BlackBerry 5810, was launched in 2002. Initially targeted toward businesspeople rather than general users, its technological capabilities and stylish look made it a hit among investment bankers and other professionals. BlackBerry quickly became a household name, gaining the nickname “CrackBerry” due to its addictive nature.

The true death knell for BlackBerry, however, was the launch of iPhones and Android phones in 2007 and 2008. BlackBerry was left behind as those new products revolutionized the smartphone industry with touchscreen displays and third-party apps. (https://www.biography.com/movies-tv/a43840015/true-story-of-blackberry-ceos-mike-lazairidis-and-jim-balsillie) 

When the iPhone shipped to customers on June 29, 2007, the first generation of the device that would change the world was missing a lot of what we now expect in an iPhone, but it set up the road map for Apple that continues to this day.

The first generation iPhone was, in many days, quite different than the ones we see in use today. For one thing, it was small, just 4.5 inches by 2.4 inches. By comparison, the iPhone XS Max launched in 2018 is 6.2 inches by 3.05 inches.

It also had no third-party apps whatsoever, and it topped out at 16GB of flash memory. The first iPhone was exclusive to AT&T, and ran only on AT&T's notoriously slow and unreliable EDGE GSM network.  But despite all of its shortcomings, relative to today, that first iPhone was hugely important. It was Apple's entry into a new category, at a time when the company's singular handheld device was the iPod.

The iPhone was the debut of the touchscreen, which would soon become standard in the category. Sure, there had been smartphones available from established manufacturers before, but they had physical keyboards and a much smaller screen. (https://appleinsider.com/articles/18/06/29/the-story-of-the-original-iphone-that-nobody-thought-was-possible )