> Smartphones have taken over much of classic gadget functionality, and perhaps dimmed its magic.

Almost all gadget functionally, really. I was looking through a mid-1980's Radio Shack catalog. Just about everything in there can now be done by a phone instead. It is crazy and awesome when you think about it.

Camcorders, tape recorders, stereo systems, shortwave radios (now Internet streaming), TVs, VCRs, electronic weather gauges (just look up the current humidity now), computers, etc.