The Good Old Days (Forbes.com) Forbes.com - My favorite gadget isn't to be found in the collection featured on the cover. Bruce Upbin, who put these vignettes together, wanted something newfangled, and the Singer model 201 sewing machine I got from a second-hand shop didn't qualify. But it's quite a marvel of mechanical ingenuity and as deserving of a testimonial as those cell phones and iPod docking stations (see p. 72).