Every generation will have their own ‘boy, those were the good old days’ moment whenever thinking about what happened 20, 30, 40 or more years ago, depending on how old you are.
For Millennials, the '90s and early aughts is that time period—a time when consumer electronics were not just booming, but innovating like crazy; fashion and style was best described as ‘it’s in that angsty teenager phase’; and pop music was something that you’d now consider a guilty pleasure, for the most part.
People of Reddit were recently reminiscing about the 2000s by sharing things that were used heavily during that time, but are almost never used today. Mostly, it’s electronics, but things like fashion and fads, stores, activities, and memes made the list.
Bored Panda has collected the best answers from the now viral AskReddit question, which gained nearly 60,000 upvotes, and created the curated list below. Go ahead and scroll through it, vote, and let us know what you’d add to the list in the comment section below!
More Info: Reddit
#1
Calculators; teachers kept saying “you won’t have one with you all the time”, look who’s stupid now, b@#$h?! Both of us…
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342points
#2
Dial-Up.
weeeeeeeee WOOOOOO_OOOOOO_
E E E E E E E EEEEEeeeeee
eee
eee URRRRRRRRR
BEDULUDOLEDULUDOLEEPEEPEEP
R R R R R R R R R R R R R
UMMMMMMMMMMMM
E E E E E E E EEEEEeeeeee
eee
eee URRRRRRRRR
BEDULUDOLEDULUDOLEEPEEPEEP
R R R R R R R R R R R R R
UMMMMMMMMMMMM
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328points
#3
Adreeisadyno said:
Pay phones.
Pay phones.
Yes I know pay phones still exist. Also I am now very aware pay phones are free in Australia, thank you for informing me.
resentfulpenguin replied:
In Australia they recently made all payphones free. The cost of collecting the cash was higher than the revenue they were making so they can save money by giving away free calls.
In Australia they recently made all payphones free. The cost of collecting the cash was higher than the revenue they were making so they can save money by giving away free calls.
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239points
#4
Re-writable CDs. I used to burn so many mix CDs after downloading from Napster, BearShare, LimeWire, FrostWire. Then my mother would call, disconnecting the internet and I would have to start the download all over again. Except one file wasn't an mp3, but a virus. I would just reinstall windows before my mom got home as we saved every picture and document on a zip drive... then those fancy jaz drives.
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193points
#5
Indoor smoking. My young-ish kids marvel at the fact that people used to sit in restaurants and smoke.
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180points
#6
Blue eyeshadow. You could always tell when a junior high school aged girl finally got the okay from her parents to start wearing makeup. She'd show up at school everyday for the next month looking like a blue panda.
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176points
#7
Murtamatt said:
Phone books.
Phone books.
All_Lines_Merge replied:
I actually used one last week! I needed the home number of a local mechanic - he'd fixed my car but had forgotten to give me my keys, so when I went to get my car after work, I couldn't. The internet only listed the shop number. I called my dad, who's a friend of his, and he said, "just use the phone book!" Like it was the most obvious thing in the world. (I did have a phone book and was able to call him, so it all worked out in the end).
I actually used one last week! I needed the home number of a local mechanic - he'd fixed my car but had forgotten to give me my keys, so when I went to get my car after work, I couldn't. The internet only listed the shop number. I called my dad, who's a friend of his, and he said, "just use the phone book!" Like it was the most obvious thing in the world. (I did have a phone book and was able to call him, so it all worked out in the end).
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169points
#8
Computer mice with a ball:
My friend had one of the first Microsoft IntelliMouse , which did not use a ball.
As I recall, it was the first laser mouse without a ball that was commercialized in a popular way. It was released in October 1999. So in 2000, most mice were with a ball, and slowly faded away.
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167points
#9
larrythetarry said:
Blockbuster card.
Blockbuster card.
zippyslug31 replied:
I live a half-hour away from one. Granted, it's the last one, but still...
I live a half-hour away from one. Granted, it's the last one, but still...
pegleg_1979 replied:
It’s surreal walking around that store. Closest thing to time traveling I’ll ever get to do.
It’s surreal walking around that store. Closest thing to time traveling I’ll ever get to do.
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166points
#10
ParoxysmAttack said:
If you had a big screen TV, it was probably a ridiculously thick rear projection TV.
If you had a big screen TV, it was probably a ridiculously thick rear projection TV.
CristyTango replied:
My parents can’t get it out of the house.
My parents can’t get it out of the house.
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157points
#11
No-Sheepherder-2896 said:
The term “World Wide Web”.
The term “World Wide Web”.
Bilbo_nubbins replied:
“Visit us at h t t p colon slash slash w w w dot p b s dot o r g”
“Visit us at h t t p colon slash slash w w w dot p b s dot o r g”
RixirF replied:
I can still hear them thank viewers like me.
I can still hear them thank viewers like me.
156points
#12
BigBump said:
Spinning under construction gifs on websites.
Spinning under construction gifs on websites.
starkiller_bass replied:
Remember when most websites had a hit counter on them?
Remember when most websites had a hit counter on them?
Syscrush replied:
And the email address of the webmaster?
And the email address of the webmaster?
darkcatwizard replied:
And a guest book 😂
And a guest book 😂
PawnedPawn replied:
And crappy mouse cursor-following animations that killed your processor speed but at least looked pretty...
And crappy mouse cursor-following animations that killed your processor speed but at least looked pretty...
155points
#13
hellobyethanks said:
PDAs Personal Digital Assistants
PDAs Personal Digital Assistants
Blacktung replied:
Whenever I write something down on my hand I always say out loud "I'll put that in my palm pilot".
Whenever I write something down on my hand I always say out loud "I'll put that in my palm pilot".
I get a sad chuckle every time.
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145points
#14
brokenturle said:
Zip Disks.
Zip Disks.
zoobs replied:
Remember Jaz disks? I was so blown away by a 1gb disk!
Remember Jaz disks? I was so blown away by a 1gb disk!
tratemusic replied:
This week i got a micro SD card for my switch. 64 gigs, in a micro card, for less than 20 bucks. I really marvel at the advancements in our storage technology just within my lifetime.
This week i got a micro SD card for my switch. 64 gigs, in a micro card, for less than 20 bucks. I really marvel at the advancements in our storage technology just within my lifetime.
omguserius replied:
I still remember back in the day, my father looking at a computer game box and yelling, “TEN megabytes? Who the [heck] needs 10 megabytes for a video game!?!”
I still remember back in the day, my father looking at a computer game box and yelling, “TEN megabytes? Who the [heck] needs 10 megabytes for a video game!?!”
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142points
#15
Murtamatt said:
VCRs.
VCRs.
xtracto replied:
Tape rewinders!!
BE KIND, REWIND!
I liked the ones that had the form of a sports car.
Tape rewinders!!
BE KIND, REWIND!
I liked the ones that had the form of a sports car.
atxbikenbus replied:
I worked at a blockbuster. We had rows and rows of rewinders. People...were not kind.
I worked at a blockbuster. We had rows and rows of rewinders. People...were not kind.
Belazriel replied:
I remember an eventual switch to "Don't rewind" because the VCRs people had at home were rougher on the tapes than a standalone tape rewinder.
I remember an eventual switch to "Don't rewind" because the VCRs people had at home were rougher on the tapes than a standalone tape rewinder.
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128points
#16
Any sort of dedicated music-playing device, before that just became a part of your phone.
127points
#17
Ocean927 said:
Maps or Mapquest.
Maps or Mapquest.
deadlymoogle replied:
My wife calls Google maps MapQuest if we need directions she'll tell me to MapQuest it on my phone.
My wife calls Google maps MapQuest if we need directions she'll tell me to MapQuest it on my phone.
nfssmith replied:
My wife still used Mapquest until maybe 2 years ago when I asked her if she was looking for directions back to 1998.
My wife still used Mapquest until maybe 2 years ago when I asked her if she was looking for directions back to 1998.
119points
#18
Download Managers.
Start the download right after Mom goes to bed, wake up before her to pause the download and disconnect the dial-up connection, resume tomorrow night. Repeat...
A week later, you're playing Counter-Strike. 😎
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104points
#19
DamnedMonkey said:
ICQ.
ICQ.
Squallypie replied:
Couple of years ago, I had a number come into my head. Recognized it but didn’t know where from. For over a year it kept bugging me. Was it my college enrolment/password? Number for someone I worked with when I worked overseas? Not a clue for the longest time.
Couple of years ago, I had a number come into my head. Recognized it but didn’t know where from. For over a year it kept bugging me. Was it my college enrolment/password? Number for someone I worked with when I worked overseas? Not a clue for the longest time.
Random convo with a friend about old memes and things we miss about the early internet days, and I just blurted out “its my [friggin] ICQ number!” with no context…
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100points
