Hugh G. Reckshan :
If you're wondering why the late 90s/2000s was such an amazing, unique time in our history;
- Technology was far enough advanced to be an asset to our lives rather than an inconvenience or spy tool for tech giants.
- The internet was a vast, open, borderless world of vibrant variety.
- Both tech and the internet were supplementary to our lives rather than essential. People spent most of their social time together, only using tools like MSN Messenger and AIM to organise the next meet-up.
- Mobile phones weren't smart that served the user, not the manufacturer, and the designs were wild! Some played games (NGage), some were music-focused (Nokia 3300, Sony Ericsson W580), some were camera focused (Nokia N93), some were tailored towards women (Nokia 7280 and 7380), some flipped (Motorola Razr, Sharp GX10, Panasonic GD87) - there was literally a phone for every kind of person instead of the same drab touchscreen bar format.
- People had broader minds and thicker skins, and social media didn't really exist to stir up divisions between people or create echo chambers for extremist ideologies.
- Cultural events were more collectively experienced. Queueing at your local game store for the release of Halo, Call of Duty etc. or going to the cinema to watch the premier of The Matrix were unique experiences that sadly no longer happen.
- Buying meant owning, and physical media was king!
- Limewire, Kazaa, Bearshare, Napster etc. were there if buying wasn't something you wanted or could do.
- You could do things without fearing whether it would be uploaded somewhere out of malice or for clicks/views
- Video games were made for the love of the art rather than money, and micro-transactions weren't a thing.
- The subscription model hadn't taken over every corner of our existence like some sort of capitalist cancer.
2026-05-31 02:46:21