What I (Don't) Miss About the 2000s
Growing up in the 2000s, there's a TON I miss about the decade... and some stuff I don't. My aim is to think about things I wish would come back and do my best to think about them without the rose-tinted glasses, I was a kid after all. I will probably do an article about the 2010s too at a later point.
Things I Miss:
- Toys R Us: I bought my blue DS and Nintendogs from here, loved this place
- The gaming scene: midnight releases for hyped games were something else in the 2000s, before downloading games became the norm. Also no microtransactions/loot boxes/battle passes.
- Social media: I remember when your feed ended and the only thing you saw was your friends' activities. There wasn't this sense of attention colonization and data collection that is so prevalent now.
- Cell phones: they didn't do much outside of calling, texting, and some rudimentary games, but there was SO much variety, everything from a Motorola Razr to the T-Mobile Sidekick. I LOVED my flip phone and I wish I could have my dad's blackberry.
- Politics: I think politics have always been something of a clown show, but I would take 2000s Bush-Obama WAAAAAY more than Trump-Biden-Trump era politics. I miss having a president that could at least speak coherently.
- **Pop culture: ** It really seemed like when something was really popping off, everyone knew about it and it had a massive impact on the culture. Everything feels so niche now, and the hot topic dies pretty quickly.
- **Blockbuster: ** I'm big on library-like systems. I like being able to borrow something and then return it when I'm done. Going to blockbuster with my folks felt like an entire event, especially if we were gonna rent a video game.
- **Tech: ** An extension of my cell phones point, tech was more varied and felt innovative. Apple had peak design, and felt like it was the future. I still prefer my '08 macbook over my 2022 one. UI was more pleasing (I miss frutiger aero design). iPods were amazing, the iPhone/iPod touch was groundbreaking, tech wasn't so invasive in your life, etc.
- **TV: ** I do kinda miss TV back then. I don't miss having 400 channels and having nothing interesting to watch, but I guess that is inevitable as I see the same issue in streaming services. I do miss the feeling that when a show aired a new episode, EVERYONE was all watching at the same time.
- **Internet Culture: ** The internet was still niche, not everyone had a computer in their house, and if they did it was the single "family" computer. I was actually the minority where even I had a computer... in my room! Youtube was filled with people just making videos they were passionate about, not just what would appease some black-box algorithm. Chat rooms you could go on with your friends.
- **Touching Grass: ** Speaking of friends, I miss where people actually went out and talked to people. There were spaces where you could just casually meet people. Now those spaces are a lot harder to find, and it's even harder when groups gather online rather than in-person. I'm glad I can connect with friends who are in different time zones, but I miss making friends in person, it felt easier.
Things I Don't Miss:
- Rampant sexism/casual racism/ableism/homophobia/transphobia in media (particularly comedy films)
- The recession
- The general sexism/casual racism/ableism/homophobia/transphobia in society (we truly have come a long way even though it may not feel like it sometimes)
- Diet culture seemed to be way worse back then, before the whole body positivity movement. Before that, there was a LOT more body shaming back then, there was a massive pressure to be as thin as humanly possible.
- Misogyny was so prevalent back then, it still is now, but at least now there generally seems to be more consequences for being misogynistic. Objectification of women was HUGE back then, and I forgot how bad it was until I watched some re-runs of WWE shows (I swear if I hear Jerry Lawler say "puppies" one more time, I'm gonna fucking lose it).
Reply via email: me@absurdpirate.com