The Past Is Another Country

[Lord Reith]

Even though it doesn't seem like that long ago, those of us old enough to remember are faced with the reality that that futuristic sounding year - 2000 - now resides in the distant past. So, since it still seems like 'yesterday', here are some of the things I miss about 2000, and some that I don't.

THINGS I MISS

Being able to do something embarassing in public without finding it posted on youtube the next day.

Honest food labelling, like not labelling a can of salmon as "210 grams" when it is in fact 160 grams of salmon and 50 grams of tin.

Going to the video/dvd library and spending an hour walking up and down the aisles, choosing three or four videos, putting them back again, choosing a different three and then taking them to the counter, remembering I taped that really good movie last night and haven't watched it yet, buying a large packet of crisps instead and going home to watch it.

People actually knowing things, instead of them texting you a url when you ask a question.


THINGS I DON'T MISS

Dialup modems and the noise they made when they were connecting.

Those old printers with the paper that had sprockets down the sides to guide the machinery so that it would perfectly distort, chew and tear your thesis into tiny pieces. And that screeching noise they made.

People bragging about how they'd upgraded to broadband and how complete their lives were now that they could access chat rooms at 10x the normal speed.

Coming home from the video library to watch the movie you taped last night and finding that the vcr taped The Golden Girls instead.

Getting your bank statement a month later and finding the video shop charged you ten bucks for a packet of crisps.


Anyone else alive in the olden days who would like to chip in?

[Holocron]

Receiving an irate email in work from a friend saying he'd tried to ring me for nearly two hours the previous night, while I'd merrily been downloading a couple of music tracks from Bearshare over dial-up - usually for my kids.

[billylentz]

I miss the library part too.

All things considered, I think smartphones are the worst thing that has ever happened to us on a private level. I´m not talking about big issues, such as hunger, disease, war and climate danger; but just about being near other people. I think I´ll never get used to people being alienated from us right on our faces, immersed om some social network or whatever they´re doing. It´s inside our homes, in the traffic, putting people in danger, inside classrooms, it´s hell. It´s a big down step on polite or even civilized behavior. I hate it.

On the "I miss" part, I loved trading physical tapes at first then CDs. It was so nice getting all those packages from all around the world. Things were difficult, but felt so good.

And I miss certain aspects of youth, though I know we get a lot of good thing by getting older too.

[MrMurphMcgee]

At times I miss NOT having a smartphone and 24/7 access to the internet. I wonder about all the things I could accomplish if I didn't have so many easy distractions around me.

[Lord Reith]

At times I miss NOT having a smartphone and 24/7 access to the internet. I wonder about all the things I could accomplish if I didn't have so many easy distractions around me.

You and me both. At least I was an adult by the time all the distractions appeared, so I have some framework in my mind for putting them in perspective. Those born after 2000 have absolutely no hope. They are weaned on a constant diet of distraction from Day One.

[beatlesondvd]

What I miss from 2000: George Harrison. Paul's voice. The Twin Towers.

[Lord Reith]

What I miss from 2000: George Harrison. Paul's voice. The Twin Towers.

Sheesh. Every time I hear the phrase "Twin Towers" my blood runs cold. That day truly marks the divide between the old world and the twenty years that followed, just as Covid marks the divide between then and the dysfunctional world we have now. If there's one thing I miss more than anything, it's the feeling of optimism in the late 80s/early 90s. It really did seem for a while there like the world had left its bickering ways behind and was ready to grow up. And look how that all ended!

[rtbcIII]

What I miss from 2000: George Harrison. Paul's voice. The Twin Towers.

It really did seem for a while there like the world had left its bickering ways behind and was ready to grow up. And look how that all ended!

Indeed. They even had a name for it - La Belle Epoque.

(insert Santayana quote here)

[ExDalek]

I miss the video shops. I also miss the excitement of finding a new release you didn't know about - in an actual record shop.

But now my life has changed in oh so many ways...

[sam004]

I wish we had a like button.

I miss telephone land lines. (that was my old job until now obsolete)
Answering machines. I tried calling you last night you weren't home so I left a message.
Record stores Browsing CDs and Vinyl

We sound like every other generation before, lamenting the past.

Wouldn't be nice if there was a place to vacation that was detached from all the technology.
Camping in the wood I guess.