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[Mossybrew]

 

[AJUMP23]

We had no wood paneling in our house. My friends house though was full of it. We didn't get a TV until 85, when my parents bought us a Nintendo. But then the TV was only for playing Nintendo and we watched no shows. On Saturdays I would go to my friends house and watch cartoons.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

We had no wood paneling in our house. My friends house though was full of it. We didn't get a TV until 85, when my parents bought us a Nintendo. But then the TV was only for playing Nintendo and we watched no shows. On Saturdays I would go to my friends house and watch cartoons.

The house I grew up in had some kind of wood paneling in the basement. But it was darker than those pics and I dont think it was even real wood as it was super smooth and processed and not organic looking like the pic. We also had carpet in almost every room (basement was this furry shaggy stuff like the pic but not that puffy). And the house had lots of wallpaper. I dont think we had one wall wiht just a coat of paint. When we moved in it was wall to wall wallpaper! And not smooth stuff either. Some of it was textured where I remember one room the wallpaper had a slight felty furry kind of feel to it. Weird ass shit back then!

 

[Dark Star]

Damn, that kid is living the life! looks like the perfect 80s / 90s bedroom. Reminds me of summer vacation as a kid. No school, no homework, no job… just spending all day gaming, watching cartoons, and exploring the suburban neighborhood on my skateboard with friends. Good times. The nostalgia is so real it kind of hurts!

 

[SirTerry-T]

Child of '72 here. The mid-late 70's through to the mid 80's were a great time culturally but we also had strikes every other week (here in the UK) , AIDS, and high unemployment to take the shine off all the good stuff.

I do miss the days before mobile phones and social media took off though.

 

[Dark Star]

iPhone (1st generation)

First released: June 29, 2007
-------------------------------------

The sweet spot ended right around here. The internet should have stayed AT THE PC AT HOME.

Yeah I feel like the iPhone was the real turning point. Sure, we had Facebook in 2004, and MySpace and message boards were also still a thing. But before smartphones the internet access was still limited to home and school library or wherever you could find a desktop. The separation between being online and living in the present was very natural.

Sometimes I want to ditch my smartphone for a dumb flip phone so people can't reach me or feel that they're entitled to have access to me. It's so weird that smartphones have "read receipts" and other online notifications so you're always being tracked and people know when you're online (which is 24/7 nowadays with mobile data). It's just … gross. No privacy. And with artificial intelligence progressing so fast, it's going to get worse unfortunately.

 

[ahtlas7]

According to his strange topics he created, he's a bum (jobless?), with a job hes been doing for 4 years that he hates and wants to leave with the internets help.

He barely goes outside but wanted help survivng a plane journey which he loved and goes to the gym every day.

He's hunting for a life partner on dating apps.

He was born in 99 but can "remember the early 2000's"

I'd say that he was probably just a weird troll looking for... something?

Lol, I didn't realize op started all those threads. I learned something.

 

[Aesius]

I read something in a book about Mortal Kombat that helps describe what it was like in the 90's. When you knew other people around you didn't know how to combo or perform certain moves, you felt powerful, knowledgeable, and unstoppable. We live in a society that's constantly connected, information arrives before companies announce it, and etc.

I was born in the mid 80's, but I don't remember the 80's. I remember the 90's. There was this feeling of knowledge having more meaning than it does today. Instead of learning or seeing something for the first time. You see more and more people experience the entire thing before you get a chance.

I feel like kids now a days don't have that feeling of being the only kid on the block. There's now a Tweet that tells you that you aren't the first kid doing X, Y, and Z.

I think you also have kids who are a product of their own time. They don't have the same value nor do they care about the same things we did.

Man, this is so true.

The blissful ignorance and naïve optimism are gone now, as is the value of random and specialized knowledge and skill. The world was smaller back then and it didn't matter if 5,000 other kids in your town (let alone on social media) could do the same tricks on their bikes or with their yo-yos as you.

All that mattered was that you could do it in front of your neighbors and close friends. You didn't even know that other kids were on the same level unless you saw them in person. Same with knowing how to beat certain bosses, find secrets in games, or knowing facts about certain movies. You could look some of that stuff up if you had the right book or magazine, but not everyone did. You relied on others for information, and if you were the first in your circle of friends to discover it, you gained some social cred.

Same with toys and novelty items, too. I remember going on vacation and finding/buying things that straight-up weren't available in my town. Laser pointers are a big example. I bought one at the beach in the mid-90s and it was a solid year or more before you could buy them in my town. Situations like that don't exist anymore because you can buy everything online.

 

[Patrick S.]

 

[Neff]

 

[The Fartist]

I'm gonna be 39 this month, but yeah, the image checks out. I was more cognisant in the 90's.

 

[DragoonWalker]

There was a lot more mystery in the world, and when you discovered something on your own it was the joy of your life. Someone said in this thread the world is bigger because of the internet; I say it has gotten way smaller. You can see everything, do everything, from your fingertips at an instant, the world is literally at your fingertips. There is lesser point to dive deep into anything, go travel, go far. Why do all that when you can get the gist of it looking it up on your phone for a minute or two if that? I liked the slower pace of life, people were more genuine, relationships seemed more stable, there was less fear and uncertainty that pervaded everything that we have now from the constant news cycle to the smallest personal opinions.

 

[zcaa0g]

Two of many things I wish I could eradicate from history is social media and the fucker that thought putting raisins in oatmeal cookies was a good idea. The 80s were awesome in terms of music, TV shows, and the rise of action stars like Sly and Arnie.

 

[Catphish]

Born in the 70s, grew up in the 80s, young adulthood in the 90s.

I may not have had the best life, but I sure nailed the fucking timeline.

The 21st century blows.