Did the nineties never end? (2000, alternative, rock, single)

[ipod99]

I graduated high school in 2002, so I remember the whole decade also.

One other thing I forgot to mention is that video games were better in the 90's. Nowadays people like DDR, WOW, Diablo, and Call of Duty. IMO, these games don't compare to the games of the 16 and 32 bit era that were on Sega Genesis, SNES, and the first Playstation. Today games might have better graphics, and obviously you can do more with them since games are more advanced now. But back then it was just about fun and simple games. I also like that fighting games were more popular back then (Streets of rage, final fight, Super/Street Fighter II, the first trilogy of Mortal Kombat games). Today it's all about military/shooting games, online games, or music games such as rock band. Arcades were also more popular back then and there were better games in arcades as well. I used to love shopping malls, because there was an arcade in every mall. Nowadays most malls don't have arcades. I also love the side scrolling beat em up games. Those were only popular from the late 80's to the mid 90's. After about '96, they were in the past.

Things were cheaper back then. Even back in 2000, when I first started driving, gas in Ohio was anywhere from 99 cents to $1.30 per gallon.

I don't know if anyone watched pro wrestling growing up. But wrestling was better in the 90's for the most part. WWE/WWF was good until about 1998, because that's when it degenerated to the attitude era. Even then there was the better alternative of WCW which was still entertaining, but more clean cut than WWF attitude.

I greatly appreciate the convenience of the internet (because otherwise we couldn't have this conversation), but in a lot of ways I think life was better before the internet, cell phones, and social media. First, it was simpler. Computers are great, but nowadays most of us spend much if not the majority of our day on them. In the 90's, it was "you watch too much tv", because tv was addicting in the 90's. Now, sometimes I feel like I'm on the computer too much.

I don't like social media for the most part. I cancelled my facebook account because it's extremely superficial. Most of my facebook "friends" weren't really my friends. They just added me to add to their collection of "friends". Facebook seems like mostly an online popularity contest. And most ppl don't email anymore.

At my high school, there were maybe 2 or 3 people with a cell phone, and I don't think anyone had a computer. I didn't have my first cell phone until I was 20. Now most teenagers have cell phones, laptops, etc. This is convenient for them, but I also think it spoils them. And too many people text nowadays. I miss the days when people liked to have conversations on the phone.

Although one thing that's actually better about the 2000's is MMA. In the 90's UFC had just came out, so it was still evolving.

[green_mariner]

I graduated high school in 2002, so I remember the whole decade also.

One other thing I forgot to mention is that video games were better in the 90's. Nowadays people like DDR, WOW, Diablo, and Call of Duty. IMO, these games don't compare to the games of the 16 and 32 bit era that were on Sega Genesis, SNES, and the first Playstation. Today games might have better graphics, and obviously you can do more with them since games are more advanced now. But back then it was just about fun and simple games. I also like that fighting games were more popular back then (Streets of rage, final fight, Super/Street Fighter II, the first trilogy of Mortal Kombat games). Today it's all about military/shooting games, online games, or music games such as rock band. Arcades were also more popular back then and there were better games in arcades as well. I used to love shopping malls, because there was an arcade in every mall. Nowadays most malls don't have arcades. I also love the side scrolling beat em up games. Those were only popular from the late 80's to the mid 90's. After about '96, they were in the past.

I graduated high school in 2004, so we aren't that much apart in age. However, I do think you will have a slightly different take on the 90s as you have been alive longer.

The video games are something I won't forget. GameBoy, SNES. I remember begging my parents for one. I finally got it, and the game I got was Mario. That was the default game. I didn't know much of violent video games back then. The most violent game I have(until 2004) was Killer Instinct, which was on GameBoy for me. I also remember the commercials for Nintendo 64. It was so cool to see 3D graphics. I got N64 in 1999, so I was a bit behind when I got it. and I got Major League Baseball feat. Ken Griffey Jr. I still play the game today. With 64, I played Super Mario 64 as well. I was never into trying to beat the games. I just played for fun. The 90s to me was about enjoying video games and taking me into another world.

Things were cheaper back then. Even back in 2000, when I first started driving, gas in Ohio was anywhere from 99 cents to $1.30 per gallon.

Gasoline was definitely cheaper back then. I was always in favor of walkable/bikeable communities. However, it never was a big deal to me until gas prices were sky high. Before, it was about easy access because I didn't have a car. I remember being 14 years old, and wanting a 2000 Nissan XTerra, a yellow one specifically. For an SUV(keyword, for an SUV), it had decent gas mileage. I recommend it over my father's Chevrolet Suburban. One thing that started to steer me away from wanting an XTerra(and later on any car) was the gas prices. I think this is why even though I know I need a car(I live in the Atlanta area, sprawl capital of the USA, probably worse sprawl than LA), I haven't tried to get one. Gas prices, insurance rates, and the general stress have pretty much given me a love/hate(leaning towards hate) relationship with cars. On the one hand, I know I need one. On the other hand, it doesn't represent some status for me. It is merely a means to survive.

I don't know if anyone watched pro wrestling growing up. But wrestling was better in the 90's for the most part. WWE/WWF was good until about 1998, because that's when it degenerated to the attitude era. Even then there was the better alternative of WCW which was still entertaining, but more clean cut than WWF attitude.

I never watched pro wrestling, I never cared as a kid. I saw that stuff on TV and it scared me.

I greatly appreciate the convenience of the internet (because otherwise we couldn't have this conversation), but in a lot of ways I think life was better before the internet, cell phones, and social media. First, it was simpler. Computers are great, but nowadays most of us spend much if not the majority of our day on them. In the 90's, it was "you watch too much tv", because tv was addicting in the 90's. Now, sometimes I feel like I'm on the computer too much.

I know what you mean. Back in the 90s, I was a big TV addict. I was mainly into Nickelodeon, PBS, and whichever sitcoms my parents watched.I liked alot of educational stuff from TV, like Bill Nye The Science Guy, The Magic School Bus, Kratts Creatures, Zoboomafoo and other stuff. I didn't stop watching Nick Jr until I was about 13 or 14. I started watching it when I was about 7 or 8. It was simpler. My one addiction was TV. In many ways, it was what I did.

I don't like social media for the most part. I cancelled my facebook account because it's extremely superficial. Most of my facebook "friends" weren't really my friends. They just added me to add to their collection of "friends". Facebook seems like mostly an online popularity contest. And most ppl don't email anymore.

I can understand why you might not like social media. I remember when there was no social media in the 90s. There is a difference between the way I did things in the 90s, and now. Social media has been one of those "means to an end" kind of thing. I remember when facebook (then thefacebook) came out for my university in 2005. I thought it was the greatest thing ever. I later started looking for old friends I had in elementary school. For me it was a search down memory lane. Nowadays it has replaced email as a way of contacting people. I used to do email back in the old days(2000 to 2006). I still use email, but I rarely use it for social purposes. I use it often for business. I also used myspace in from 2005-2010. Facebook has won. Facebook has been good for finding people I haven't seen in a long time. It has also been bad for my own psyche at times. When a few people deleted me, I basically went into a depression over it. One night I flipped out because I thought they deleted me. To me, deleting me would me "you don't like me or you find something wrong with me". I later found out she deactivated her facebook because it was addicting for he. She later reactivated it. I have never thought like that before.

At my high school, there were maybe 2 or 3 people with a cell phone, and I don't think anyone had a computer. I didn't have my first cell phone until I was 20. Now most teenagers have cell phones, laptops, etc. This is convenient for them, but I also think it spoils them. And too many people text nowadays. I miss the days when people liked to have conversations on the phone.

I don't remember anyone having a cell phone either. I remember a few people who had computers, but not a cell phone. In fact, a cell phone, to me, was one of those things that were for rich people. I didn't have a computer growing up. We didn't even have internet in the house in the 90s. If I wanted to use the internet, I had to go to the library. I didn't have a cell phone until I was 19. If I wanted to get in contact with someone, I looked their number up in the phone book. I would ask for the number. And I used land lines in the 90s. Nowadays I do see that teenagers are definitely more spoiled than they were in the 90s.

Although one thing that's actually better about the 2000's is MMA. In the 90's UFC had just came out, so it was still evolving.

I don't remember UFC coming out in the 90s. Then again, I wasn't into things like that.

[green_mariner]

I think another way to look at it is what the 90s meant to you, and what it consisted of. For me, this is what the 90s were for me, in terms of culture:

TV: Doug, Rugrats, Hey Arnold, Ren and Stimpy, Pete and Pete, Secret World of Alex Mack, All That, Are You Afraid of the Dark, Boy Meets World, Family Matters, The Torkelsons, Ready or Not, Flash Forward, Arthur, Bill Nye The Science Guy, Where In the World Is Carmen San Diego, The Magic School Bus, Weinerville, Puzzle Place, Barney and Friends, Gullah Gullah Island, Rupert, Busy World of Richard Scarry, Gumby, Looney Tunes, Tintin, Tiny Tunes, Blus Clues, Full House, Home Improvement, KidSongs, Charlie Brown, Franklin, Lonely Planet(later changed to GlobeTrekker), Sara Moulton, Molto Mario, Emeril Live, Essence of Emeril, Pick of the Day, Ahh Real Monsters, The Wild Thornberrys, Cousin Skeeter, The Angry Beavers, Wimzy's House, Little Bear(RIP Maurice Sendak), Mr Rogers Neighborhood(RIP Fred Rogers), Square One, 7th Heaven, Touched By An Angel, The Cosby Show, Mystery Files of Shelby Woo, Oprah,etc.

Music: Michael Jackson, Brian McKnight, Patti LaBelle, Mariah Carey, Tony Terry, Boyz II Men, alot of old school R&B as well.

Celebrities/Athletes: Ken Griffey Jr, Michael Jordan, Macauley Caulkin, Bob Saget, Michelle Trachtenberg, Oprah Winfrey, Tia and Tamera Mowry, Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Tim Allen,etc.

Movies: Lion King, Casper, Home Alone, Home Alone II, The Sandlot.

Miscellaneous: Surge, Squeeze-It, Itzakadoozie, SNES, Game Boy, N64,

[tvdxer]

Originally Posted by green_mariner

Movies: Lion King, Casper, Home Alone, Home Alone II, The Sandlot.

Miscellaneous: Surge, Squeeze-It, Itzakadoozie, SNES, Game Boy, N64,

As I probably mentioned previously in this thread, the 90's were my formative years (born 1986, so 3 through 13).

I haven't kept up much on movies, so pardon me if I am wrong, but one of the main attractions for kids everywhere in the 1990's were youth-oriented PG live-action movies, such as:

First Kid, Camp Nowhere, Richie Rich, Jumanji, Kazaam, Matilda, Heavyweights, Blank Check, The Karate Kids, Man of the House, etc. ad nauseam

We watched these in the theaters or on VHS once they were released. They were usually given a star or a half-star by snooty movie reviewers but absolutely loved by the public. They often also appealed to parents.

These seem to no longer (or barely) exist, though I may be wrong. Interestingly, I find "kid movies" today to be usually animated and more infantile. Obviously, there were huge animated movies back in the 1990s (such as Lion King), but there seemed to be a much larger number of live-action movies like the ones I named. They seemed to die out as I entered my teenage years, or shortly before, peaking in around 1994-1996.

There were also more PG13 comedies like Black Sheep, Happy Gilmore and The Cable Guy, which were very popular with adults, who often judged them to be suitable for their children, due to their lack of explicit sex scenes or nudity. Popular comedians often starred in them (Jim Carrey, Adam Sandler, Chris Farley). Again, I am not "with it" at all as far as recent movies go, but this category seems to have declined too, with the comedy genre transitioning to more sexual movies with the American Pie series, The Wedding Crashers, etc. Of course, there were raunchy comedies in the '90s, too (although my parents didn't allow us to watch them).

[tvdxer]

Originally Posted by ipod99

I graduated high school in 2002, so I remember the whole decade also.

One other thing I forgot to mention is that video games were better in the 90's. Nowadays people like DDR, WOW, Diablo, and Call of Duty. IMO, these games don't compare to the games of the 16 and 32 bit era that were on Sega Genesis, SNES, and the first Playstation. Today games might have better graphics, and obviously you can do more with them since games are more advanced now. But back then it was just about fun and simple games. I also like that fighting games were more popular back then (Streets of rage, final fight, Super/Street Fighter II, the first trilogy of Mortal Kombat games). Today it's all about military/shooting games, online games, or music games such as rock band. Arcades were also more popular back then and there were better games in arcades as well. I used to love shopping malls, because there was an arcade in every mall. Nowadays most malls don't have arcades. I also love the side scrolling beat em up games. Those were only popular from the late 80's to the mid 90's. After about '96, they were in the past.

I remember us getting the following video game systems:

Sega Master System - bought 1989 (one of my first memories), mainly for my dad, but I played "Rambo" too.

Original Nintendo - 1990 or 1991, probably when the Sega crapped out on us.

Sega Genesis - Christmas 1992. I was amazed at the graphics on "Sonic the Hedgehog", which was packaged with the console. The system lasted for roughly a month. I don't know what happened to it after that.

Super Nintendo - 1993, and then another system in 1994.

Sega Saturn - 1995. We got this used from my grandpa. I don't remember playing too many games on it, only using it as a CD player (!)

Nintendo 64 - Christmas of '96, shortly after it came out. Another huge step up in graphics. This was played all the time until 2001 or 2002.

Things were cheaper back then. Even back in 2000, when I first started driving, gas in Ohio was anywhere from 99 cents to $1.30 per gallon.

I don't know if anyone watched pro wrestling growing up. But wrestling was better in the 90's for the most part. WWE/WWF was good until about 1998, because that's when it degenerated to the attitude era. Even then there was the better alternative of WCW which was still entertaining, but more clean cut than WWF attitude.

I was never too much into wrestling, but my uncle (and later younger brother) were. I remember WWF being HUGE around 1997-1998, not only for the male wrestlers but also the female "starlets", who looked a lot like Jenny McCarthy or Pamela Anderson. I also remember it being called "fake".

I greatly appreciate the convenience of the internet (because otherwise we couldn't have this conversation), but in a lot of ways I think life was better before the internet, cell phones, and social media. First, it was simpler. Computers are great, but nowadays most of us spend much if not the majority of our day on them. In the 90's, it was "you watch too much tv", because tv was addicting in the 90's. Now, sometimes I feel like I'm on the computer too much.

I don't like social media for the most part. I cancelled my facebook account because it's extremely superficial. Most of my facebook "friends" weren't really my friends. They just added me to add to their collection of "friends". Facebook seems like mostly an online popularity contest. And most ppl don't email anymore.

I totally agree. I would say that I watched at least roughly 3-4 hours of TV a day in the 1990s - on school nights. It was the thing to do back then.

At my high school, there were maybe 2 or 3 people with a cell phone, and I don't think anyone had a computer. I didn't have my first cell phone until I was 20. Now most teenagers have cell phones, laptops, etc. This is convenient for them, but I also think it spoils them. And too many people text nowadays. I miss the days when people liked to have conversations on the phone.

Although one thing that's actually better about the 2000's is MMA. In the 90's UFC had just came out, so it was still evolving.

Really?

I remember the late 1990s as the "golden age" of the desktop PC. In the early 1990s, home computers were a rarity, but by 1995 - when we got ours - most families were considering buying one, and by the end of the decade virtually everybody in our school had one. Maybe it's because I'm younger than you, but I doubt it.

However, virtually no one had laptops, which were too expensive for most people in my community then.

Even desktop computers were a major purchase back then. When we bought our first computer, you couldn't get a new PC for under $1,000, and $2,000 was barely getting out of the entry-level category. I remember needing to get more RAM for Sim City 2000, which my parents bought me for my 9th birthday - about seven months after we bought our computer! I couldn't imagine needing more RAM for any application for even a $300 computer purchased today. Even to the average buyer wanting to use their computer for average purposes, every spec mattered: a 4x CD-ROM drive was twice the speed of a 2x CD-ROM drive and therefore allowed much faster access to CD-ROM applications, an 800 MB hard drive could store a lot more programs and files than a 420 MB hard drive, having 8 MB of RAM rather than 4 or 6 MB made a very noticeable difference in many applications, etc. Nowadays such things are only of significance to hardcore gamers and video editors.

Most PCs were purchased from stores like Best Buy (online retailing was in its infancy, and for first-computer buyers was out of the question) and came with a bunch of applications pre-loaded or on CD-ROM, such as Microsoft Encarta, as many people still did not connect their computers to the internet, and even if they did, almost all applications benefited from the speed advantage of being on a CD-ROM.

Online services (such as AOL and CompuServe) and ISPs charged by the hour (on top of a flat monthly rate that included a certain set number of hours - I remember 10 being a common number) until late 1996, when AOL rolled out an unlimited plan for $19.99 a month and most ISPs (then beginning to grow in number) followed along.

As for cell phones, they were common by the end of the 1990s, at least around here. In one of my classes in December 1999, the teacher asked us if our parents had a cell phone, and all of the students raised their hand. No student (in my grade) that I remember, however, had a cell phone. That would not come until they began to obtain their drivers' licenses in 2002. By then, mobile providers had consolidated and offered family plans, unlimited long distance, etc., as well as threw in a basic cell phone for free or marginal cost when the contract was signed.

As for my family, we had a cell phone (actually mobile phone) as early as the late 1980's, as my dad was an independent contractor. He went through a bunch of cell phones in the 1990's, and then my brother, two years younger than me, got one in 2003. My sister and I got ours in 2004.

[green_mariner]

Originally Posted by tvdxer

As I probably mentioned previously in this thread, the 90's were my formative years (born 1986, so 3 through 13).

I haven't kept up much on movies, so pardon me if I am wrong, but one of the main attractions for kids everywhere in the 1990's were youth-oriented PG live-action movies, such as:

First Kid, Camp Nowhere, Richie Rich, Jumanji, Kazaam, Matilda, Heavyweights, Blank Check, The Karate Kids, Man of the House, etc. ad nauseam

We watched these in the theaters or on VHS once they were released. They were usually given a star or a half-star by snooty movie reviewers but absolutely loved by the public. They often also appealed to parents.

These seem to no longer (or barely) exist, though I may be wrong. Interestingly, I find "kid movies" today to be usually animated and more infantile. Obviously, there were huge animated movies back in the 1990s (such as Lion King), but there seemed to be a much larger number of live-action movies like the ones I named. They seemed to die out as I entered my teenage years, or shortly before, peaking in around 1994-1996.

There were also more PG13 comedies like Black Sheep, Happy Gilmore and The Cable Guy, which were very popular with adults, who often judged them to be suitable for their children, due to their lack of explicit sex scenes or nudity. Popular comedians often starred in them (Jim Carrey, Adam Sandler, Chris Farley). Again, I am not "with it" at all as far as recent movies go, but this category seems to have declined too, with the comedy genre transitioning to more sexual movies with the American Pie series, The Wedding Crashers, etc. Of course, there were raunchy comedies in the '90s, too (although my parents didn't allow us to watch them).

Looks like we have at least one thing in common.

I was never big into movies. The only reason I saw Lion King in movie theaters was because my mother took me and my friend. I liked it so much I got in on VHS the very next year(1995). I was never into Jumanji that much.

Don't feel bad about not being "with it". I'm not with it either. Half of the time I don't know who is coming out with any movie. I think that is the thing. I'm such a 90s kid, and I like it so much, that I am not with it in this decade.

I wasn't into comedians in the 90s. I was more into kids stuff and educational documentaries.

[green_mariner]

I remember us getting the following video game systems:

Sega Master System - bought 1989 (one of my first memories), mainly for my dad, but I played "Rambo" too.

Original Nintendo - 1990 or 1991, probably when the Sega crapped out on us.

Sega Genesis - Christmas 1992. I was amazed at the graphics on "Sonic the Hedgehog", which was packaged with the console. The system lasted for roughly a month. I don't know what happened to it after that.

Super Nintendo - 1993, and then another system in 1994.

Sega Saturn - 1995. We got this used from my grandpa. I don't remember playing too many games on it, only using it as a CD player (!)

Nintendo 64 - Christmas of '96, shortly after it came out. Another huge step up in graphics. This was played all the time until 2001 or 2002.

My own memories: I didn't know what video games were until 1993 when I went to a family reunion and played my cousin's Game Boy as well as the old Nintendo.

Sometimes in February or March 1994: I got the Super Nintendo with Yoshi's Island and later Mario All Star.

April 28, 1997: I got the Game Boy for my 11th birthday.

May 1999: I got Nintendo 64

[corsa71]

WWF was gay
UFC is where it's at

[green_mariner]

Originally Posted by corsa71

WWF was gay
UFC is where it's at

I'm not into either one. I was never into wrestling or anything of that.

[green_mariner]

Do you think the 2000s and the part of the '10s that has past are culturally distinct from the 1990s? Personally I think we're still in the nineties in a cultural sense and here is why

I was thinking how the major tropes of the nineties, the things that made the nineties different from the eighties, for the most part are still going strong, and in some cases are actually even bigger today, 12 years after the end of the nineties, than they were in the nineties themselves!

Examples. Baggy pants. Skinny jeans have replaced them to some extent, but there's still plenty of people who sag like it's still 1992, people who weren't even alive in 1992.

The Simpsons. First aired in December 1989 actually. A 90s icon. Still on the air today, and despite the fact many people stopped watching it around 2000, it's still relevant to today's society and extremely popular.

Things that were very popular in the 90s have lingered on because of certain social precepts that still encourage it. Rap music took off in the 90s and is very popular today. The main attire worn is still encouraged by hip-hop culture. Skinny jeans are more of a hipster/chic trend.

The Simpsons have stayed relevant because the show has basically changed with the times.