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I know I should probably know about the early 2000s but I was around 7 at the time of growing up. I only know tiny tid bits of information like how computers were still CRT and original GBAs. But what do you remember most about pop culture as well as technology in the early 2000s era? We don't really need to talk about politics since we all know about 9/11 probably and anything from the early years.
LOL!
AIM was the way to communicate with your friends. Text messaging existed but wasn't really popular until the mid-2000s.
In 2000, most everybody with a computer and internet access knew of Napster and used it. Napster was the first easy filesharing network, devoted to music. Of course, the reaction from the music industry, which had switched to the "album" ($15 CD of a single band) model of sales, was not positive. In 2001 Napster was shut down, but services such as WinMX, Kazaa, Gnutella, etc. instantly replaced it.
Music sharing was possible on a dial-up modem (songs took around 10-15 minutes to download), but not the sharing of movies and TV shows. The MPAA was soon involved in prosecuting pirates of movie content as broadband became generally available. By 2004 half of US households' internet connections were "broadband" (about 512 kbps to 2 mbps then).
The early 2000s were a time of major transition, at least on the charts. The decade went in with boy bands, Natalie Imbrugila, Blink 182, Kid Rock, Santana, etc. but around 2002 hip-hop and R&B, a lot of it Southern (Ja Rule, Ludacris, 50 Cent, Nelly, Ashanti), became the dominant form of pop music among youth. Existing singers generally took on an edgier, controversial image; Christina Aguilera with her videos, Jennifer Lopez rebranding herself as "J.Lo", Britney Spears and Madonna kissing at the 2003 VMAs.
HDTV was out there but the selection of programming that was actually in HD was sparse. The normal HD screen of the early 2000's was a gigantic rear-projection TV.
DVD surpassed VHS in sales around 2003.
Services like Spotify and Netflix streaming were unimaginable.
Computers were mainly desktops, often fitting into a "computer desk" which were large and held the printer, scanner, etc. in addition to the computer.
AOL was HUGE in the early 2000's, so huge that they merged with Time Warner to become AOL Time Warner.
Apple was not held in high regard. The first really "cool" product they had was the iPod, but that didn't become popular until about 2004.
In my mind, the year 2000 seems about like yesterday, and not all that different from today. For sure, the electronic toys have changed a bit over time and the economy has worsened for many people. And television has gone downhill over time.
9/11 attack, terrorism paranoia and the war on terrorism
The American flag on peoples cars
rising gas prices
housing boom
rapid technological growth
global warming scare
You used to had to go outside to use your cell phone and talking was unlimited on the weekends as well as after 7 PM
AOL- I remember that shrieking sound whenever you logged on and then the "You have mail" voice. I also remember you couldn't use the phone whenever someone was logged onto AOL.
People ate more junk food. There wasn't as much of a variety of organic or healthy foods. Low carb diets were a big trend.
MP3 players were popular and the iPod was a new invention.
I remember TVs became silver around 2003/04 but they were still pretty big.
Pokemon was extremely popular but I never got into it. I think I was the only one in my first grade class who didn't care about it.
Who Let the Dogs out was big back then, along with Baby one more.
Austin Powers
Gothic clothes was common among some high school kids. I riding by the high school and seeing these kids dressed all in black. They used to scare me.
Baggy clothes were popular along with sagging.
Everyone used to go to Blockbuster every Friday night to rent a movie.
I had really young children during the early aughts. Maybe it's from the chronic sleep deprivation of those years, but pretty much all I remember about pop culture involved the preschool set, i.e., The Wiggles...oh, and my Palm Pilot, which I thought was amazing.
For me the year 2000 was the year before 9/11, the year before my great-aunt died (the last surviving relative of that generation of paternal side of my family) and it was also the year before the next generation in my immediate family was born.
Life was good in 2000. That is all I can say. Young people are dumb as dunce compared to back then. People flirted outside and not on facebook. The DVD, Video, and etc was all the rage. Life was decent. Yes their was tons of violence but otherwise people had an good time. All we had to worry about was the energy crisis. The best Videogames were RPG games. I mean life was decent. Everything was auwsome. Their was terrible things but their was also great people.
I hate the phones all over the place. I hate them all. Wireless devices STILL MAKES HIGH FREQUENCY SOUNDS THAT HURTS MY HEAD.
It seems to me there is about 20 times more sports coverage on TV today then there was then.
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