Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
To the OP, I'd say that 2000 was probably closer to 1986 than 2014. For some examples, in 2000, I was just graduating college. I was the only person in my social circle who had a lap top, one of a relatively small handful who had a cel phone. We all still used CD walkmans. The internet existed, but it wasn't the dominant life-force that it is today. While 1986 essentially didn't have household internet, most households in 2000 didn't have it, either.
The huge huge huge difference that completely tips the scales, though- a legit paradigm shift in our history- was 9/11. In 2000, you could see your relatives off at the airplane gate. You could get a drivers license by showing a name listed as a birth in a family bible. Everyones communications weren't being collected and stored for further-analysis-if-needed by agencies that don't officially exist.
There weren't cameras on every stoplight that were either catching light runners, speeders or even more creepy, just taking pictures of every license that drives by for inclusion in various private databases. If you got pulled over, you didn't have to wait 20 minutes while the cop ran a complete dossier on your life history from various centralized databases.
The economy was good in 2000. There were jobs. We weren't at war.
For all the interesting changes that have occurred in technology over teh past 30 years, it all sort of blends together.
9/11 is a bright line that separates everything pre and post, so there's really no comparing anything from the pre 9/11 world to the post 9/11 world.
Agreed. I'm close to 50 and; things were def better in the 1990's than they are in 2014 IMHO.
2014, no question. Everything, except for the power of our computers and the sophistication of our mobile phones, has stagnated in the current century.
The doldrums have lasted since at least as far back as 1998.
I liked my Paper, Denim, and Cloth and Earl Jeans in 2000 much less than I liked my True Religion Jeans of 2005 however my Prada Crocodile strappy platforms trump all.
My Marc Jacobs* bag of 2014 is still the bomb.
*NOT to be confused with that crappy, low rent Marc by Marc Jacobs line.
2014, no question. Everything, except for the power of our computers and the sophistication of our mobile phones, has stagnated in the current century.
The doldrums have lasted since at least as far back as 1998.
Yes, actually since the '70s really. people can argue all they want about how much computers, the internet, and cell phones have changed our lives since then and don't get me wrong, they have, but not nearly so much as the advances that occurred through the first two thirds to three quarters of the 20th century. When you look at it this way and take the big picture into account modern society more or less as we know it pretty much was in place by the 70s and everything since then has been the icing on the cake.
Well, no cell phones or Internet in 1986. The political landscape was different and the Cold War was still going on. Things such as gay rights, global warming, and gluten-free everything were still WAY below the radar. And I was 26 and a Staff Sergeant in the Air Force.
So yeah, 2000 and 2014 (in my opinion) have more in common than 1986 and 2000.
I rarely come here, but what right does someone have to constantly post on a thread asking people to not start threads like that because it is useless? If that person doesn't like the thread, ignore it. I just don't understand this mindset. People do that on tv forums all the time too. If someone doesn't like a show, don't post on a thread how the show sucks, everyone who likes it is stupid, etc. You have the power to ignore things if you're not interested, but let others who may be interested participate.
I rarely come here, but what right does someone have to constantly post on a thread asking people to not start threads like that because it is useless? If that person doesn't like the thread, ignore it. I just don't understand this mindset. People do that on tv forums all the time too. If someone doesn't like a show, don't post on a thread how the show sucks, everyone who likes it is stupid, etc. You have the power to ignore things if you're not interested, but let others who may be interested participate.
Exactly, it is not hard at all. I never comment on any thread which I do not like in any way, whether it be a thread with a redundant topic, one where I have no knowledge about, etc.
Exactly, it is not hard at all. I never comment on any thread which I do not like in any way, whether it be a thread with a redundant topic, one where I have no knowledge about, etc.
I never post on such topics either. This one actually caught my eye because it's an interesting question. The feel of a year being closer to one decade over another is always interesting in retrospect. That poster was acting like the question is stupid because you aren't thinking about whether your current year is like some other year. It can only be analyzed in hindsight, not as it's happening.
I'd have to say 2000 was more like 2014 than 1986. I graduated from high school in 1987, so I was around to experience both periods. The Internet existed in a very basic form, but it was more for the real techies and business people and scientists. I had a friend who had a modem that he had to put the telephone handset on and could dial into certain computers. I thought it was so cool, but I would have never been in a position to have those kind of toys. My mom just didn't have that kind of dough.
Most people I knew back then did not even own a computer at home. Maybe that would have been different if I'd grown up in Silicon Valley or Seattle, but where I lived it was hobbyists and rich kids (or seemed rich to me anyway).
When we had a lesson on computers in school, it was a couple of weeks in 8th grade math and we learned about binary numbers and writing a program, which would have been ultimately useful if only there was more than one computer in the classroom and most of us watching the one kid who had a computer at home and knew what he was doing. I'm sure there were better computer courses in high school, but they were electives and in my infinite wisdom I did not elect to take the class.
In 2000, I had a home computer that I had purchased a couple of years before because computers finally started to get cheaper. The World Wide Web was so exciting, but of course we were still using dial-up networks. Still, looking back I could relate more to the technology of 2014 than 1986.
I still love 1986 though - vinyl records, awesome dance music (new wave and industrial was my fav), people actually talked to each other face-to-face, we went out, we lived life without too many distractions. The only thing better today than then is the constant presence of cameras so people's lives are more fully documented.
If all computers blew up tomorrow, I honestly think we'd be better off as a society. More privacy, more social interaction and less social exhibitionism, being blissfully unaware of other people's opinions on everything from politics to television shows so things weren't nearly as partisan. We are so divided now and it's sad.
Last edited by katygirl68; 10-04-2014 at 07:14 PM..
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
