Is it just me, or are the 2000s and 2010s not nearly as different/distinct as previous decades?

[Estil | 1,264]

So now we close the book on the second decade of the 21st century.  I couldn't help but notice though, but you know how decades like the 90s, 80s, 70s, 60s, 50s and so on are truly distinctive and different from one another in terms of things like pop culture, entertainment, sports, music, history that kind of thing?  Well why is it, and maybe it's just me, that it doesn't seem like the 2000s and 2010s decades and indeed the difference between 2000s vs 2010s are not nearly as distinctive as the ones from the 20th century?   Do you guys get at all what I mean by that?  Or am I just crazy?

[DoctorEncore | 3,691]

I think it just takes a while for each decade to find it's identity as people do retrospectives and analyze and emulate that period of time. 

I thought for the longest time that the 90s was a boring decade where nothing happened because I lived through them. Now suddenly the 90s has a feel and an identity and I agree with it. Time and space create perspective.

That being said, I think the 2000s were a weird transition decade without a strong unifying theme. Maybe terrorism and stupid wars? The 2010s were clearly the decade of the smart phone & social media.

Edited January 5, 2020 by DoctorEncore

[Bearcat-Doug | 5,105]

The 2000s did seem like a bridge between the '90s and 2010s, but there were major advancements in technology during the last decade.

[Kguillemette | 1,544]

30 minutes ago, DoctorEncore said:

I think it just takes a while for each decade to find it's identity as people do retrospectives and analyze and emulate that period of time. 

I thought for the longest time that the 90s was a boring decade where nothing happened because I lived through them. Now suddenly the 90s has a feel and an identity and I agree with it. Time and space create perspective.

That being said, I think the 2000s were a weird transition decade without a strong unifying theme. Maybe terrorism and stupid wars? The 2010s were clearly the decade of the smart phone & social media.

The 2000s were defined by 9/11. Easily.

[JamesRobot | 5,800]

Nah you're just old. 

[Reed Rothchild | 9,525]

I thought the same thing about the 90s.  In hindsight it has plenty of identity

[Reed Rothchild | 9,525]

00s = autotune, the Bieber haircut, Myspace, Harry Potter, 9/11, shaky cam

[SNESNESCUBE64 | 539]

I mean, we went from big bulky machines used for work only to having what would be considered super computers in the 90's in the palm of your hand. In terms of the ways we communicate, things have changed greatly. I'd say that they stand out in their own right, it will just needs to be reflected upon in order to see the differences.

[fox | 1,667]

In the 90s, I was playing Sega Genesis games on a thicc Sega Genesis on a tiny tv

In the 20s, I am playing Sega Genesis games on a Sega Genesis mini (which is like 1/4 the size) and my tv is 4x the size of my old one

~The thangs they are a-changing~

[Andy_Bogomil | 815]

I find it usually takes the first 2 to 3 years to break out of the old decade. Feels like 82-92 and 92-02 etc. Are the decades. I also think getting older blends them together a bit more because typically less changes in your life. 

00s to me were definitely dominated by security and 9-11. 2010s has been dominated by social media and smart phone culture. 

[phart010 | 1,707]

Dreamcast 1999 = graphics lead to death of arcades

Playstation 2, 2000 = Video games truly become mainstream. GameStop starts rapidly expanding. Supports dvd playback, helps kill off the vhs format

Gameboy advance, 2001 // DS 2004 = handheld gaming becomes really mainstream

Xbox, 2001 = online gaming becomes mainstream 

[Link | 2,709]

Watch season 3 episode 2 of Bojack Horseman. It takes place in 2007. It’s quite a remove (also very funny)

Or look at this pictures keeping in mind the fashion and attitudes they represent   https://www.buzzfeed.com/tabathaleggett/here-are-your-best-myspace-pictures-from-the-00s

[phart010 | 1,707]

In the early 2000’s the internet was still a slightly geeky thing for many people. Dial up modem was still a thing. People still checked out books at libraries to do research. Phone books and phone booths were still a thing in some places.

Not every store was accepting credit cards. I remember in 2003 or 2004 I was turned away from a McDonalds because I did not have cash and they didnt take cards. 

Cell phones still had buttons until the iPhone came out in 2007, even then there wasn’t really the concept of third party apps until later. Biggest major iPhone competitor at the time was the Sidekick.

Youtube used to have zero ads. However streaming tv was nonexistent due to speeds nowhere near where it is today so cable providers used to market specific tv channels, as opposed to higher speeds for streaming.

[RegularGuyGamer | 2,013]

If you don't use a smart phone, then the 2010s were just like the 2000s. But if you were on a device, the tech changed your life. I know for me the second I got my true smart phone in 2009-2010, the whole internet opened up and the avenue to entertainment was so accessable. I stopped participating in social media (fb and the like) in 2013 and went to alternative anonymous message boards like NA all on my phone. Then snap chat came out and suddenly I was sending pictures with every message. When I met new people, I would FaceTime exclusively instead of phone conversations. Messages and notifications and seen and answered from my watch. Just the whole world has been shapes by tech. The 2000s had basically none of that and the 2010s was the decade of the tech. Maybe called it the tech-ade...

[Estil | 1,264]

Yes; that could be my problem.  I've always been an introvert/home body and I just think it's much easier to do things on a regular desktop/laptop with a nice big screen; even when I was working we weren't allowed to have smartphones on duty so again, no real point in me personally bothering with one.  I even remember when those smartphones first came out I wasn't sure if they'd catch on because they cost about as much as a regular computer but seemingly could do far less on a tiny cramped screen.  I mean don't misunderstand me, I've nothing against them at all; on the contrary they seem like neat electronic Swiss Army knives that like fries/soda, you can get small (iPhone), medium (iPad Mini), and large (iPad)!  My wife uses one but it's one of those cheap kind.  Also, I don't even like taking my Nintendo DS or 3DS with me because, as Kevin in Home Alone 2 would say, I'm afraid if I do take it with me regularly, I'd lose it or wreck it or something.  I know those phones can easily be several hundred dollars so I imagine it'd really suck if you was to goof and break it or spill something on it.  I really feel bad for those I've seen whose phones still work but have that huge spider web break all over the screen.   Not to mention all those confusing phone plans and contracts; I mean if I did have human kids and they wanted the newest smart phones for Christmas or something, how do you even know which one is the best?  At least with game consoles you know pretty much exactly what you're getting.

On that note, I was kinda wondering that since YouTube started in 2005 (which happened to be the year we were married) and how so easily we can watch stuff and read stuff from whatever time period we want I wonder if that too kinda blurred things between 2000s vs 2010s.  And I must say that my college days (early 2000s) already seem super primitive by today's standards...would you believe since then BOTH of our biggest/major food places were torn down and replaced (I've not been back personally since graduation but from the pics I've seen of the new places; WOW)?  Not to mention our main dorm complex (I was at Blanding 3 and in the same room all four years believe it or not) was decommissioned a few years ago and will be torn down later this year.  It just doesn't seem that long ago since 2003 but so much at UK has already changed.

So i'm thinking it's my own fault for being too "stuck in the past" (since ironically we live in a miracle modern age of communication which makes doing that a lot easier) and the reason the 20th century decades were most distinctive was because without Internet and such, you sorta had no choice for the most part but to live in the here and now.

[ALTQQ | 87]

00's were the emo years. At least 2005+ 

[Estil | 1,264]

30 minutes ago, ALTQQ said:

00's were the emo years. At least 2005+ 

 

[KokiriChild | 1,644]

I think the 2000s, primarily due to major political and war-related events as well as new technologies, have a heavier differentiation between the early and late periods of the decade compared to decades prior. Early 2000s still felt very 90s, with pop culture trends such as Pokemon still being massively important. Same with emergence of the first iMac, pop music like Backstreet Boys and Brittany Spears, and the early internet. Then 9/11 happened and the 2003 start of the Iraq War. Compare that to 2009 when Netflix, Facebook, and iPhones, while in their infancy, existed. The 2010s were absolutely the decade of the smart phone and the evolution of social media, but these past 20 years are a fascinating look, sociologically and anthropologically speaking, at how exponential our technological advancements have become. Who knows how unrecognizable the world will be 50 years from now.

Edited January 6, 2020 by KokiriChild

[Estil | 1,264]

Yeah I guess thanks to 9/11 and the War on Terror it did kinda cast a darker shadow on the 2000s the likes of which were not seen since the 60s (how we managed to get through that most turbulent time in America's history (THREE major assassinations and Vietnam which you could be FORCED into; need I say more?) especially 1968 I'll never know)...that's not to say the 90s and 80s didn't have their dark sides too...

 

And this right here is a perfect example of just how violent and dangerous the late 60s could be...

 

Edited January 6, 2020 by Estil

[Teh_Lurv | 254]

6 hours ago, phart010 said:

In the early 2000’s the internet was still a slightly geeky thing for many people. Dial up modem was still a thing. People still checked out books at libraries to do research. Phone books and phone booths were still a thing in some places.

I remember that 2004-2005 was about the time when modern malware arrived. I think it coincided when a critical mass of people replaced dial-up with high-speed, always on broadband. Computer viruses transitioned from vandalizing your PC as a prank of the 90s to hijacking your computer to store illegal content and/or steal your bank & CC numbers. PC security was laughably unprepared at the time.

[8-bit guerilla | 82]

You also have to figure that 90% of people through all these time periods acted exactly the same, and booed changes in the new world. My gram died at 96 years old, and she went from horse and buggy to an 08’ Malibu. But she was probably the same person for at least 85 years.

technology still moves pretty fast and trends are the shortest lived they've ever been. 

I bet on paper, it’s moving faster and more drastically than ever. Just look at inflation these days. When we are older(er) and reading about it, I bet they find a way to make the changes more distinct.

i used to scoff at the idea of cell phones in my late teens early 20’s, and the most amazing thing a phone could do then was chirp and txt and play centipede. Which would be nice if that’s all they did still in my opinion. (case in point)

Also the amount of information given to the people historically was mostly local. If they cared to hear about it at all. So when written about I’m sure new things seemed very drastic and few and far between while new shit was happening everyday. 

Perspective I guess

[Boosted52405 | 178]

Yeah I think the 90's/2000's were our gateway into the immersive digital world-at-your-fingertips-and-social-media landscape.  High-speed internet, HDTV's, Streaming etc etc.

Now that landscape is an established norm and the foundation of our future where the changes around us are more subtle (4K, VR etc).

Just my take.  Or we're getting older and maturity is desensitizing us to these changes (I'll admit there are some trends with the younger crowds that I currently wouldn't give an ounce of energy to recognize/partake, whereas I might have as a teen/young adult).

[Reed Rothchild | 9,525]