Does anyone else genuinely miss the 2000s?

[PointOfNoReturnPoint]

Looking at these music videos makes me sad when you realize the 2000s was the last time where you heard rock, punk, and metal on the radio or everywhere else for that matter. Now it's just Rap, Pop, and somehow Country that is currently popular.

You can't really be mad at changing tastes. You can't do the same genre forever. Imagine if Soulja boy was still super popular.

 

[Aqua Panda]

Thinking about this a bit today. Things I really do miss from the 1998-2007 period.

1. Actual bookstores outside of Barnes and Noble that carried different stock. Not just book 1 of 10 and if you want the rest you will have to order online.

2. Best Buy and others having a large physical media collection and being well stocked in general. It wasn't a crap shoot on if they would carry what you'd be after or if it was online only.

3. Malls actually being worthwhile and fun places to hang at. Those that survive today are now usually nothing but designer clothes shops.

4. The complete death of arcades and places to hang out outside of bars or places designed to serve alchool. Even just local game parlors are basically dead in the water due to high rents in larger city areas.

5. At the risk of the deviant rating, I actually kinda miss the softcore porn that would be shown late at night. Yes, actual hardcore porn was easily found online at this point, but something about it when well done is akin to classy nude pin-up art to me.

6. Kinda tied into the above, but women were frankly far more attractive during this era or era's before. Obesity has gotten out of control and this fake plastic surgery look seems commonplace. Modern trends look fucking goulish to me.

7. Money went a LOT farther and it was viable to do day trips to go to stuff like conventions or other gatherings. Conventions actually felt like events and not glorified flea markets/swap meets. Dragon con and a few others still have this spirit, but it has been disappearing quickly.

8. Entertainment not being as high woke.

 

[Headshotmaster138]

I think it was the last good days, the peak of the internet almost. You could find anything you wanted to and the only censorship were faggy mods (and even those fags weren't as bad as they'd become when souped up on SocJus). Information was readily available and you could download anything you wanted if you searched for it. Everyone still made fun of the really dumb people like creationists and other fundies. Even the election was a lot less contentious than 2016 and 2020. The earliest SocJus incidents like the "dongle" thing (remember that?) were widely laughed at.

And then Trayvon picked a fight in the wrong neighborhood and got ventilated and everything was downhill from there.

You mind be onto something because all of that shit happened on 2012 and there's a theory out there that claims the world in 2012 ended but in the way he thought. Also, what is the dongle thing?

Another thing I miss about the '00s: food was cheaper (and it wasn't about 50 cents to $1 for one egg).

I remember when a bag of chips costed 25 cents and it was full to the brim. Now, they cost 75 cents and half of the bag is just air.

 

[Headshotmaster138]

Thinking about this a bit today. Things I really do miss from the 1998-2007 period.

1. Actual bookstores outside of Barnes and Noble that carried different stock. Not just book 1 of 10 and if you want the rest you will have to order online.

2. Best Buy and others having a large physical media collection and being well stocked in general. It wasn't a crap shoot on if they would carry what you'd be after or if it was online only.

3. Malls actually being worthwhile and fun places to hang at. Those that survive today are now usually nothing but designer clothes shops.

4. The complete death of arcades and places to hang out outside of bars or places designed to serve alchool. Even just local game parlors are basically dead in the water due to high rents in larger city areas.

5. At the risk of the deviant rating, I actually kinda miss the softcore porn that would be shown late at night. Yes, actual hardcore porn was easily found online at this point, but something about it when well done is akin to classy nude pin-up art to me.

6. Kinda tied into the above, but women were frankly far more attractive during this era or era's before. Obesity has gotten out of control and this fake plastic surgery look seems commonplace. Modern trends look fucking goulish to me.

7. Money went a LOT farther and it was viable to do day trips to go to stuff like conventions or other gatherings. Conventions actually felt like events and not glorified flea markets/swap meets. Dragon con and a few others still have this spirit, but it has been disappearing quickly.

8. Entertainment not being as high woke.

To add to your point of 6. is was how easy it was to get into relationships back then. Tinder and Apps like it ruined dating for two generations. But I do miss when being skinny and slim was the norm instead of being a fat ass or trying to be like the kardashians.

 

[ToroidalBoat]

women were frankly far more attractive during this era or era's before

I think that's the result of wokeism BSing women into thinking that beauty, appealing to male sexuality, or being aroused by "objectifying" women is "problematic" somehow. Like I mentioned before, when I was stuck in a more leftist big city, it seemed all the women there were fat, dressed masculine, had this ugly short "chopped off" hair, had freakish tattoos, and somehow needed glasses. I imagine that "healthy at any size" delusion and how crappy Clown World cuisine is also had something to do with that.

 

[Stoner Metal]

I pretty much live in the '00s with tech. I don't have "smart" appliances, I don't really watch "smart" TV, I'm not much of a "smartphone" fan, and I have 0 "social media" accounts.* Also I prefer buying a physical copy over that "DLC I can't back up" crap.

I've been seriously contemplating doing a big tech rewind in my life. Replace my smartphone with a simple Nokia candybar style dumb phone. Then get rid of all internet connected devices except for a single desktop computer with a small monitor shoved in a corner with an uncomfortable chair in front of it to discourage me from being on it for too long. Just use it for paying bills, looking up addresses, ordering the occasional necessity, etc.

I grew up and lived a lot of my adult life before the internet was a thing and I think I was a lot happier then. I live pretty isolated way out in the country so I don't generally encounter any of the messed up "current year" stuff in the real physical world. I only encounter most of that shit online. It is like all these internet connected devices are just constantly pouring sewage into my house. And I am starting to wonder why I don't just shut it all off.

 

[ToroidalBoat]

I grew up and lived a lot of my adult life before the internet was a thing and I think I was a lot happier then.

I've mentioned that "real life is getting cancelled" thing before, and it still feels that way.

It certainly isn't countered by stuff like physical bookstores closing or Clown World insanity.

 

[AnOminous]

4. The complete death of arcades and places to hang out outside of bars or places designed to serve alchool. Even just local game parlors are basically dead in the water due to high rents in larger city areas.

There are some retro arcades popping up again, but they're generally horribly soy-infused and sell craft beer and are meant for manbabbies.

 

[Stoner Metal]

Looking at these music videos makes me sad when you realize the 2000s was the last time where you heard rock, punk, and metal on the radio or everywhere else for that matter. Now it's just Rap, Pop, and somehow Country that is currently popular.

Thats interesting, where do you live where you don't have channels that play rock? I live in Michigan and there are still plenty of stations that play rock, it is normally advertised as "Classic Rock" but these days classic rock often includes stuff like Black Sabbath and Motorhead so I can't complain too much.

 

[AnOminous]

Thats interesting, where do you live where you don't have channels that play rock? I live in Michigan and there are still plenty of stations that play rock, it is normally advertised as "Classic Rock" but these days classic rock often includes stuff like Black Sabbath and Motorhead so I can't complain too much.

One trend I hate from the 2000s is the introduction of the vile "Jack" format. It's a trap when you're driving a long distance that they play exactly one song that doesn't suck and then everything after is complete crap, but not bad enough to change the channel, like Nickelback and shit.

 

[ToroidalBoat]

The complete death of arcades and places to hang out outside of bars or places designed to serve alchool.

some retro arcades popping up again

There's also small modern "arcades" in the shopping malls that are still around, with a few big game machines (like racing sims or space fighter sims) and non-vidya stuff like those UFO catcher prize things. Stuff that can't be done on a "smartphone" or home console. They're "completely automated" places with no regular staff showing up.

But yeah, the arcade place as it used to be in the '80s and '90s isn't really a thing anymore in Current Year America.

 

[Jacob Schiff]

So yesterday I posted this article about Alien Ant Farm, a nu-metal band that was a one-hit wonder in 2001, and the article included their hit music video Smooth Criminal. So I watched it, it's a good cover, and the video is quintessentially 2000s.

In fact, something I noticed is that it has elements of a lot of videos from the era. Every single example below has all but one of the following:

• punchy color palettes
• the band is performing at someone's residence
• teenagers are everywhere, dancing and jumping around
• smash cuts to individual random teenagers from the audience doing random teenager things
• no storyline is implied

Spoiler: examples

Interesting how that was more or less a template. It really reflects the happy times that once were.

You see something similar in This Is It. Just people of all races happily dancing to the slick tones of people of all races. No politics or message of anything.


100 young Americans is also a good contrast between the 2000s and current mindset.

It was a photography book that explored 100 different youth from different American subcultures. It showed religious teen moms, queer furry druggies, mormons, gamer girls, orthodox jews, big game hunters and actual, self-proclaimed neo-nazis.

Take a peek at it here

In contrast with today's political climate it contained real, interesting diversity of people and opinions. Today such a book would focus on queer POC only. Perhaps from the perspective of a single individual growing up, with a clear message.




I watched a video promo for the book in 2013, highlighting TJ, a young, aspiring, texan bull rider but it seems scrubbed from the web.
Might have something to do with him referring to lazy black people as niggers

 

[AnOminous]

But yeah, the arcade place as it used to be in the '80s and '90s isn't really a thing anymore in Current Year America.

They used to be a place for teenagers to go and play vidya then score some weed from the slightly older teenager behind the counter.

 

[Headshotmaster138]

Thats interesting, where do you live where you don't have channels that play rock? I live in Michigan and there are still plenty of stations that play rock, it is normally advertised as "Classic Rock" but these days classic rock often includes stuff like Black Sabbath and Motorhead so I can't complain too much.

I've yet to see any metal stations that you didn't have to pay for. I'm talking about how back in the 2000s, it was easy to find metal and rock stations since it was more popular at the time.

 

[Thumb Butler]

I only miss 2008. That was a great year for me.

 

[malapropism]

The problem about barcades isn't so much the ultra hoppy IPAs or being located in either shitty parts of town or the largest art college dominated city around you, but the singular idolization of the past. You'll see a bit more variety in a Round 1, or a more varied demographic in a Dave & Busters, but arcades aren't really anything I think of when it comes to nostalgia - they never really left. I wasn't cool enough to use soulseek back in the day (I do now) so I associate lots of the early internet with trying to share music and it all being compressed to death mp3s or those really early music uploads to youtube.

I don't want to be one of those "the 2000s actually sucked" type downers, it had its moments, but perspective is everything and media messaging was so much less nihilistic, even when it comes to the edgy comedians which welcomed the cultural shift to own the fundies (Sarah Silverman, etc). There's a whole puzzle piece to the 2000s rat race that seems missing now, despite increasing avenues to showcase wealth or collections. The idea of continuing a middle class lifestyle (whether upper or lower) was almost expected, so the idea of spicing it up or living a divergent life was there. Now its considered some sort of privileged spoiled mindset to also wish for a house, hell one bigger than the one you grew up in. That's a sign of western decline. Despite a nice life being a potential reality and that Rockstar valley life being the far off fantasy, it was pretty evident its just a fantasy. Now teenagers are presented with peers who don't need to work doing anything traditional, have a brand and make money selling their body (or voice) dressing up or playing video games all day. I don't think they are lazier than anyone else, just presented with a much more powerful and palatable depiction of celebrity. Its gonna make them depressed to chase views on twitch or similar as is a crowded market and young people aren't designed to deal with PR and brand images

A big change from the 00s to the 10s happened at some point where every self taken photo had to be created with the world as a potential audience in mind. There's still ego driven posters, and those who are too stupid or aloof to give a shit, but almost everything as of late is cultivated to address potential critique. Compare this to late aughts FB posts and photos which were candid and unscripted in comparison, though that was an era of oversharing. To not wax too much prose, I basically miss the era of blogs or homepages where people would share a lot of their own opinions and introduce themselves without presenting a super sanitized safe for broadcast image. The only people do buck this trend now are the type of weirdos or retards to get pages on this very site.

The radio always sucked. From lots of driving in 4 countries for work there are a few good regional stations but even then they are limited by the ad supported format ruining any sort of vibe. Sirius/XM fixes that issue but by the time I had free trials to abuse I had better options including playing lossless audio in my car.

 

[Jacob Schiff]

The problem about barcades isn't so much the ultra hoppy IPAs or being located in either shitty parts of town or the largest art college dominated city around you, but the singular idolization of the past. You'll see a bit more variety in a Round 1, or a more varied demographic in a Dave & Busters, but arcades aren't really anything I think of when it comes to nostalgia - they never really left. I wasn't cool enough to use soulseek back in the day (I do now) so I associate lots of the early internet with trying to share music and it all being compressed to death mp3s or those really early music uploads to youtube.

I don't want to be one of those "the 2000s actually sucked" type downers, it had its moments, but perspective is everything and media messaging was so much less nihilistic, even when it comes to the edgy comedians which welcomed the cultural shift to own the fundies (Sarah Silverman, etc). There's a whole puzzle piece to the 2000s rat race that seems missing now, despite increasing avenues to showcase wealth or collections. The idea of continuing a middle class lifestyle (whether upper or lower) was almost expected, so the idea of spicing it up or living a divergent life was there. Now its considered some sort of privileged spoiled mindset to also wish for a house, hell one bigger than the one you grew up in. That's a sign of western decline. Despite a nice life being a potential reality and that Rockstar valley life being the far off fantasy, it was pretty evident its just a fantasy. Now teenagers are presented with peers who don't need to work doing anything traditional, have a brand and make money selling their body (or voice) dressing up or playing video games all day. I don't think they are lazier than anyone else, just presented with a much more powerful and palatable depiction of celebrity. Its gonna make them depressed to chase views on twitch or similar as is a crowded market and young people aren't designed to deal with PR and brand images

A big change from the 00s to the 10s happened at some point where every self taken photo had to be created with the world as a potential audience in mind. There's still ego driven posters, and those who are too stupid or aloof to give a shit, but almost everything as of late is cultivated to address potential critique. Compare this to late aughts FB posts and photos which were candid and unscripted in comparison, though that was an era of oversharing. To not wax too much prose, I basically miss the era of blogs or homepages where people would share a lot of their own opinions and introduce themselves without presenting a super sanitized safe for broadcast image. The only people do buck this trend now are the type of weirdos or retards to get pages on this very site.

The radio always sucked. From lots of driving in 4 countries for work there are a few good regional stations but even then they are limited by the ad supported format ruining any sort of vibe. Sirius/XM fixes that issue but by the time I had free trials to abuse I had better options including playing lossless audio in my car.

The 2000s had less arabs in Europe.
Everything negative you said is invalid.

 

[byuu]

The 2000s had less arabs in Europe.
Everything negative you said is invalid.

Yeah, there were no Arabs in the 2000s.
People didn't even know what Islamic terrorism was in the 2000s where everything was great.

 

[Jacob Schiff]

Yeah, there were no Arabs in the 2000s.
People didn't even know what Islamic terrorism was in the 2000s where everything was great.

You are right. I forgot the the 9th November, when we got all these fine memes.

The 2000s were even better than I remember!

 

[AnOminous]

The 2000s were even better than I remember!