Being a non-traditional student can be a bit strange. While I’m only 24, I am currently at a community college, meaning I go to school with people primarily under 21. While it doesn’t seem like it’s that much of an age difference, I consistently find myself feeling like the old grandpa when talking with people. It can feel like a completely different time due to the pace that technology has increased. So for those of you born in the late 80’s to early 90’s, here’s a nostalgia trip.
1. You Remeber Dial-Up Internet (and all those AOL disks)
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Oh yes, there are many of us who still remember the awful noises that would come out of our computer when we tried to connect to the internet. Then if you spent too much time online your parents would yell at you because they needed to use the phone. This also heavily impacted school. The internet was new and scary to schools, so you were only allowed to use one internet source at most on essays. The rest you had to go find at the library.
2. AIM is Where All the Cool Kids Were At
Back in the day, AOL was top dog, and AIM was where it was at. This of course, is before texting and Facebook. Instead, you got on AOL Instant Messenger and looked to see which of your friends were online to talk to. This way your conversations were private. Now you didn’t have to worry about your parents picking up the other line (yes landline) and eavesdropping on your conversation.
3. Life Before Smartphones
I didn’t get a cell phone until my sophomore year of high school. I got the Motorola Razor, the coolest flip phone ever! No, it didn’t play music, but who cares when you had CD Walkman’s for that. The one advantage it still has over smartphones is that you could feel the buttons. This is important because I was able to text in class while not looking at my phone. That’s right, you could stare you teacher dead in the eye as you texted your friend about how stupid this class was. Gone are those days now that there are full keyboards and touchscreens. Worst off, kids are now getting cell phones at what seems to be six years old.
4. iPhone Blew Your Mind
Wait wait wait. Are you telling me that this phone can play music? And when you move it doesn’t’ skip? Seriously that was already amazing. What I remember most though is when someone showed me the Shazam app. I thought it was some sort of black magic. It also kind of scared the living shit out of me. Like honestly, how does it know it’s that song? This phone is too smart, I’ve seen War Games with Matthew Broderick, so I know what comes next!
5. Myspace was the Best
See back in high school, Facebook wasn’t around. When it finally came around you had to have a college email address, so Myspace was the place to be. You could post bulletins, blogs, and have a song play on your profile. Oh and let us not forget all the different page themes you could find to customize your profile page. However, there was that whole evil thing of literally RANKING YOUR FRIENDS! That’s right, you would have your Top 8 or Top 10 friends viewable on your page. So whenever you pissed someone off, down you go from number 3 to number 7. You could also predict future couples this way. One day a girl would appear in a guy’s top 10. Over the course of a couple weeks, she would slowly move up til she reached number two or three. Then, sure enough, they’d start dating and shoot to number one. What was really sad though, was when you would see someone have Tom be in their Top 10.
6. The Music Wasn't Great
This might be controversial. Don’t get me wrong, I love the music I grew up with, but it wasn’t good music. It started with Smash Mouth, early Eminem, Blink 182, and yes, the Spice Girls (I shall always love Scary Spice). Of course, you also had the Backstreet Boys and NSYNC, who all guys hated with a passion. One way you can tell if someone grew up in this era is to start randomly singing “I’m blue duba-dee-dubba-die” and see if they start singing along (to this day I don’t know if those are the right words). Later on, we had the Soulja Boy, John Maye, Jason Mraz and the birth of autotune sensation T-pain. My high school dances were filled with “Crank That” and people dancing to songs about apple-bottom jeans (oh and the boots with the fur). I still listen to this stuff today, but for nostalgic purposes, not because of the transcendent talent.
I sometimes think back and miss the days of my childhood, the technology (or lack thereof) and the superior kids tv programming. Then I realize I’d rather be able to shop on my phone, while face timing a friend, and watching Netflix on my tablet. Except Myspace, let’s bring that back- screw Facebook.
