...have more in common with the late 20th century than the 21st century? After all, VHS, floppy discs, and film photography were still common in 2000. Autotune, although around, was still a rarity. CDs were still the mainstream choice for legitimate music listeners. TV was still standard definition. Nintendo 64 was still offering cartridge-based gaming. Sega still made consoles.
Any thoughts?
Poof! There Goes Perspiration!
Well the 21st century is still young. In fact, I would submit to you that many of the early 21st century years would fit this description.
There were Shrek games on the Playstation. It is stunning how long certain things stuck around for.
One thing I have observed about new decades coming in after the preceding ones is, it takes time for the new decade to start defining itself, particularly when it comes to attitudes, music, fashion, hairstyles, electronics technology, cars, etc. The most common thing I have witnessed in any decade is, the first half will look pretty much like the preceding one, and it's only when the second half comes around, that the decade starts to take on its own unique features.
I'll give an example of the 1990s, because that was when I had most of my childhood. The first half of the 1990s (looking back) actually was kinda like the 1980s 2.0, but with slightly better tech (like answering machines that didn't need tape recorders), and the big hair started giving way to straighter, but still poofy hair. A lot of the clothing styles barely changed from the 1980s before '96 came along. It wasn't until the second half of the 90s you started seeing people in more "90s-type" fashions, driving cars that weren't so boxy, using computers more, wearing smaller glasses, hair wasn't huge anymore, and everyone was using a crude form of the internet for communication. Oh yeah, and cordless phones became more of a thing.
When 2000 came along, the 90s had just finished, and people were still getting used to the new Millennium.
You are right. Each decade always takes a couple of years to define itself.
share