POV: it’s the 2000s. You get home from school, and you rush to the computer room (which was possibly just a big wooden desk in the living room). You boot it up, and then…the world was at your fingertips.
Kids today will never know the triumphs and defeats, the epic highs and lows of the 2000s internet. And you know what? I feel sorry for them. iPad kids WISH they could experience dial-up internet.
In case you’re as nostalgic for this time as I am…here are 47 photos that will make you wish you were still haphazardly pressing cubes in Minesweeper. (Seriously, did anyone actually know how to play this?)
1.
There was really nothing like bootin’ up the PC and seeing this screen, along with whatever icon you’d picked to perfectly fit your vibe.
2.
And then once you signed in, being greeted with this tranquil scene? Literally idyllic.
3.
You could start out with one of those sweet, sweet, built-in games the PC had, like the aforementioned Minesweeper, or, even better, Space Cadet.
4.
Solitaire was also a classic.
5.
The things I created in MS Paint belong at the Met, and it’s a travesty I don’t have them anywhere.
6.
I am positive that we ALL made a version of this at some point.
7.
For more sophisticated creations, you could always open up KidPix.
8.
Once you were done making your masterpieces, you got to the real good stuff: AOL.
9.
I can’t even tell you how much I miss AOL Instant Messenger. It was SO much better than texting.
10.
I could waste hours just talking to SmarterChild.
11.
Or playing around with my away message, picking the perfect font and ~deep~ song lyrics.
12.
Speaking of song lyrics…you had to set the mood! Though honestly, sometimes I’d get SO distracted by these cool graphics in Windows Media Player that I’d just stare at them as music played and forget to do anything else.
13.
I feel like we never used headphones back then unless we were using a CD player, so full blast on these bad boys it was. Sorry, mom and dad.
14.
But most of my music-related time was spent in one place: Limewire. (Don’t tell the government.)
15.
I was the QUEEN of burning CDs for my friends. I was once my sixth-grade class’s go-to distributor of the High School Musical soundtrack. (Once again, don’t tell the government.)
16.
When I got more advanced, I could rip stuff from YouTube. Which, BTW, looked like this in 2006. No unskippable ads!!
17.
These are the most watched videos on YouTube in 2007, if you were wondering what went viral back in the day. It was mostly babies laughing, Weird Al, and instantly quotable and totally random comedy videos like “Shoes” or “Muffins.” All in all, it was a beautiful place.
19.
But before YouTube, we had ebaumsworld. I still remember my brother showing me Aisha, which is burned into my brain to this day.
22.
Everyone had a go-to Neopet type, right? I always went with Usul…or occasionally Wocky, Kau, or Scorchio, if I wanted to change things up.
23.
Webkinz always felt in a lot of ways like the successor to Neopets.
24.
Low-key, Artie has always been a “hear me out” for me.
25.
We can’t forget Club Penguin, either. Remember when you’d ask random other penguins to be your boyfriend? No? Just me?
26.
I feel like the user interface for sites was just more fun back then. Like, this was the site for Nickelodeon, and it was awesome.
27.
Here’s the one for Cartoon Network, if you were a Johnny Bravo kid.
28.
Disney was even better.
29.
And the games??? Top tier.
30.
The Kim Possible one was definitely the best, though.
32.
Weirdly, cereals had some of the best online games in the 2000s. Remember Waffle’s Jungle Adventure? (Which you can still play!)
33.
Millsberry even made a whole, like, online world, complete with your own personalized avatar, that I was obsessed with. (Unfortunately, you can’t still play this one).
34.
Speaking of online worlds…Toontown was ELITE. (You can also still play this one!!! It’s a recreated version, but still.)
35.
There are also computer games you can still play recreations of. If you miss Carmen Sandiego…you know what to do.
36.
And of course, The Sims is still around. But nothing beats those terrible graphics of that first game.
37.
Why did we all watch our Sims drown by making them go in the pool, then removing the ladder? Were we all little sadists?
38.
I can’t even legally speak of the horrors I inflicted on the guests of Roller Coaster Tycoon.
39.
I was much more gentle with my Zoombinis.
40.
If you spent too long contemplating a Zoombini puzzle, you might see this iconic screensaver.
42.
Or this one, which I could watch for hours.
43.
Remember the website visitor counter? I haven’t thought about this in years.
44.
And Yahoo pool, which was somehow better than playing on an actual pool table.
45.
Before signing off, you might’ve checked out titles on Netflix so you could beg your mom to order Shrek 2 for the next family movie night. Remember back when Netflix only consisted of physical DVDs?
46.
And finally, after a long, fulfilling few hours of visiting your favorite sites and games, it was time for a dinner of Annie’s mac and cheese and hot dogs, along with a bowl of broccoli your mom melted a piece of American cheese over. Or maybe that was just my family.
47.
All in all…I miss those days.
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