Times have changed significantly, and if you’re a millennial, then you’ve likely witnessed how our society has shifted toward being entirely technology-based.
We grew up in a time when cell phones were a privilege, not a necessity; in an era when dial-up internet forced you to choose between making phone calls or surfing the web. It sounds prehistoric, but frankly, it was an interesting time when kids were just as ecstatic about discovering the evolution of technology as they were about being outside.
A recent r/AskReddit post asked millennials, “What is something that other generations forget that we actually experienced?” The responses felt like a blast from the past, reminiscing over the days when Google wasn’t readily available with information at our fingertips, and physical maps were the only way to get directions if you got lost on a road trip. Below are 23 truly millennial experiences that other generations have seemingly forgotten:
1.
“I miss going to the computer lab and knowing more about the computers than the teacher and admin. I remember setting the auto correct on Microsoft Word to change ‘and’ into ‘chickens’ and nobody could figure out how to change it back, so they just said you can’t use that computer for Microsoft Word anymore.”
2.
“Whoever took you to the airport could go through security and watch you board the plane.”
3.
“Sweet, sweet internet. AOL chat rooms, Neopets, RuneScape, Halo 2, and other things.”
4.
“Omegle, ChatRoulette, Habbo Hotel, setting your MSN messenger status to display what you were currently listening to (which had all been downloaded from Limewire).”
5.
“A true millennial can spot the real download link on a software sharing website.”
6.
“Not only the internet, but computers. We had computers before the internet was widespread, so we couldn’t just Google how to do stuff, or check online guides. No one in your family knew how to use one either. We basically learned how to use computers by trial and error. If you encountered a bug, well, good luck, there won’t ever be a fix for it, because online updates did not exist either. One thing I realized about Gen Z is how bad they are at using computers for anything that cannot be accessed by a single click.”
8.
“Being home alone after school. We weren’t called latchkey kids because it was just normal. Everyone I knew got left at home alone after school.”
9.
“I’ve seen a lot of people say things like ‘you probably don’t know what this is’ with respect to things like landline phones, VHS tapes, cassette tapes, etc. Not only were all those things core millennial technologies that we all grew up with, but I have memories of growing up with technology even older than that. My grandparents’ houses still had rotary phones, typewriters, and gramophones.”
10.
“It took until eighth grade for us to get broadband Internet at home, and for any of us to start using it for things other than work. Eventually, I got my own computer for my room, but it was not connected to the internet and I used it mainly for homework and some basic games — the first thing I ever bought on eBay (via the family computer, on my 1-hour-per-day allotted Internet time) was my own copy of The Oregon Trail.”
11.
“Yeah I grew up out in the sticks and at my first job, I had to use MS DOS, 3.5” and 5.5” floppy disks, a fax machine, a dot matrix printer with carbon copy continuous feed paper, a blue line machine that used ammonia and photo sensitive paper, a plotter where you had to load it with the specific pens you wanted used…like technology had left that office behind and the boss was stuck in 1985 basically, so people are always surprised that somebody my age has experience working with all that junk lol. But if you didn’t live in a wealthy household in an urban or suburban area, odds are you (like me) didn’t get the new tech stuff coming out until much later and made do with the old junk.”
12.
“I still remember having to ask for a non-smoking table at a restaurant.”
13.
“Learning to drive without a GPS. Using a paper map in the car.”
15.
“Millennials (I am one) are funny in that we were raised at the crossing between the old era and the new one, when the internet and computers took hold. We’ve been part of both generational sides. Old-style flip phones and landlines, portable CD players for music, VHS tapes, and Blockbuster Video. There was probably only one computer in the house, and you shared it with the family. You were allowed to roam outside wherever you wanted without your parents thinking you’d be kidnapped. The existence of Furbies.”
16.
“Researching with books. I still remember diving into the stacks and archives to review books that have been out of print for decades to research an extremely niche topic, then having to wait weeks or months for an inter-library loan for a different book that may or may not be relevant to my topic to cross reference and check for biases.”
17.
“9/11, for some reason. An older Gen X’er told me that if I’m a millennial, there’s no way I remember 9/11 because her kids are millennials and they were toddlers when it happened. I was 12. I remember it vividly. And it turns out, her kids are Gen Z. Idk why older Gen X’ers and Boomers think millennial just means ‘someone younger.'”
18.
“Spending hours on the perfect city in SimCity 2000 and then it gets destroyed by disaster.”
19.
“My Gen Z friend didn’t believe we used to have to pay a few cents per text message.”
20.
“Tons of places didn’t accept cards and were cash only, and more people carried loose cash on them. Now the reverse seems to be true, where many places are card only, and fewer people seem to carry cash on them.”
21.
“I remember using pay phones…like a lot.”
22.
“Having to ask for a job or a job application at the place you want to apply. And then the transition to online-only applications.”
If you’re a millennial, what’s something you think our generation got to experience that others haven’t? Share it in the comments!
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