The way people here are talking about how even home video was rare in the '80s they make it sound like the freaking 1800s!  ;D

Even in the '90s there wasn't as much to do as there is today, but in the '80s there was a hell of a lot less, although people still lived about as good as they do now (if not better, it was the '80s we're talking about!  :))

What things besides the obvious (Internet, cell phones) were rare or even nonexistent in the '80s that are essential now?

Well Hummers and suv's seem pretty essential now and I dont think you heard a whole lot about them in the 80's but I could be wrong.

The way people here are talking about how even home video was rare in the '80s they make it sound like the freaking 1800s!  ;D

Even in the '90s there wasn't as much to do as there is today, but in the '80s there was a hell of a lot less, although people still lived about as good as they do now (if not better, it was the '80s we're talking about!  :))

What things besides the obvious (Internet, cell phones) were rare or even nonexistent in the '80s that are essential now?


I think it's basically home entertainment and technology that are notably different, but the rest of it really isn't.

In other words, compare the average street or shopping center, or high school now to 1986. Sure, there'll be some design differences, but the atmosphere is almost the exact same. When I watch a John Hughes movie, none of the behavior or situations strike me as "old". Even Caddyshack from '80 does not seem a quarter century old. ;)

If someone from 1984 were time warped to today and walked around for half an hour, they'd probably think it was no more than the mid '90s. Maybe 1997 at most.

Your typical interior of a house from back then years ago looks more dated, but the world in general doesn't. The main changes are technological, so it's more "behind the scenes". Whereas the look and feel of 1966 and 1986 was a world apart.

But overall, everything we have today was in its infancy in the '80s (video games, MTV, video stores, the typical high school stereotypes). It was just alot more primitive, that's why people probably talk about it like it was a million years ago.

I think it's basically home entertainment and technology that are notably different, but the rest of it really isn't.

In other words, compare the average street or shopping center, or high school now to 1986. Sure, there'll be some design differences, but the atmosphere is almost the exact same. When I watch a John Hughes movie, none of the behavior or situations strike me as "old". Even Caddyshack from '80 does not seem a quarter century old. ;)

If someone from 1984 were time warped to today and walked around for half an hour, they'd probably think it was no more than the mid '90s. Maybe 1997 at most.

Your typical interior of a house from back then years ago looks more dated, but the world in general doesn't. The main changes are technological, so it's more "behind the scenes". Whereas the look and feel of 1966 and 1986 was a world apart.

But overall, everything we have today was in its infancy in the '80s (video games, MTV, video stores, the typical high school stereotypes). It was just alot more primitive, that's why people probably talk about it like it was a million years ago.




Yeah it's definitely a "behind the scenes" sort of thing.  If you've ever watched a hair metal video filmed in late Eighties New York, which I'm almost sure you have, you could mistake it for modern New York if it weren't for the boxy cars and hairstyles.

Would you say that 2006 is the "Eighties expectant" 1997?  I mean I highly doubt they'll be hover skateboards in 2015, at least not non-classified ones!  If they came to now, they'd almost certainly think it was the Nineties and not the friggin' Zero Decade.  ;D

It was a lot easier to get through airports in the 1980's. Signs of the times, I guess.

Yeah it's definitely a "behind the scenes" sort of thing.  If you've ever watched a hair metal video filmed in late Eighties New York, which I'm almost sure you have, you could mistake it for modern New York if it weren't for the boxy cars and hairstyles.

Yeah, I've watched tons (not sure if that should be relegated to "guilty pleasure" or not, though). ;D

I think cars are actually the most noticeable "immediate" difference on a typical parking lot or street. Of course, not every car is going to be brand new in a given time (i.e. for something shot in 1985, there'll probably be mostly '70s and early '80s cars mixed with some '60s. Possibly the occasional '50s in someone's driveway too), but that's still the basic determining factor for where you are.

If someone from the early-mid '80s came to today, probably the first thing they'd notice are the more rounded cars of the '90s and '00s. Of course, it's not nearly futuristic (just "slightly advanced" perhaps), but that'd be their first tipoff they were in a different time.

Then again, '70s cars and '80s cars have a noticeable difference to them, so there's a good chance an '84er would still see a few new cars and think it was only 1996 or thereabouts.

Would you say that 2006 is the "Eighties expectant" 1997?  I mean I highly doubt they'll be hover skateboards in 2015, at least not non-classified ones!  If they came to now, they'd almost certainly think it was the Nineties and not the friggin' Zero Decade.   ;D

I wonder what their reaction would be once you told them it was 2006.

1. "Like ohmigawwwwd! You mean we're not, like, in jetpacks yet!? This future bites, gag me with a spo-oooon!"
2. Oh, that sounds about right. The future never turns out like in the movies anyway.
3. Geez, is that all? Computers and portable technology has come so far, I thought this was several years later.

I'm banking on a mix of #1 and #2. Sure, they'd be amazed at Ipods, camera cellphones and the Internet, but the '80s did have Walkmen, VCR's, limited computers and such, so that was the infancy for all that. It'd be amazing/cool, but not totally unheard of.

Conversely, if things go at relatively the speed they are now, the typical '85er would probably think 2015 or 2020 was about "2006".

Yeah, I've watched tons (not sure if that should be relegated to "guilty pleasure" or not, though). ;D

I think cars are actually the most noticeable "immediate" difference on a typical parking lot or street. Of course, not every car is going to be brand new in a given time (i.e. for something shot in 1985, there'll probably be mostly '70s and early '80s cars mixed with some '60s. Possibly the occasional '50s in someone's driveway too), but that's still the basic determining factor for where you are.

If someone from the early-mid '80s came to today, probably the first thing they'd notice are the more rounded cars of the '90s and '00s. Of course, it's not nearly futuristic (just "slightly advanced" perhaps), but that'd be their first tipoff they were in a different time.

Then again, '70s cars and '80s cars have a noticeable difference to them, so there's a good chance an '84er would still see a few new cars and think it was only 1996 or thereabouts.

I wonder what their reaction would be once you told them it was 2006.

1. "Like ohmigawwwwd! You mean we're not, like, in jetpacks yet!? This future bites, gag me with a spo-oooon!"
2. Oh, that sounds about right. The future never turns out like in the movies anyway.
3. Geez, is that all? Computers and portable technology has come so far, I thought this was several years later.

I'm banking on a mix of #1 and #2. Sure, they'd be amazed at Ipods, camera cellphones and the Internet, but the '80s did have Walkmen, VCR's, limited computers and such, so that was the infancy for all that. It'd be amazing/cool, but not totally unheard of.

Conversely, if things go at relatively the speed they are now, the typical '85er would probably think 2015 or 2020 was about "2006".


Would you say today is the "early future"?  You know, just barely within the Scifi age, just not enough to notice?

I'm not sure I would.  Scientists have done some amazing things, like cloning, but we still aren't even close to having people routinely go into space and stuff like that (except for maybe at best orbital planes, for instance).  A jetpack's a long way off.

I wonder if the 21st Century will simply be the same trends as the 20th, except with more technology.  I don't think it will be quite a gap like the 1800s/1900s gap, which is probably the biggest centurial gap of all time.  Hell, we went from a Fairy Tale age to the modern age in like thirty years between 1890 and 1920.  I doubt 1980-2010 will be near that big, but I guess you never know.

"The future ain't what it used to be."

Geez, I wish I could take credit for that quote. Can't remember who said it...

Was there natural gas heating in the '80s?

I can think of two things that were either very rare or non-existent in the 80s that most people probably couldn't live without right now.


ATMs and answering machines.