inthe00s
The Pop Culture Information Society...

These are the messages that have been posted on inthe00s over the past few years.

Check out the messageboard archive index for a complete list of topic areas.

This archive is periodically refreshed with the latest messages from the current messageboard.




Check for new replies or respond here...

Subject: What are the primary things that made the 80s different from the 90s?

Written By: belmont22 on 09/08/12 at 11:14 pm

This is how I see it.

*Music genres. The 80s having new wave, hair metal and synthpop which rapidly declined in popularity in the years 1989-93. And for the 90s EDM, alternative rock/grunge, and gangsta rap, all of which began to pop up around 1988 and became mainstream in 1989, 1991 and 1992 respectively.

*The 80s still had the Cold War and the Soviet Union, the 90s had the fallout of the Soviet breakup and the beginnings of America's war on Islam and global integration of the economy. Pretty major difference there historically speaking that trumps silly things like Nirvana outselling GnR.

*Even though computers and the Internet were around in the 80s, they became a much bigger part of life in the 90s. Most people in developed countries bought their first computer before the year 2000 but less than 1/4 of American households had their own PC in 1989. Cell phones became a common enough thing by the late 90s that the movie theaters would tell people to turn them off, though texting wasn't really common yet and there certainly weren't cameraphones. The 90s was also when CGI in movies began to be overdone.

*Fashion and style. The fundamental difference would be the 80s value system in style was 'the bigger, the better'. the 90s, and the decades since have been about 'less is more', except when it comes to the size of one's jeans.  ::)  ;D  I also think the 80s style was still primarily Modernist while the 90s and beyond has been more about trying to accommodate different cultures, world views etc. 80s fashion was about being colorful and 'out there', 90s fashion was about not giving a f*** or just trying to look casual and basically 'nice' i guess. The 80s valued squares and angles while the 90s valued curves.

*I think people were a little bit saner in the 80s and also more physically healthy. The 80s was when America slowly began to become obese, but it wasn't until the 90s that it was really obvious. The medication of unruly children with Ritalin and so on began right around 1991 as did the obsession with psychiatric drugs for every single disorder of the mind and mood. You didn't really hear about things like road rage and school shootings until the 90s either, I'm sure they existed but they didn't seem as common. The 80s had more gangs and crime than the late 90s to today but it seems like people were less prone to outbursts of anger on the whole, and there wasn't such an obsession with negativity which is probably mostly the fault of the 24-hour media.

*The obsession with self-esteem and self-help really took off in the 90s, maybe in the late 80s at the earliest.

*Big-box stores like Wal-Mart and Home Depot weren't nearly as common in the 80s, but were pretty much everywhere by the 90s. The 80s wasn't all mom and pop stores by any means but was dominated by medium-sized outlets such as K-Mart.

*Political correctness pretty much didn't start until the 90s. Maybe in Canada and in the university system it was already there in the 80s but it didn't really penetrate the rest of the Anglosphere until the early 90s.








Subject: Re: What are the primary things that made the 80s different from the 90s?

Written By: gibbo on 09/08/12 at 11:51 pm

I've been pondering this question for quite some time now and feel that the most significant difference would be that ... when written, one has an 8 in it and the other  a 9. Additionally, when spoken I tend to say the word Eighty (in 1980) and then Ninety (in 1990). I would have to test this theory in a controlled environment to see if it happens every single time ... but I'm pretty sure that it's a lock.

  ;) :)

Subject: Re: What are the primary things that made the 80s different from the 90s?

Written By: Howard on 09/09/12 at 6:48 am

I would have to say the different styles of clothing, the different sounds of music and the way people talked.

Subject: Re: What are the primary things that made the 80s different from the 90s?

Written By: Doc Brown on 09/10/12 at 4:28 pm

I'm a bit shocked that this post hasn't tripped the decadeology alarms! But as long as I'm here...
The conservative 80's: Americans could trust the government, television and music was upbeat, and most people had jobs they could go to to fulfill their dreams.

The liberal 90's: The government, while not incompetent, was a public embarrassment, the media found more and more ways to shock and/or depress their audience, and most people were either unemployed or had dead-end jobs, with little hope of fulfilling their dreams.

There's the differences in a nutshell.

Your Pal,
Doc

8)

Subject: Re: What are the primary things that made the 80s different from the 90s?

Written By: gumbypiz on 09/10/12 at 5:26 pm

A GREAT answer to your question, click here!

Subject: Re: What are the primary things that made the 80s different from the 90s?

Written By: Emman on 09/10/12 at 6:54 pm

Wait, this topic does not fit with the decadeology criteria. ???

Subject: Re: What are the primary things that made the 80s different from the 90s?

Written By: gumbypiz on 09/10/12 at 8:32 pm


Wait, this topic does not fit with the decadeology criteria. ???

Sure it does.

Lets look at the criteria.

First
~ Decadeology is the discussion and/or comparison of two or more years or decades that have no bearing on one another. ~

Well the topic is: What are the primary things that made the 80s different from the 90s?

So, now if this topic does not directly cross the exact first threshold and criteria of decadelogy, it certainly meets it in spirit. (i.e. we’re not comparing decade to decade, but listing differences.) Same idea, different twist. Slippery-slope in effect here.

Read below and replace the word similarities with differences as an example…

If one is inclined to look hard enough, I'm sure any year (or decade) x can be found to have similarities differences to year or decade y. Such decadeology topics lead absolutely nowhere, and while some topics here do not have a real purpose, decadeology's purpose is only to replicate itself ad infinitum.


Second
A secondary characteristic of decadeology: if someone can create 100 nearly identical topics from your post, it's probably decadeology.

This topic meets this criteria exactly.

Subject: Re: What are the primary things that made the 80s different from the 90s?

Written By: warped on 09/10/12 at 8:39 pm


I've been pondering this question for quite some time now and feel that the most significant difference would be that ... when written, one has an 8 in it and the other  a 9. Additionally, when spoken I tend to say the word Eighty (in 1980) and then Ninety (in 1990). I would have to test this theory in a controlled environment to see if it happens every single time ... but I'm pretty sure that it's a lock.

  ;) :)

Excellent!

Subject: Re: What are the primary things that made the 80s different from the 90s?

Written By: Doc Brown on 09/10/12 at 8:58 pm

I went back and re-read belmont's original post, and I must take issue with some of what he said:

First of all, America has declared a War On TERRORISM, NOT ISLAM! We know full well that not all Muslims are terrorists, and not all terrorists are Muslims. Some terrorists these days are more likely to target one or two schoolmates with their fists or hose down a movie theater in their hometown with a machine gun. But then, that's all most terrorists are, well-armed punks!

Second, just look nice!? What is so nice about being covered in bad tattoos and having so many body parts pierced that a date can't tell your naked body apart from a fishing lure? In truth, the grunge look was truly anti-80's in so that the idea was to look UNFASHIONABLE.

Third, try to remember that the overmedicating of America became mainstream in the 90's because the biggest pusher in the country turned from Dr. Snow(look up the name) to Dr. Phil! That's right, the addicts of the 80's were in danger of arrest because the drugs they got hooked on were illegal, and the government launched a major campaign to try and curtail the narcotics trade. This 'War On Drugs' was all but lost when a former semi-admitted pothead was elected to the White House in 1993, only as the decade progressed, pharmecutical companies now had legal and costly drugs for every little malady there is, and it's them getting rich at other's expense.

If this does not make the admins hear decadeology in this, I don't know what will! But I could be wrong.

Your Pal,
Doc

8)

Subject: Re: What are the primary things that made the 80s different from the 90s?

Written By: moycon on 09/11/12 at 3:21 am

No comparing, just differences....

80's you knew that people had super cool brick phones.
90's everyone you knew had cell phones.

80's Lots of people wore neon clothes.
90's Few wore neon clothes.

80's VHS
90's DVD for the millions of early adopters. (VHS was still around and popular)

80's lots of big hair.
90's lots of flat and/or greasy hair.

80's radio songs with synth keyboards,
90's radio songs with too much guitar distortion.

80's people went to arcades because the games were a lot better than what you could get at home.
90's people no longer need to go to arcades.

80's LPs and cassettes
90's CDs

80's People drove on the highway
90's People surfed on the information superhighway.

80's Eighteens year old could still legally drink.
90's Twenty-one year olds could still legally drink.

Subject: Re: What are the primary things that made the 80s different from the 90s?

Written By: Inlandsvägen1986 on 09/11/12 at 3:31 am


No comparing, just differences....

80's you knew that people had super cool brick phones.
90's everyone you knew had cell phones.

(...)

80's VHS
90's DVD


WTF? That sounds more like 90's vs. 00's. I know that there were DVDs available in the 90's, but who actually had a DVD player?
And the cell phone thing... that's also more 00's. Neither cell phones or DVDs were mainstream in the 90's (except for the very late part maybe).

Subject: Re: What are the primary things that made the 80s different from the 90s?

Written By: Howard on 09/11/12 at 6:34 am


WTF? That sounds more like 90's vs. 00's. I know that there were DVDs available in the 90's, but who actually had a DVD player?
And the cell phone thing... that's also more 00's. Neither cell phones or DVDs were mainstream in the 90's (except for the very late part maybe).


cell phones I think came out in the late 1990's then they started to get a bit smaller.

Subject: Re: What are the primary things that made the 80s different from the 90s?

Written By: Inlandsvägen1986 on 09/11/12 at 6:44 am


cell phones I think came out in the late 1990's then they started to get a bit smaller.


Yes late 90's, and at least in my society, it was not the case that everybody I knew had a cellphone (prior to 2000).

I may have been very young, but old enough to notice the shift from 'only very special people have cellphones' to 'my grandpa has a cellphone'

Subject: Re: What are the primary things that made the 80s different from the 90s?

Written By: moycon on 09/11/12 at 11:48 am


WTF?


No need to cuss, Here's WTF....

In 1995 15 million Americans had cell phones (not to mention worldwide). By the end of 1999 almost 104 million people in the US (and more than 500 million worldwide) owned a mobile phone. Fact it, in the 80's you probably knew no one with a mobile phone. (They cost $3,500) In the 90's it wasn't uncommon. (The cost $350) See how that's a difference?

DVD were launched to the public in 1997. By 2003 they overtook the VHS format. In 1999 lot of people including myself (I was 28) could afford and had a DVD player. In 1989 no one owned a DVD player because they didn't exist. It's simply a difference between the two decades.

Subject: Re: What are the primary things that made the 80s different from the 90s?

Written By: belmont22 on 09/11/12 at 7:20 pm


No need to cuss, Here's WTF....

In 1995 15 million Americans had cell phones (not to mention worldwide). By the end of 1999 almost 104 million people in the US (and more than 500 million worldwide) owned a mobile phone. Fact it, in the 80's you probably knew no one with a mobile phone. (They cost $3,500) In the 90's it wasn't uncommon. (The cost $350) See how that's a difference?

DVD were launched to the public in 1997. By 2003 they overtook the VHS format. In 1999 lot of people including myself (I was 28) could afford and had a DVD player. In 1989 no one owned a DVD player because they didn't exist. It's simply a difference between the two decades.


That's true. But still 1990-97 was more or less comparable to the 80s. I mean, 15 million cell phones in America sounds like a lot, but it only works out to 6 percent of the population. And out of that 6 percent, the percent who were teenagers was pretty small. The 90s, even 1999 lacked the 'cell phone culture' that began circa 2001 and in a big way by 2003-04.

I think DVD was big in 1999, but not prior to that. Just like 1989 was the first year CDs were really mainstream even though cassettes outsold them until at least late 1990.

Subject: Re: What are the primary things that made the 80s different from the 90s?

Written By: Jquar on 09/11/12 at 7:24 pm


No need to cuss, Here's WTF....

In 1995 15 million Americans had cell phones (not to mention worldwide). By the end of 1999 almost 104 million people in the US (and more than 500 million worldwide) owned a mobile phone. Fact it, in the 80's you probably knew no one with a mobile phone. (They cost $3,500) In the 90's it wasn't uncommon. (The cost $350) See how that's a difference?

DVD were launched to the public in 1997. By 2003 they overtook the VHS format. In 1999 lot of people including myself (I was 28) could afford and had a DVD player. In 1989 no one owned a DVD player because they didn't exist. It's simply a difference between the two decades.


Cell phones were common in the U.S. in the late 1990s but not quite a household item just yet

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0933563.html

DVDs didn't overtake VHS until about 2001 or 2002, so the '90s were very VHS dominant just like the '80s.

Subject: Re: What are the primary things that made the 80s different from the 90s?

Written By: Howard on 09/11/12 at 7:25 pm

80's people went to arcades because the games were a lot better than what you could get at home.
90's people no longer need to go to arcades.

You got that right Moycon, today kids can play arcades on the computer or you can just go to a website where they have free arcades and play them.

Subject: Re: What are the primary things that made the 80s different from the 90s?

Written By: Brian06 on 09/11/12 at 7:50 pm

I remember cell phones in the '90s, I had one by 1998 actually even at my young age then. They were not as common as today, but quite a few had them at least by the late '90s. Moycon is right about DVD being pretty big by '99, that was the year it really took off and the transition was complete by about 2002. Technology did not begin in the late '90s or in the year 2000 lol.  ;D It's progressive, like now DVDs are also out of date, iPods have been replaced by smartphones, this is all part of the continual progress. In the 1960s color TV and transistor radios were high tech. Granted technology is becoming more and more a part of our everyday lives but this is just progress and has been gradually happening since the beginning of time really.

Subject: Re: What are the primary things that made the 80s different from the 90s?

Written By: moycon on 09/11/12 at 8:56 pm


Cell phones were common in the U.S. in the late 1990s but not quite a household item just yet

DVDs didn't overtake VHS until about 2001 or 2002, so the '90s were very VHS dominant just like the '80s.


Yep you just reiterated what I posted. Thank you for that. Keep in mind this wasn't a topic of when technologies were first introduced, became a standard or even a household item.

The topic was to list things a person considered different.

In the 80s you didn't have a cell phone. No one except the VERY rich had one towards the end of the 80's. (My guess is no one on this forum had one for personal use) If you went to the mall and wanted to make a call, you used a pay phone.  At the end of the 90's hundereds of millions of people had cell phones. If you were at a mall, and needed to make a phone call you used your own cell phone or easily found someone you knew that had one. (My guess is the majority of people on the forum had one) See how thatcould be considered a difference between the decades?

As a film buff (like myself), that is a person who is really into films, by the end of the 90's you had a DVD player. Plain and simple. Even people who didn't make a lot of $$ could afford a player 2 years after DVD players launched, it caught on very quickly. It doesn't matter that other people who weren't as into movies as a film buff were still using VHS, million had upgraded to DVD. In the 80's as a film buff (like myself) I couldn't use a DVD player. They didn't exist. You couldn't upgrade. To me that another valid difference. If you see it otherwise,  We can agree to disagree I guess .  :)

Subject: Re: What are the primary things that made the 80s different from the 90s?

Written By: Jquar on 09/11/12 at 10:36 pm


Yep you just reiterated what I posted. Thank you for that. Keep in mind this wasn't a topic of when technologies were first introduced, became a standard or even a household item.

The topic was to list things a person considered different.

In the 80s you didn't have a cell phone. No one except the VERY rich had one towards the end of the 80's. (My guess is no one on this forum had one for personal use) If you went to the mall and wanted to make a call, you used a pay phone.  At the end of the 90's hundereds of millions of people had cell phones. If you were at a mall, and needed to make a phone call you used your own cell phone or easily found someone you knew that had one. (My guess is the majority of people on the forum had one) See how thatcould be considered a difference between the decades?

As a film buff (like myself), that is a person who is really into films, by the end of the 90's you had a DVD player. Plain and simple. Even people who didn't make a lot of $$ could afford a player 2 years after DVD players launched, it caught on very quickly. It doesn't matter that other people who weren't as into movies as a film buff were still using VHS, million had upgraded to DVD. In the 80's as a film buff (like myself) I couldn't use a DVD player. They didn't exist. You couldn't upgrade. To me that another valid difference. If you see it otherwise,  We can agree to disagree I guess .  :)


Even as film buffs my family and I didn't get a DVD player until the end of 2002. Seems like we were a little late but not that much later than most of my friends, who got their's between 2000 and 2002. I don't recall knowing anyone who actually had a DVD player in 1999 but I knew they were floating around by that point.

I guess I just think of DVDs as being definitive of the 00s rather than the 90s. At the very least most of us still used to rent tapes and videotape TV programs even in the early 2000s.

Subject: Re: What are the primary things that made the 80s different from the 90s?

Written By: Inlandsvägen1986 on 09/12/12 at 4:11 am


The topic was to list things a person considered different.


I accept your opinion and it also not wrong of course what you have mentioned. It's just that your listing sounded like as if it was typical 90's to see cell phones at any street corner and DVDs in the shops - it just was not the case. If you simply did a 'comparison' between 1989 and 1999, you are certainly right. It was just a misunderstanding then.

Subject: Re: What are the primary things that made the 80s different from the 90s?

Written By: Inlandsvägen1986 on 09/12/12 at 4:29 am


I remember cell phones in the '90s, I had one by 1998 actually even at my young age then.


Wow, yeah, I remember that you have mentioned that somewhere else. How much did it cost back then?

I think in my familly that would have been out of the question to get one at that age (in that year) - especially since cell phones were not that common back then and extremely expensive. Maybe not the device itself, but the price per minute was usually something between 0.75 USD and 1.00 USD. Even my parents didn't get one before late 2002.

Subject: Re: What are the primary things that made the 80s different from the 90s?

Written By: Howard on 09/12/12 at 7:15 am


The 90s is not today, unfortunatley. Also, how many school age people do you really think played free arcades on the internet in the 90s? More likely they were playing Playstation or Sega Genesis.


Yeah barely, those weren't invented at the time the computer internet came into fruition. Kids were playing with Playstation or Sega Genesis.

Subject: Re: What are the primary things that made the 80s different from the 90s?

Written By: Howard on 09/12/12 at 7:19 am

http://www.lifelounge.com/resources/IMGTHUMB/Cell-clutch.jpg

Cell Phones Of The 80's^

http://ccit300-f06.wikispaces.com/file/view/cell_phone.jpg/30277716/cell_phone.jpg

Cell Phones of today^

Subject: Re: What are the primary things that made the 80s different from the 90s?

Written By: yelimsexa on 09/12/12 at 7:57 am


http://ccit300-f06.wikispaces.com/file/view/cell_phone.jpg/30277716/cell_phone.jpg

Cell Phones of today^


I'd say that is more representitive of the 2000s decade and not today, as feature (or "dumbphones") are rapidly being replaced by Smartphones; I don't think I've seen a commercial advertising a regular cellphone since 2008 or 2009.

But with regards to '80s vs. '90s, this has been discussed to death since the late '90s itself via the equivalents page of inthe80s.com:
http://www.inthe80s.com/equiv.shtml

Granted, the best comparisons are near the bottom of the page as Lady Gaga is obviously an '00s thing, Bell Bottoms are a '70s thing that had a '90s revival, and Nintendo was around in the '80s with Atari.

That said, the '90s brought rounded cars that continue to this day, something that the '80s lacked with their angular/boxy styles. Also, if you wanted to send a letter, you did it either handwritten, typewritten, or used a dox-matrix printer and then mailed it as e-mail wasn't commonplace yet. Finally, in the '80s, the inner city and even downtown was still seen as a wasteland in many places, as the trend toward gentrification began in the '90s, and thus suburbia grew like there was no end; nowadays, suburban development is much more regulated.

Subject: Re: What are the primary things that made the 80s different from the 90s?

Written By: Shiv on 09/12/12 at 9:05 am

I think the oval-y car design, the edgier music TV and video games, the internet, the Clinton presidency and the minimalist fashion were the big differences between the 90s and the 80s.

Subject: Re: What are the primary things that made the 80s different from the 90s?

Written By: moycon on 09/12/12 at 11:22 am


Also, if you wanted to send a letter, you did it either handwritten, typewritten, or used a dox-matrix printer and then mailed it as e-mail wasn't commonplace yet.


Good one! Yes that was a MAJOR difference.  :)

Subject: Re: What are the primary things that made the 80s different from the 90s?

Written By: elr on 09/12/12 at 1:18 pm


Yep you just reiterated what I posted. Thank you for that. Keep in mind this wasn't a topic of when technologies were first introduced, became a standard or even a household item.

The topic was to list things a person considered different.

In the 80s you didn't have a cell phone. No one except the VERY rich had one towards the end of the 80's. (My guess is no one on this forum had one for personal use) If you went to the mall and wanted to make a call, you used a pay phone.  At the end of the 90's hundereds of millions of people had cell phones. If you were at a mall, and needed to make a phone call you used your own cell phone or easily found someone you knew that had one. (My guess is the majority of people on the forum had one) See how thatcould be considered a difference between the decades?

As a film buff (like myself), that is a person who is really into films, by the end of the 90's you had a DVD player. Plain and simple.
Even people who didn't make a lot of $$ could afford a player 2 years after DVD players launched, it caught on very quickly. It doesn't matter that other people who weren't as into movies as a film buff were still using VHS, million had upgraded to DVD. In the 80's as a film buff (like myself) I couldn't use a DVD player. They didn't exist. You couldn't upgrade. To me that another valid difference. If you see it otherwise,  We can agree to disagree I guess .  :)

I agree.  I also I remember 1995 being the year I really noticed more people having cellphones, and by 1997-1998 it was common where I was from.  I also remember DVD players in the late 90's since that's when I had one. 

Subject: Re: What are the primary things that made the 80s different from the 90s?

Written By: Howard on 09/12/12 at 2:13 pm


I agree.  I also I remember 1995 being the year I really noticed more people having cellphones, and by 1997-1998 it was common where I was from.  I also remember DVD players in the late 90's since that's when I had one.


Then smaller phones came out a couple of years later.

Subject: Re: What are the primary things that made the 80s different from the 90s?

Written By: MarkMc1990 on 09/12/12 at 2:21 pm

It's weird how certain things are associated with the 90s (the "quintessential 90s") that are really from the very late 90s or even early 2000s. Examples would be Furbies and Pokemon. Pokemon was at the height of its popularity during the '99-'00 school year when I was in 3rd grade, and I actually tend to associate it more with 2000 than 1999, and yet everyone else seems to group it in with TMNT and Power Rangers as a "very 90s" thing. Furbies were pretty much all the rage in 1999 which I don't consider classic 90s (I'm not saying 1999 is not 90s culture at all, however). Even though DVD came out in the late 90s, they weren't a necessity until well after the 90s actually ended. I'd definitely categorize them as a 2000s thing. And just my two cents, but I didn't really notice a significant amount of the population having cellphones in the late 90s. Maybe '01/'02 is when I started noticing them more, but it could be because I was still a kid in the late 90s.

Subject: Re: What are the primary things that made the 80s different from the 90s?

Written By: elr on 09/12/12 at 2:39 pm


It's weird how certain things are associated with the 90s (the "quintessential 90s") that are really from the very late 90s or even early 2000s. Examples would be Furbies and Pokemon. Pokemon was at the height of its popularity during the '99-'00 school year when I was in 3rd grade, and I actually tend to associate it more with 2000 than 1999, and yet everyone else seems to group it in with TMNT and Power Rangers as a "very 90s" thing. Furbies were pretty much all the rage in 1999 which I don't consider classic 90s (I'm not saying 1999 is not 90s culture at all, however). Even though DVD came out in the late 90s, they weren't a necessity until well after the 90s actually ended. I'd definitely categorize them as a 2000s thing. And just my two cents, but I didn't really notice a significant amount of the population having cellphones in the late 90s. Maybe '01/'02 is when I started noticing them more, but it could be because I was still a kid in the late 90s.

No, those were all still 90's things.  Maybe it's a generational because I remember people having cell phones in the 90's regularly.  TMNT was a late 80's early 90's thing.  I think its inaccurate to think they were not, because I think I would remember that clearly than someone born in the 90s  ::).  And it's true because you were only a little kid then you probably noticed it less.

Subject: Re: What are the primary things that made the 80s different from the 90s?

Written By: Inlandsvägen1986 on 09/12/12 at 2:49 pm


It's weird how certain things are associated with the 90s (the "quintessential 90s") that are really from the very late 90s or even early 2000s. Examples would be Furbies and Pokemon. Pokemon was at the height of its popularity during the '99-'00 school year when I was in 3rd grade, and I actually tend to associate it more with 2000 than 1999, and yet everyone else seems to group it in with TMNT and Power Rangers as a "very 90s" thing. Furbies were pretty much all the rage in 1999 which I don't consider classic 90s (I'm not saying 1999 is not 90s culture at all, however). Even though DVD came out in the late 90s, they weren't a necessity until well after the 90s actually ended. I'd definitely categorize them as a 2000s thing. And just my two cents, but I didn't really notice a significant amount of the population having cellphones in the late 90s. Maybe '01/'02 is when I started noticing them more, but it could be because I was still a kid in the late 90s.


That's exactly what I think and you are not wrong. It also has nothing to do with the fact that you were a kid. Cell phones got really popular in the time you mentioned (early 2000's). I am a few years older and noticed the same. If people think that 'cell phones for everybody' defined the 90's, they are free to do so. That's just not the 90's I have experienced. Not ONE member of my family/relatives had a cell phone before 1999 - and we are middle-upper class.

Subject: Re: What are the primary things that made the 80s different from the 90s?

Written By: MarkMc1990 on 09/12/12 at 2:54 pm


No, those were all still 90's things.  Maybe it's a generational because I remember people having cell phones in the 90's regularly.  TMNT was a late 80's early 90's thing.  I think its inaccurate to think they were not, because I think I would remember that clearly than someone born in the 90s  ::).  And it's true because you were only a little kid then you probably noticed it less.


::) And what year were you born? 1988? 1989?

lol I was born in 1990...I hardly think that makes me different from someone born in the late 80s (not saying you were, I mean in general). We're both still Gen Y. Those things may be still be technically 90s (especially Furbies) but I think you'd be hard-pressed to convince anyone, regardless of age, that cellphones or DVDs were a bigger part of the 90s than the 2000s.

And I knew TMNT started in the 80s, but people usually list it as a 90s thing with Power Rangers an Pokemon. I think it's fair to say that TMNT was a bridge between the 80s and 90s and Pokemon between the 90s and 2000s (with Power Rangers being core 90s). However, I lend TMNT more to the 90s and Pokemon more to the 2000s because they were still only gaining momentum in the early stages of their popularity before hitting their peak at the turn of the decade.

Subject: Re: What are the primary things that made the 80s different from the 90s?

Written By: elr on 09/12/12 at 3:03 pm


::) And what year were you born? 1988? 1989?

lol I was born in 1990...I hardly think that makes me different from someone born in the late 80s (not saying you were, I mean in general). We're both still Gen Y. Those things may be still be technically 90s (especially Furbies) but I think you'd be hard-pressed to convince anyone, regardless of age, that cellphones or DVDs were a bigger part of the 90s than the 2000s.

And I knew TMNT started in the 80s, but people usually list it as a 90s thing with Power Rangers an Pokemon. I think it's fair to say that TMNT was a bridge between the 80s and 90s and Pokemon between the 90s and 2000s (with Power Rangers being core 90s). However, I lend TMNT more to the 90s and Pokemon more to the 2000s because they were still only gaining momentum in the early stages of their popularity before hitting their peak at the turn of the decade.


I was born in 1982 and worked in a mall during the late 90's. I also grew up in LA area and saw people with cellphones maybe more than where you were from.  I remember TMNT being a really popular around 1989-1990 - around the time you were born.  I'm also a Y or an XY, or a young X or an old Y. Lol

Subject: Re: What are the primary things that made the 80s different from the 90s?

Written By: MarkMc1990 on 09/12/12 at 3:15 pm


I was born in 1982 and worked in a mall during the late 90's. I also grew up in LA area and saw people with cellphones maybe more than where you were from.  I remember TMNT being a really popular around 1989-1990 - around the time you were born.  I'm also a Y or an XY, or a young X or an old Y. Lol


I'm from the Chicago area, so 3rd largest metropolitan in the US after New York and LA. But yeah I would imagine LA being a place that would be on the cutting edge. Still, I would imagine it was mostly working adults who had them then and maybe some teenagers. The second half of the '00s is when literally everyone including elementary school kids started having them.

Subject: Re: What are the primary things that made the 80s different from the 90s?

Written By: Inlandsvägen1986 on 09/12/12 at 3:16 pm


Still, I would imagine it was mostly working adults who had them then


This - and probably primarily for work!

Subject: Re: What are the primary things that made the 80s different from the 90s?

Written By: elr on 09/12/12 at 5:47 pm


This - and probably primarily for work!


Imho, the second half of the 90's are defined by classic cellphones and DVD players.  I think the 00's are associated more razr phones and smartphones.  Also, people used cell phones back then the way they use them now, to communicate, email, for work, I think they used them more for work during the 80's and first half of the 90's.  I honestly associate cell phones more with the 90's since they were a new and cutting edge technology then, rather than how they just became more ubiquitous during the 00's.

Subject: Re: What are the primary things that made the 80s different from the 90s?

Written By: Inlandsvägen1986 on 09/13/12 at 1:46 am


Imho, the second half of the 90's are defined by classic cellphones and DVD players.


DVDs were only available (US/Germany) for half of the second half of the 90's (mid-97). How could they define the whole era you mentioned?

My opinion is that new things usually don't define the era when they were just released. I also don't consider smartphones (iPhone) a typical 00's thing since they got invented in 2007 - but it still took a couple of years until it looked weird not to have one.
Or CDs - released in 1982/83 - they are not a typical early 80s thing, because a lot of people still played their records until the early 90's... and so on and so on.

Subject: Re: What are the primary things that made the 80s different from the 90s?

Written By: belmont22 on 09/13/12 at 4:47 am

Many people will disagree with me but I actually see 1995-2000 as being the 'most 90s' part of a decade. Since decades are after all, sociological constructs of popular images of a time, the reason the 'nineties' brings up images of high technology relative to the eighties is because people's image of the decade is weighted more on 1999 than it is on 1992. Even as late as 1995 the 90s had strong ties to the 80s.

So I think that's why DVD and cell phones and the dial-up Web everywhere is seen as a 90s thing even though it's really only accurate for 1999 and maybe 1997 and 1998.

Subject: Re: What are the primary things that made the 80s different from the 90s?

Written By: Howard on 09/13/12 at 6:41 am

Imho, the second half of the 90's are defined by classic cellphones and DVD players.  I think the 00's are associated more razr phones and smartphones.  Also, people used cell phones back then the way they use them now, to communicate, email, for work, I think they used them more for work during the 80's and first half of the 90's.  I honestly associate cell phones more with the 90's since they were a new and cutting edge technology then, rather than how they just became more ubiquitous during the 00's.

and then you had the Ipods and blackberries later on.

Subject: Re: What are the primary things that made the 80s different from the 90s?

Written By: moycon on 09/13/12 at 12:06 pm


DVDs were only available (US/Germany) for half of the second half of the 90's (mid-97). How could they define the whole era you mentioned?


Normally I'd agree with you. When you say..."that new things usually don't define the era when they were just released." I agree. As someone else mention Pokémonemon was released in the late 90's but didn't become really popular until the 2000's. CDs were actually released in the late 80's. They really didn't become big until the 90's. Mainly because everyone already had stereos, record players, Walkmansmans, car stereos, boom boxes. Etc.... To change formats would have been a BIG expensive deal.

DVD was different IMO. It was a big hit and it happened quickly. You didn't need to replace a half dozen devices. It took people a decade to rebuy their LP and casettes on the expensive CD format (CDs were like $15-20 when they first came out), but not so with DVD, maybe because a lot of people rented movies. You bought a DVD player, hooked it up to the TV and were set. Not sure how old you were at that time. Could you or any of your friends have even bought a DVD player? Your username contains 1986, is that the year you were born? The reason I ask because a persons perspective is going to be VERY different depending on their age. There would be millions of people able to buy into DVD, and you wouldn't have been one of them. You might be a HUGE movie buff, this wouldn't have mattered, because you would have relied on you parents to buy you things for the most part. Your location (Germany) might also have a bearing on this discussion as well. Not every region of the world is going to be the same. In other words, in your part of the world things might have been a particular way (Like DVD adoption), not sure it's right to assume the rest of the globe followed that lead.

Really if you stop and think, items don't have to be around for years and years to be associated with a decade. Looks at all the fad items that while still around to this day, were only really hugely popular for a very short time, like the first year they were released. Pet Rocks anyone?  :)

Subject: Re: What are the primary things that made the 80s different from the 90s?

Written By: MarkMc1990 on 09/13/12 at 12:43 pm

Clearly some early adopters had them, but they didn't overtake VHS until 2003, and that's why I associate them with the 2000s.

http://www.afterdawn.com/news/article.cfm/2003/06/21/dvd_overtakes_vhs_in_rental_numbers
http://blogcritics.org/video/article/dvds-surpass-vhs-in-rentals/

Would you say Seinfeld is more of an 80s show than a 90s show because it debuted in 1989?

Subject: Re: What are the primary things that made the 80s different from the 90s?

Written By: moycon on 09/13/12 at 3:19 pm


Would you say Seinfeld is more of an 80s show than a 90s show because it debuted in 1989?


Not at all, but DVD players didn't debute that close to the end of the decade. Had Sienfeld been invented in 1995 (The year DVDs were invented) do you think it would have been? Also, Keep in mind, the thread topic wasn't when did an item become a standard, or when did X format overtake y standard. Could you get a DVD player in the 1980's...No. Could you get a DVD player in the 1990's Yes...and even if you didn't...MILLIONS did. If only a hand full of the richest people in the world owned DVD players at the end of the 90's, similar to the mobile phones of the late 80's, I might agree. That was not the case. The fact VHS was the standard format and saturated the market (It had been around since the 70's!) doesn't change the fact DVD was significant in the 90s and a HUGE deal at the time. If your criteria for a tech product to be significant is only when it becomes the industry standard format, where does that leave formats like VCD and Laserdisk?  8)

Subject: Re: What are the primary things that made the 80s different from the 90s?

Written By: Inlandsvägen1986 on 09/13/12 at 5:35 pm


Could you or any of your friends have even bought a DVD player? Your username contains 1986, is that the year you were born? The reason I ask because a persons perspective is going to be VERY different depending on their age.


Yes, this is my birth year. I was already in my double digits in the late 90's, so I remember that time like it was yesterday. It was basically all about VHS. I don't remember any person I have visited during that time who had something different than a VHS player. If DVDs were really that dominant like you have mentioned, I certainly would have noticed them. But the explanation might be the different country - maybe Germany was a bit behind in this case. I have done some research and found out that a lot of DVDs which were released in the US in 1999 didn't came out in Germany before 2001.

1999 was for DVDs what 2006 was for BlueRay in my opinion.

Subject: Re: What are the primary things that made the 80s different from the 90s?

Written By: Howard on 09/13/12 at 7:16 pm

Would you say Seinfeld is more of an 80s show than a 90s show because it debuted in 1989?

Not really Seinfeld debuted in the Summer 1989 so it would be more of a 90's show.

Subject: Re: What are the primary things that made the 80s different from the 90s?

Written By: af2010 on 09/13/12 at 7:20 pm


Technology did not begin in the late '90s or in the year 2000 lol.  ;D It's progressive, like now DVDs are also out of date, iPods have been replaced by smartphones, this is all part of the continual progress. In the 1960s color TV and transistor radios were high tech. Granted technology is becoming more and more a part of our everyday lives but this is just progress and has been gradually happening since the beginning of time really.


Technology has continued to progress (especially over the last 100 years), but that isn't always the case (look at the Dark Ages, where it actually regressed).  It's obviously progressed since the beginning of time, but it's more sporadic than gradual.  The late 90s was one of those sporadic times where it seemed like all at once you had the internet, cellphones, dvd's, digital cameras, etc., becoming widespread (a tech boom basically).  That was when the "digital age" or "information age" (or whatever you want to call this era) really took off imo.


Many people will disagree with me but I actually see 1995-2000 as being the 'most 90s' part of a decade. Since decades are after all, sociological constructs of popular images of a time, the reason the 'nineties' brings up images of high technology relative to the eighties is because people's image of the decade is weighted more on 1999 than it is on 1992. Even as late as 1995 the 90s had strong ties to the 80s.


What people associate with a decade could be considered a sociological construct, but the actual decade itself is nothing more than a ten-year period of time.  1990 is just as much a part of the 90s as 1999.


80's you knew that people had super cool brick phones.
90's everyone you knew had cell phones.

80's VHS
90's DVD


I associate DVD's more with the 00s because they actually existed for the entire decade, and that's when they overtook VHS in popularity (among the general population).  You may associate them more with the 90s, and I can't argue with that because it's all subjective.  Same thing with "everyone you knew" having cellphones; that very well may have been the case for you, but that wasn't the case for the general population until the 00s.

Subject: Re: What are the primary things that made the 80s different from the 90s?

Written By: Starde on 09/13/12 at 8:02 pm

Honestly, as mentioned previously, the whole "DVDs: 90's or 00's?" issue is going to come down to age, location as well as personal experience. Personally, I link DVDs with the 00's and not the 90's though I'm aware that DVDs have been around since then. I remember being a kid in the late 90's and seeing some DVDs in addition to VHS tapes. However, my family only bought VHS tapes (hundreds of which we still have today). Also, I remember my school still playing movies and other programming on VCRs in the 90's into the early 00's as well as going to friends' houses and seeing most of them still using VCRs. We didn't start buying DVDs until the early 00's though VHS was still our main go-to format. We also didn't buy an actual DVD player until 2002/2003 (in fact, the first "DVD player" I remember using was the Playstation 2 at the time). Despite DVDs becoming more popular in the early 00's, we still bought VHS tapes until they (and VCRs) started to go off the market in the mid 00's. By 2003/2004, we became full DVD users. Now, also being a movie buff myself, if I was my age now back then, I would've most likely jumped on the DVD train much earlier.

Subject: Re: What are the primary things that made the 80s different from the 90s?

Written By: moycon on 09/13/12 at 9:14 pm


You may associate them more with the 90s,


Not really. If the topic had been to list the differences between the 80's and the 2000's I could/would have put the same thing.

80  VHS
00  DVD

Still I see people aren't concerned with the topic of differences, and more interested in the industry standards at the time, so I'll fix my original post so people won't get confused and think VHS was dead in 90's, I'll admit it certainly was NOT. Although it was in the late 90's that I was scouring the local rental places for cheap VHS tapes, as that is when they started pulling them from the shelves to free up space for the new format in town. I literally have boxes full of about a thousand VHS tapes in my garage, most of which cost me about $2 apiece! Sad thing is I probably haven't watched 85% of them even once.

Subject: Re: What are the primary things that made the 80s different from the 90s?

Written By: belmont22 on 09/14/12 at 7:10 pm


Not at all, but DVD players didn't debute that close to the end of the decade. Had Sienfeld been invented in 1995 (The year DVDs were invented) do you think it would have been? Also, Keep in mind, the thread topic wasn't when did an item become a standard, or when did X format overtake y standard. Could you get a DVD player in the 1980's...No. Could you get a DVD player in the 1990's Yes...and even if you didn't...MILLIONS did. If only a hand full of the richest people in the world owned DVD players at the end of the 90's, similar to the mobile phones of the late 80's, I might agree. That was not the case. The fact VHS was the standard format and saturated the market (It had been around since the 70's!) doesn't change the fact DVD was significant in the 90s and a HUGE deal at the time. If your criteria for a tech product to be significant is only when it becomes the industry standard format, where does that leave formats like VCD and Laserdisk?  8)


Actually in 1989 a couple million Americans owned  cell phones, and in Finland the technology was already semi-mainstream. I'd say CDs and cell phones had a similar presence in 1989 that DVDs had in 1999.

Subject: Re: What are the primary things that made the 80s different from the 90s?

Written By: Howard on 09/15/12 at 2:59 pm


Actually in 1989 a couple million Americans owned  cell phones, and in Finland the technology was already semi-mainstream. I'd say CDs and cell phones had a similar presence in 1989 that DVDs had in 1999.


Cell phones didnt probably change shape and size till the mid 90's.

Subject: Re: What are the primary things that made the 80s different from the 90s?

Written By: Inlandsvägen1986 on 09/15/12 at 3:15 pm

Something that just came to my mind:

70's: Floppy Disks
80's: CD-Rom
90's: DVD/Flash storage

...  ::) everything is typical for its decade, right?

Subject: Re: What are the primary things that made the 80s different from the 90s?

Written By: Starde on 09/17/12 at 7:42 pm


Something that just came to my mind:

70's: Floppy Disks
80's: CD-Rom
90's: DVD/Flash storage

...  ::) everything is typical for its decade, right?


And, I guess, 00's: USB flash drive? ??? I remember still using floppy disks for school into the early/mid 00's. Still have them actually.

Subject: Re: What are the primary things that made the 80s different from the 90s?

Written By: Howard on 09/17/12 at 7:55 pm


And, I guess, 00's: USB flash drive? ??? I remember still using floppy disks for school into the early/mid 00's. Still have them actually.


flash drives came in mid 2000's?

Subject: Re: What are the primary things that made the 80s different from the 90s?

Written By: Starde on 09/17/12 at 9:42 pm


flash drives came in mid 2000's?


I think they first started coming out in the early 00's, but became more widespread in the mid 00's (circa 2004). Someone correct me if I'm wrong though. :-\\

Subject: Re: What are the primary things that made the 80s different from the 90s?

Written By: belmont22 on 09/17/12 at 9:51 pm


Not really Seinfeld debuted in the Summer 1989 so it would be more of a 90's show.


The only thing that's 80's about Seinfeld is that cheesy slap bass they use when they cut scenes.  ;D

Subject: Re: What are the primary things that made the 80s different from the 90s?

Written By: Inlandsvägen1986 on 09/18/12 at 2:27 am


flash drives came in mid 2000's?


They were invented in the late 90's. That's why I have listed them under 90's. I personally started to use them from the early/mid-00's on.

Subject: Re: What are the primary things that made the 80s different from the 90s?

Written By: Howard on 09/18/12 at 6:30 am


I think they first started coming out in the early 00's, but became more widespread in the mid 00's (circa 2004). Someone correct me if I'm wrong though. :-\\


That was the time people started downloading music and saving them to a folder.

Subject: Re: What are the primary things that made the 80s different from the 90s?

Written By: Howard on 09/18/12 at 6:31 am


They were invented in the late 90's. That's why I have listed them under 90's. I personally started to use them from the early/mid-00's on.


I bought one few months ago to download themes and save them to my PS3.

Check for new replies or respond here...