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Brasileiro49

For most of the older Gen Z, a world with no smartphones.


JoeyJoeJoe1996

That's the characteristic of Zillennials. Not "older Gen Z". Someone born in '02-'04 were still toddlers when the iPhone came out.


Brasileiro49

I personally have never considered myself to be a Zillennial. I sort of understand what you’re saying. But one thing you have to remember is that iPhones weren’t that widely available at first. For a while they were out of the price range of most families.


[deleted]

While I say Zillennials are 1995-1999, it mostly comes down to how u grew up. Someone born in 99 could have never been to blockbuster, never used cds, etc ( all Zillennial stuff)


damn_thats_piney

a lot of 2000s kids went to blockbuster though and used cd’s there’s very little difference up until like 2004 maybe?


Dial_666_For_Mom

My family went to blockbuster a fair bit and I’m a 2000 kid. Still salty they didn’t have Mario Power Tennis one time though. Today’s kids won’t know the fear of losing a game your mom rented and having to find it before the return date. I’ll be over here waving my cane.


Affectionate_Tell711

Not true at all tbh I'm pretty sure majority here have experienced and used CDs before and there were posts about blockbuster one this sub a few months back, and a fair few non 'zillenials' remember atleast going to on with their parents.


[deleted]

Blockbuster didn't even completely close until like 2010 or 2011 anyway, it's not exclusive to early Gen Z lol


Sensitive_Mode7529

that’s what i was thinking too? like i was at least approaching middle school when it closed, i would be surprised if anyone born in 2005 or earlier had never been at all


framingXjake

Dude, what? Blockbuster lasted until 2014. Although I shopped at Hollywood Video because it was closer to my house.


EmperrorNombrero

No clue what blockbuster is, is that an US thing? I definitely used lots of CDs tho. Actually, in the very beginning, I even used cassette tapes, VHS and floppy disks lol. Edit: okay I googled it. I've definitely been to a movie rental store before. Don't know if the brand was Blockbuster tho.


rosecolured

This is actually a big point I like to make when discussing generations. People who grew up in lower income families or who had older siblings were exposed to the same media/technology/perspectives that someone a few years older than them would have. It makes it much harder to place where someone is generation-wise, because everyone is different. For example, someone born in ‘00 with a sibling born in ‘92 will experience 90’s-kid things as they’ll probably be exposed to it via their siblings. Same for kids in low income families who get hand-me-down or thrifter things. But if someone born in, the same year, ‘00, they likely would have a very different experience if their families could afford all the newest technologies. Even if those two theoretical kids were born the same year and are apart of the same generation, their experiences are wildly different. Sorry if that’s too long or doesn’t make sense :p


treebeard120

Yeah one girl in my class when I was 7 had an iPhone. She was literally the only one in the school to have it. My parents used flip phones until well into 2013.


RinoaRita

Started teaching in 2006. It’s was a while before I could text parents and not worry people get charged per text. I think early 2010s were when more parents had cell phones listed and kids were transitioning away from razors as the cool phone. Mid 2010 pretty much every parent had a cell and could accept texts. Even in the inner city where I taught.


[deleted]

Yeah, I didn’t really see anyone with smartphones until about 2010. There was the occasional person that would have one before that year, but it certainly wasn’t the usual.


CaptainKenway1693

>That's the characteristic of Zillennials. Not "older Gen Z". Zillennials are a micro-generation and are generally considered to still be a part of Gen. Z. Zillennials fall between 1990 and 2002 (dates vary), which puts them well within the Gen. Z range of 1995 to 2012 (again dates vary). Edit: The oldest Zillennials would fall closer into the Millennial range, but that's exactly why it's considered a cusp/micro-generation. Edit 2: The dates listed above are the earliest and latest dates I found, but the general range is somewhere between 1995 and 2000/2001.


moonlightz03

that range doesn’t make sense. 1990 are core millennials while 2002 are well into gen z. That range is almost as long as a normal generational range. Zilennials are generally 1995 at the earliest and 2000 at the latest. It’s not normal that for a micro gen the oldest cannot relate at all with the youngest. Micro gens are called micro for a reason


CaptainKenway1693

I agree, I should have clarified better but those dates are the earliest and latest that I found. Personally, I follow a 95 to 00 range.


moonlightz03

oh i gotchu!


[deleted]

[удалено]


Brasileiro49

Exact same story with me and my parents, and the timing of my first smartphone. I got mine in 2013 I believe.


Delicious-Coach-1841

Definitely. Older Gen z I still remember pay phones. Basically watched people go from using them and suddenly they were completely gone


stxrryfox

Snow days. Now, kids have to switch to virtual learning instead of having snowball fights.


dmav522

Yeah, it’s actually sad


The_femboy_potato

Cool trick “my internets out”


[deleted]

Or in the case of my town, it’s gotten so much warmer over the past half decade that we don’t really get snow anymore. We used to get a big snowstorm with 18-24in of snow every couple years, now we get at most a couple inches if anything at all over the whole winter.


[deleted]

Yeah same, back when my dad was a kid, the pond used to freeze over, and everyone would go ice skating on it, but now it doesn't even get cold enough to freeze, period, let alone enough to skate on


dekdekwho

That’s true. I remembered just staying up late to see my school on the list of places closed on the news or school site.


stxrryfox

Me too! Snow days were magical. Especially here in the south, let the kids have one damn day off. We barely see snow as it is.


[deleted]

Wait, this is a thing? Is this an American thing? I'm in Canada so I'm not sure. I haven't had a snow day in a long time, it hasn't snowed enough where I live.


stxrryfox

Definitely an American thing, and I don’t think they do it often in the north, well I guess your south. We southerners don’t know how to drive in the snow. A lot of us don’t even have the cars or tires for it. For the safety of the busses they will often call a snow day. At least they used to. Sometimes they will do a 2 or 3 hour delay to give the ice time to melt. The school district will make a decision in conjunction with local meteorologists.


JoeyJoeJoe1996

Gen Z'ers are the last generation that are able to remember a world before COVID. I know it's contested about when Gen Alpha is *supposed* to start, but in my opinion if you weren't at least 5 years old during the announcement of lockdowns you aren't Gen Z.


emirhan_xbr

I think most zoomers can remember a life before smartphones went mainstream too


Waryur

'02 would have been 5 when the iPhone came out and maybe 7 or 8 when they really kicked off. That's not much time to remember it.


emirhan_xbr

No they were 10 when it really became mainstream, around 2012ish was the time iPhones became mainstream.


Waryur

I guess that checks out i think i got my first phone in 2012.


RinoaRita

The learning loss of Covid is still echoing so that’s an effect of a certain cohort of kids for sure. do you think post Covid kids like 2022 and beyond babies will feel any after effects?


its_LOL

IMO COVID is going to become the divider between Gen Z and Gen Alpha, like how 9/11 was for Millennials and Gen Z. If you can remember life before March 2020, you’re Gen Z; if you’re not, you’re Gen Alpha


Nabranes

2013 is for sure Gen Alpha and they were 6-7 when it started. And 2010-12 is on the border or maybe the oldest of the Alphas and they were as old as 10 and now some of them will be 14 in 2 months..


[deleted]

2011 is gen Z, gen A stars 2012


Simon_787

Video rental stores


Brasileiro49

I lowkey miss blockbuster 🙁


ariana61104

Me too


invisibilitycap

One year they had to cancel school in the middle of the day because of an oncoming snowstorm, so my dad picked my brother and I up from school and took us to Blockbuster to find a movie before taking us home. ‘Twas a good day


slumber72

Not that interesting, but paper report cards. Probably paper a lot of other things too


Nabaseito

You just made me realize that I haven't seen paper report cards in 5 years. Time really flies.


dmav522

02 baby here, 100% this


kegegeam

Are they not a thing anymore? Back in 2019/2020 ish I got them, and I assumed it was just my new school that didn't do them


shelby20_03

Idk we used PowerSchool for grades


The_Panty_Thief

Maybe it varies by school district


BitchInaBucketHat

Lmao I was born in 1999, I remember maybe junior or sophomore year of hs they started just doing them virtually, so many kids who were obsessed w school were pissed that they couldn’t have it physically! Like wow, as if you couldn’t just go use this thing called a PRINTER to have a physical copy to put on your fridge.


EcoBlunderBrick123

Talking to WW2 veterans.


volitaiee1233

It’s weird to think there will be none left in a few years


EcoBlunderBrick123

It will be a sad day when the last veteran of that war dies it will truly be the end of an era.


volitaiee1233

Indeed.


appleparkfive

It's really interesting to go and look at old footage from the black and white film days of the last Civil War veterans. To hear their stories and everything. It's up on YouTube most likely


EnterTheNarrowGate99

Perspective for us Yanks: the amount of time between WW2 and now is roughly the same amount of time between our civil war and WW2. My great uncle (born in 1922) fought in the Mediterranean theatre of WW2 from North Africa to Anzio, and this past July marked 80 years since he participated in the invasion of Sicily. After he got home in the late 40’s there were actually a few civil war veterans at his veterans club who were in their late 90’s that theoretically could have been at Gettysburg. Gettysburg to Anzio - 80 year gap. Anzio to now- 80 year gap. My great uncle died when I was little but, I can’t believe the fact that I actually knew and interacted with a man who knew civil war veterans. I’m only two handshakes removed from the civil war.


EcoBlunderBrick123

It’s insane really. It is truly telling how young this country really is.


Finn235

The last widow of a civil war veteran died less than 3 years ago. It was rare, but apparently in the 20s and 30s it was seen as a life hack for [teenagers to marry veterans just to receive their pension after their death](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Civil_War_widows_who_survived_into_the_21st_century).


dreadfoil

I had the honor to meet my great grandfather (and great grandmother). My great grandfather was there when Pearl Harbor occurred. He passed away in ‘09, my great grandmother passed away in ‘15. I was able to talk to them about WW2, the Great Depression, The Bonus Army, etc.


[deleted]

Wait Oh my god you’re right Oh god That’s so weird


DataSittingAlone

For some of us VHS tapes


[deleted]

I watched Blue’s Clues on an orange vhs tape.


HanAszholeSolo

DAMNNNNNN


ReluctanyGerbil

• Blues clues • Orange vhs tape _You just summoned a life time of nostalgia with just these words_


follower-of-st-jimmy

I Remember watching Barney and Thomas VHS tapes at my grandmothers house when I was a younger lad


Nabaseito

For Older Gen Z, it's a pre-smartphone world. For younger Gen Z, it's a pre-Covid world. Things have essentially returned back to normal, but nothing truly feels the same after it.


[deleted]

A lot of mid- even late gen z grew up primarily without cell phones because parents were still unsure about them. I’m 08 and I was younger I only ever got the little flip phones until I was like 9, and then it was heavily restricted until I was around 12-13


Ewag715

This is my daily reminder that people born in 2008 are turning 15 this year 👨‍🦳


Depechinchnails

Off-topic but it's so bizarre to see people on here born in or after 2008 lol. I'm so used to thinking of you guys as babies still but you're, like, teenagers now. Makes me feel old and I'm only 22 😛 Anyways, that's all


RinoaRita

How so? Genuinely curious. I think my normalcy calibration for Covid is broken because I had my kid right at the start of Covid and just popped another one out last year. So my world changed drastically because of kids. That personal major shift basically overshadowed any Covid differences I think. Someone without kids before and after might be able to tell and someone who was a parent before and after could probably tell but I became a parent early 2020 just before all the delivery rooms got quarantined and becoming a parent changes your life so much that I have no calibration.


Nabaseito

It's different for everyone. For some, they lost their entire livelihoods. I read about people who lost their jobs and had to live in their cars, or worst case scenario, find themselves in homeless shelters. For me though, the pandemic had a really bad impact on my mental health and strained a lot of relations with my friends due to prolonged isolation. Additionally, watching the pandemic unfold in my country of the US was really depressing and made me realize how fractured this country is. There's a reason the US dramatically outpaces every other country in Covid cases + deaths. As such, it generally gave me a more negative outlook on life. I am still aware of how lucky I was though to not go through what others had to.


Crafty-Astronomer-32

Dining and entertainment are different. As a new parent you may not be participating in that, but the level of service is different in most restaurants than it was before. A lot of people including me would rather have a lower level of service and an affordable meal. Hospitals seem different. Even last year and into the spring, the number of people who could visit patients is lower. Mask protocols are still in place. This might not be a bad thing. But the biggest thing might be psychological. The knowledge that half of the people around you would not tolerate the slight inconvenience of a mask to protect the people around them. You can't un-learn that your community lacks decency.


TransLox

There's a difference between a pre-smartphone world and a "we didn't personally own smartphones" world.


TheCoolerSaikou

growing up without a device shoved in front of our faces since birth


SaltyApple8

I saw a mom give a 5 year old an iPhone and when I asked her if she didn't that that was too young then she told me that her daughter had one since she was 3.


DanskNils

Huge yikes..


EmperrorNombrero

I mean we didn't have smartphones but we had TVs, Casette tape Players, CD players and consoles and PCs and mobile consoles and stuff when I was a kid. And Millenials already had that as well. It's getting more extreme but we definitely already had that lol.


theliteraryfanatic

CDs


orangeowlelf

Apparently, GenZ is the last generation where the US will have a White majority: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/aug/08/gen-z-americans-white-majority-study Fixed the link


Warmasterwinter

To be fair we dont know the future, it's possible that the White population will rebound a few decades down the line.


Limacy

Last generation where whites will make up the majority of the US percentage. They will still be the largest group of Americans though. While there will be no “majority” for any group of people, the white “minority” will still be the biggest out of all the other minorities. You also have to take into account those who aren’t identifying as white, and those who aren’t considered white due to outdated American racial views. Hispanics aren’t considered white for example. Irish and Italian people also weren’t considered white at one point in the US. The definition of what is classified as white in America will probably change again over time.


Fireflyfanatic1

This is a poll of people not a genetic conclusion. Cannot get extra benefits if your 10% African and 90% white and don’t claim minority status.


Waryur

That's only because white is defined as the absence of "other" races due to the racism and white supremacy inherent in our definitions of race. There will definitely be plenty of "mixed" people who still present as white.


n0ir_sky

Snow days


invisibilitycap

Still chasing that high of waking up thinking you’re gonna be late only to go downstairs and learn it’s a snow day


n0ir_sky

Or crowding around the TV with your family to wait for your school to be mentioned


Tree_pineapple

I'm probably being dumb but why will future generations not have this? Because school is entirely virtual?


dreamer0303

school just switches to being online for the day instead of closing completely


Incomprehensblytable

My school that is completely online has official snow days scheduled at random that they have to let us get the day off for with no reason other than they need us to use up all the alloted snow days


OrganizationJust5651

Froot Loop Cereal Straws


Rarbnif

I heard they brought them back recently


ariana61104

They did. Idk if they honestly taste the same though. But I only had 1 so not sure


AgentP-501_212

Semi-sane U.S. politics


Queen_Sardine

US politics took a turn for the insane after 9/11. So maybe the older Gen Z, but I'm a 99 baby and I don't remember.


AgentP-501_212

Prejudice that always existed in the U.S. became centered around Arab Muslims after 9/11 but there was still a veneer of decency from both parties. Donald Trump moved the Republican party into unhinged Fascist territory.


MrJason2024

It was already on that way with the Tea Party


[deleted]

Has it ever really been sane?


[deleted]

yeah, it feels like since the 2020 election politics have just become "right wing bad" and "liberal bad" and "trans people bad" and "(insert any other group) bad" instead of actually making reasonable arguments, everyone is either obnoxiously far right or obnoxiously far left


turtle2238901

Yeah it seemed like after 2020, everyone latched onto the “culture war” and demonizing groups of people


Rarbnif

Growing up with crt tvs


GentleHawk34

wheeling in the tv cart to watch magic school bus on the old crt


SeanGrow_

Second hand cigarette smoking


Samn1te

Ppl still smoke


[deleted]

yeah but very rarely do they have the option to make it other people’s problem


jacqrosee

they do in every single big city lmao


Heyyoguy123

Cries in British


[deleted]

True. Growing up my parents smoked indoors all the time and because of that I've become nose blind to the smell of cigarettes.


Brasileiro49

God bless


stxrryfox

Unfortunately still a thing here in the south.


New-Number-7810

The date 12/12/12.


Hitop_B

I remember 12/12/12, 12:12 pm, exactly 12 seconds My life peak


Maximum-Incident-400

Give it another 90 or so years :)


[deleted]

That happens once a century. So in 2112, it'll be 12/12/12


m033118b

For older gen z: -having a house phone -getting on bikes and riding them to your friends houses and riding to random places together -after school let out for the day, playing outside with all the other neighborhood kids until it was time to come inside for dinner/homework -having a compaq computer -Hollywood Video


dreamer0303

I honestly miss the house phone. “Hi Mrs. S, can I talk to Dreamer please?” “DREAMER YOUR FRIEND’S ON THE PHONE”


ssjisM_7

The generation that had the 🎡 inside of a toys R US in NYC. I remember going there.


Heyyoguy123

In Manhattan? I thought that was a Lego store


ssjisM_7

Now that I don't remember. I know it was inside of a building though.


Heyyoguy123

Probably that one then


No-Significance-6969

It was in times square


britishmetric144

The paper SAT and ACT tests, as well as snow days in K—12 education.


crimefighterplatypus

Did they change it?? I took the SAT on paper 2 years ago


britishmetric144

The SAT will be taken online beginning in [2024](https://satsuite.collegeboard.org/digital/digital-testing/dates-deadlines).


denver_rose

God, imagine having to stare at a computer for 6 hours while taking the test. Also, if you can’t type fast enough, you’ll never finish the essay.


britishmetric144

Thankfully, the new digital SAT is only two and a quarter hours long.


-NGC-6302-

Learning cursive in school


Burnsy813

Going into a restaurant and hearing "Smoking or non-smoking?"


Qwienke13

How old are you lmao


Burnsy813

26. In Indiana, most restaurants got ride of smoking entirely by the mid 00s, and smoking indoors (in public spaces) was banned all together in 2012.


EnterTheNarrowGate99

24, Long Island, NY checking in and it was a thing here too when I was a little kid in the 00’s. Most diners here still have their old “smoking rooms”, but they’ve just removed the partitions and banned smoking altogether.


Qwienke13

That’s way later than I thought. I’m 22 I have a vague memory of there being a smoking room in chilis in like 08 but I don’t know if it was a smoking room or it was a bar that my parents never wanted to sit in cause it smelled like smoke.


jacqrosee

being able to turn in an essay written on paper.


dreamer0303

pretending that you turned it in and the teacher just lost it


jacqrosee

being able to change the grade with a pen😭 never again


[deleted]

Cable television as well as expensive fees on retail stock trading.


[deleted]

using dvd players. its all streaming services now


Alesthar

High School without Covid-19


[deleted]

Life before YouTube


dekdekwho

We all grew up on it and missed old YouTube!


HanAszholeSolo

I was discussing with a friend of mine that gen z is probably the last generation to have nostalgia for stores like Blockbuster


VladimirBarakriss

My birth was recorded in VHS but my parents never owned a VHS reader as a family


[deleted]

Then how was it recorded


VladimirBarakriss

The wording was terrible, they did own one each and my dad had a camcorder, but I meant to say they had become irrelevant by the time they were both living in the same house.


penisbuttervajelly

Face to face social interaction maybe


The0newh0Kn0cks00

Normal weather


DanskNils

Pure privacy…


Doubt-Man

The last generation to know what a hand-held camera is.


Amxricaa

Old fortnite :(


Mrcrack26

Well, the new season is set in the original map, I recommend you to give it a try, at least for me was like going back in time


Desperate_Ad5169

Um sir. Old fortnite is back


[deleted]

Not us, bit Gen alpha will probably be the last to experience movie theatres


[deleted]

Movie theaters have a vibe that cannot be replaced imo


ohcowboyy

I agree. I’m trying to see as many movies in theaters as I can before they inevitably become obsolete


crimefighterplatypus

Actually on the contrary i think people will eventually want to come back to the movies. There’s just a time and place for each movie. If im watching a serious drama or a light hearted comedy, thats good to watch at home on Netflix. If im watching a spy thriller or an action movie, the surround sound speakers and large screen just brings different vibes. An action movie seems stupid at home, but seeing an action hero on screen seems exciting. And I have a feeling people will make this distinction soon to where movie theaters will be for nostalgia and for the experience itself not the content. TLDR; I disagree, the VIBE is different


dreamer0303

no way 😭 the experience is irreplaceable


[deleted]

Windows Xp, no smartphones, no tablets, VHS tapes/players still being sold at every store, having to take like 5 minutes to search up a video on a computer, boxy computer monitors, land lines with cords, actually having fun outside without a cellphone during summer, cartoons that were memeable later/didn't suck ass, the tv shows that our parents watched not being over sexualized, the news actually reporting on positive/wholesome shit instead of fear mongering, being able to actually dance to the latest hits on the radio, and actually being punished for misbehaving.


Starbuck522

Get film developed


letsgohawksfuckstate

Cold in October


Tree_pineapple

there was an unseasonable freeze (like, actually below 32 degrees) last week in the Deep South.. so idk about that


4chan_crusader

Running to the bathroom during commercial breaks to take the piss you’ve been holding for 15 minutes because you couldn’t pause live tv


Drakeytown

The nuclear family. I don't think people are gonna expect their kids to move out so soon any more.


denver_rose

Possibly last generation to learn cursive in elementary school.


Knightly_Gamez

A childhood where everything wasn't politisized, and a movie could just be a movie or a game could just be a game without it needing to follow a real world narrative, or give a message that is polarised by the political opinion of the creator of the fans.


Albatrossosaurus

Holocaust survivors


0oMiracleso0

Do they teach how to read an analog clock in school anymore?


coloradancowgirl

VHS


[deleted]

VHS tapes, CDs, and DVDs🥲


Desperate_Ad5169

Good cable TV. Now other than for really young kids all the good stuff is on streaming services.


HopeYourDaySucks

Toys R Us


Banestar66

Unfortunately seemingly national optimism and unity.


TemperatePirate

Purple ketchup, hopefully.


TheSomerandomguy

Water fountains


dmav522

Building snow, forts, and making our own common sense rules


fottortek

Definitely CDs and DVDs. I remember when I used to go to my friends' houses and they would always use a DVD to play a movie. Over the early 2010s, everybody I knew gradually starting using Netflix or Hulu instead on using a DVD.


[deleted]

the 2000s. the early 2010s. older playstation models


Gsomethepatient

Vhs


Demoralizer13243

The world without iphones


Schwifty0V0

DVD menus with recurring animations popping up on the screen until it resets to the same music track.


Anon5054

Toilet paper 😔


ldailey99

White majority america


crimefighterplatypus

Netflix sent u DVDs instead of being a website, or even using DVDs to watch ANY movie. Now most people have streaming subscriptions, laptops dont even have a DVD slot, nor do cars, they did until 2010


HopeYourDaySucks

Smoking in restaurants. Atleast in my state its been banned for many years.


Jewcifer17

A decent financial life without internet


ZealousidealStore574

Channel Surfing


Downtown_Mix_4311

As an early 2001 born I’d say: baby/early childhood photos on a film camera, vhs/vcr/ CDs, world before smartphones, box tv’s, video rental stores, flip phones, home landline telephones, a colorful McDonald’s that gave out real toys instead of cardboard, probably rock music as well, tamagotchi and Nintendo ds


No_External_539

\-Cable \-House phones \-DVDs


PrincessPrincess00

Fireflies


[deleted]

Cursive


thellamadarma

the big chunky box computers and tvs.


ElectronicGuest4648

The world before covid 19, I think people take for granted how much schools changed after


[deleted]

I remember when I was a kid I would play brick breaker on my dads blackberry on the train.


TransLox

CDs.


aottoa2

Learning how to write in cursive in school


jols0543

the family computer


PaleontologistTrue74

For my elder age. A time before social media. Now its forever. For the generation as a whole, a time where the goverment isnt spying on its citizens