Posted on Sep 10, 2020

35 Extremely Specific Things That Were Once So Normal, But That We'll All Forget About In 10 Years

I think we've all forgotten the days when we used to have to put on channel 3 in order to watch a VHS movie.

by

Brian Galindo

by Brian Galindo

BuzzFeed Staff

Dave Stopera

by Dave Stopera

BuzzFeed Staff

1. Looking up movie times in a newspaper:

A couple holding a newspaper outside a movie theater

2. Having the movie theater as the only place you could watch new trailers:

The green screen before a movie trailer starts, text says: The following preview has been approved for all audiences by the Motion Picture Association of America

3. Only being able to see the lyrics to a song by reading them from the album's liner notes:

A '90s kids laying on the floor listening to a CD from his yellow portable CD player while he has a CD case opened in his hand and has a stack of CDs next to him

4. Actually being surprised by unlisted hidden tracks at the end of an album:

A screenshot of the last three track-listings from MCM's "The Black Parade" from Spotify that features #14 as "Blood - Hidden track"

5. Only being able to listen to special remixes or exclusive songs if you bought pricey import CD singles:

A import CD for Britney Spears' "Lucky" with a $9.99 price tag sticker on it from Tower Records

6. Printing out directions instead of just giving them a quick search on your phone:

A Mapquest map printed out and hanging on the dashboard mirror

7. Or having to look up a direction in an atlas (that was always in the car):

A 2001 Thomas Guide atlas for Los Angeles and Ventura Counties

8. Having to rewind a movie after you watched or before — 'cause someone didn't rewind it the last time they watched it:

Blockbuster VHS tape with the sticker "Please remember to rewind" sticking out of the VCR

9. Needing two tapes to watch one movie:

The "Titanic" VHS set (which features two cassettes)

10. "Go to channel 3":

A VCR with a tweet over it that says "Remember when you had to change the TV to channel 3 to use the VCR?"

11. Having to watch a movie as a family 'cause for the most part everyone had to share the VCR and TV (and it was the ONLY way you could watch a movie):

A mom, dad, and their daughter watching a scary movie while eating a popcorn

12. Replacing the mini-cassette tapes in the answering machine 'cause it was starting to warp:

A hand holding a package of Maxell mini-cassettes

13. Smashing *69 right after being prank-called and turning the tables:

Facebook: star69

14. Using a payphone:

A hand holding the receiver and putting a quarter into the payphone

15. Making sure you didn't miss an episode or season premiere of a TV show you liked because you saw an ad for it in the newspaper or TV Guide:

A TV Guide for "Moesha" promoting the new season premiere with the text "be there when two worlds collide. Brandy and Moesha come face to face for the first time" written on it

16. The trials and tribulations of T9:

A meme that says "Kids today will never know the struggle of having to hit a button 3 times just to get 1 letter" with a photo of a hand holding an old cell phone

17. The horrors of dial-up internet:

A meme that says "Get off the internet I need to use the phone" with a photo of an old computer on it

18. Only being able to access the internet while sitting in front of a computer:

A photo of a teal 1998 iMac

19. Little mouse balls:

A photo of a hand holding an old fashioned computer mouse with the bowl inside of it on the person's other hand

20. Going through a disgusting amount of burned CDs in a binder in the backseat of a car:

A photo of a bunch of CDs in a CD organzier

21. And burning CDs for very specific occasions:

A hand holding three mix CDs

22. The strength needed just to get the window down:

Meme that says "Today's Kids will know the strength you needed to get the car window down" and the photo of a non-automated car window opener

23. Ordering clothes or other things from a catalog:

An L.L. Bean catalog opened to the PJs page.

24. Accidentally taping over your mom's favorite show:

A hand holding a VHS tape

25. Balancing a bank account with a checkbook:

A calculator next to an open checkbook and a serious of receipts

26. Having to watch whatever movie was playing on your flight ('cause there were no on-demand movies or TV channels):

A '90s plane with TV monitors hanging from the aisle

27. Having to manually shut down to avoid tragedy:

A Windows screen saying "It is now safe to turn off your computer"

28. Choosing a cellphone plan based on "free weekends":

A screenshot of a T-Mobile commercial that says: "600 nationwide whenever minutes. Unlimited weekends. Just $39.99 from T-Mobile"

29. And having limited monthly texting:

A screenshot of Lizzie McGuire texting on a blue flip phone

30. The horror upon seeing this screen:

A meme about accidentally hitting the internet button on a flip phone in the 2000s with a image of the screen of flip phone saying "connecting"

31. Taking a photo and having NO idea how it would come out until you developed it:

A photo of Kodak 40 35mm camera film

32. Looking up a word in a physical dictionary:

Glasses on an open dictionary

33. Having your pockets full of expensive machinery:

A photo of a pink iPod nano and a pink Razr flip phone

34. Netflix as only a DVD rental subscription service:

A photo of a man pulling a "The Sixth Sense" out a red Netflix envelope

35. And what this relic once said:

reddit.com

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