A Reddit user asked “What’s something that was popular in the 90s that you don’t really see now?” and the answers are interesting.
As a 90s kid, we can relate to most of them. Let’s see how you feel about it.
1. Pay Phones
“I don’t know why but this is one of the things that I think is so hard to explain to young people that weren’t around. Payphones used to be EVERYWHERE. Rows of them in large public spaces. There was a payphone in or outside of shops on every corner. Restaurants had pay phones in quiet booths. They were so ubiquitous for decades and now they’re just gone.” said one.
“Even if you just drop everything, you’re now without recourse. Many people don’t even have land lines in their homes anymore to compliment their cell service so if something just happens to your phone, you’re gone.” said another.
Nowadays, there are no pay phones. People are so used to their smartphones. Not only can you use it for making calls, but there are apps that can make you money too.
2. Floppy disks
“Still used for the save button on a lot of things. A lot of people have no idea what it is” said one.
“I saw one where they were asking kids what common computer icons were and the top answer for the save button was that it was a refrigerator, apparently the thought process behind it was that a fridge “saves” food from spoiling” shared one.
“I saw a video of a kid who was asked “what is this?” when presented a floppy disk and they said it was a 3D printed “save” icon 😂” shared another.
3. Walkmans
“The ’90s were all about the diskman though. The first one I had was like an inch and a half thick and took six or eight AA batteries that lasted about 30 minutes or so before they died. I loved having a “portable” CD player that I couldn’t take anywhere because it would die. My parents paid a ton of money for that thing and kept having to buy me batteries. My dad went out and bought the AC adapter for it to plug directly into the wall. So for the longest time I carried that cable in my pocket for when we got somewhere and I could listen to my CDs but for the times that I wasn’t near a plug I would pull all eight of those stupid batteries out of my other pocket and stick them back in the CD player. I found out the hard way that the battery still drained even when it was plugged in. Good times…” shares one.
4. Beanie Babies
“Beanie Babies. They were supposed to pay for my college!” said one.
“I just found one of my kids beanie babies on the couch. Got curious and went to eBay. Somebody is trying to sell the same dang thing for $70,000.000.” shared another.
Related: Where To Sell Beanie Babies For Cash? (For Real!)
5. Video Rental Stores
“Video rental stores. Something about browsing for a movie by just looking at the box, was way more fun than browsing netflix. Sometimes a bizzare random movie you never heard of would catch your eye from across the room which just doesn’t happen with streaming.” said one.
6. Disposable cameras
“I heard the noise one day when I was in Central Park. That plasticky clicky noise when advancing the film after taking a photo, like a blast from the past. I looked around the crowd, and then spotted it… someone actually using a disposable camera. I’m not sure if I had seen one in at least a decade” shared one.
“Taking your disposable camera to get developed, and having no idea if any of your pictures were even usable until you got the pictures back” said another.
7. CD Binders
A user shares “Keeping a binder full of CDs in your car”
We remember keeping CD binders at home. My brother and I had different ones.
8. Yellow Pages
“I got a phone book in my mailbox the other day. First one in years. It was about the size of a Goosebumps book.” said one.
Nowadays, noone looks at directories for a number. You have Google for your answers.
9. Remembering Phone Numbers
“A printed list of family and friends’ phone numbers stuck on the fridge.” said one.
“My mom’s been gone 6 years now but I still love seeing the list of important numbers in her handwriting next to the phone.” shared another
10. Reading the back of the shampoo bottle
I remember doing this!
“Reading the back of the shampoo bottle while pooping to pass the time” shared one.
“I’ve read tampon instructions numerous times many years ago. I’m male” said one.
11. Unavailability
“Being completely unreachable by anyone for an entire day or more with no one thinking that it was unusual or rude.” said one.
To which, a user responds, “I do miss this so much. I feel tethered by my phone and miss being able to absorb into something without distraction.”