Millennials Rekindle Forgotten Memories: A Flood of Nostalgia for a Bygone Era

The times have altered considerably, and if you're a millennial If so, you've probably noticed how our society has transitioned to become completely technology-driven.

We came of age during a time when cell phones were considered a luxury rather than a must-have; in an epoch when dial-up internet forced you to choose between making phone calls or surfing the web. It sounds prehistoric, but frankly, it was an interesting time when kids were just as ecstatic about discovering the evolution of technology as they were about being outside.

A recent r/AskReddit post asked Millennials responded to the question, “What is something that previous generations overlook but which we genuinely lived through?” Their answers transported us back in time as they recalled an era before instant access to information via search engines and relied solely on paper maps for navigation during road trips. Here are 23 distinctively millennial experiences that older generations might not recall:

1. I reminisce about heading over to the computer lab where my knowledge of computers surpassed both the teacher’s and administrator’s understanding. There was one time when I set up an autocorrect feature on Microsoft Word to replace ‘and’ with ‘chickens,’ but no one knew how to revert this change. As a result, they decided that particular computer couldn’t be used for Microsoft Word anymore.

2. The person who accompanied you to the airport had the ability to pass through security and see you off as you boarded your flight.

3. Sugary-sweet internet. Remember those AOL chat rooms and Neopets? RuneScape , Halo 2 , and other things."

4. Omegle, Chatroulette, Habbo Hotel, changing your MSN messenger status to show what music you were currently enjoying (all of which was downloaded from LimeWire).

5. A genuine member of Generation Y can identify the actual download link on a software-sharing site.

– u/TriangleBasketball

6. "Not only the internet, but computers. We had computers before the internet was widespread, so we couldn’t just Google how to do stuff, or check online guides. No one in your family knew how to use one either. We basically learned how to use computers by trial and error. If you encountered a bug, well, good luck, there won’t ever be a fix for it, because online updates did not exist either. One thing I realized about Gen Z is how bad they are at using computers for anything that cannot be accessed by a single click."

7. "Kazaa taught me so much that I, even to this day, did not need to learn."

– u/shameonyounancydrew

8. "Being home alone after school. We weren't called latchkey kids because it was just normal. Everyone I knew got left at home alone after school."

9. "I've seen a lot of people say things like 'you probably don't know what this is' with respect to things like landline phones, VHS tapes, cassette tapes, etc. Not only were all those things core millennial technologies that we all grew up with, but I have memories of growing up with technology even older than that. My grandparents' houses still had rotary phones, typewriters, and gramophones."

10. It wasn't until our eighth-grade year that we finally had broadband Internet access at home, and only then did we begin utilizing it beyond just work-related tasks. Sometime later, I acquired my very own desktop computer for my bedroom; however, it remained disconnected from the web. My primary use of this device revolved around completing school assignments along with playing simple video games—my initial purchase on eBay (made through the household PC during my one-hour daily window online allowance) turned out to be my personal copy of The Oregon Trail ."

11. "Yeah I grew up out in the sticks and at my first job, I had to use MS DOS, 3.5” and 5.5” floppy disks, a fax machine, a dot matrix printer with carbon copy continuous feed paper, a blue line machine that used ammonia and photo sensitive paper, a plotter where you had to load it with the specific pens you wanted used...like technology had left that office behind and the boss was stuck in 1985 basically, so people are always surprised that somebody my age has experience working with all that junk lol. But if you didn’t live in a wealthy household in an urban or suburban area, odds are you (like me) didn’t get the new tech stuff coming out until much later and made do with the old junk."

– u/door-harp

12. "I still remember having to ask for a non-smoking table at a restaurant."

13. "Learning to drive without a GPS. Using a paper map in the car."

14. "Ebaumsworld!!!"

– u/calvn_hobb3s

15. "Millennials (I am one) are funny in that we were raised at the crossing between the old era and the new one, when the internet and computers took hold. We've been part of both generational sides. Old-style flip phones and landlines, portable CD players for music, VHS tapes, and Blockbuster Video. There was probably only one computer in the house, and you shared it with the family. You were allowed to roam outside wherever you wanted without your parents thinking you'd be kidnapped. The existence of Furbies."

16. "Researching with books. I still remember diving into the stacks and archives to review books that have been out of print for decades to research an extremely niche topic, then having to wait weeks or months for an inter-library loan for a different book that may or may not be relevant to my topic to cross reference and check for biases."

17. "9/11, for some reason. An older Gen X'er told me that if I’m a millennial, there’s no way I remember 9/11 because her kids are millennials and they were toddlers when it happened. I was 12. I remember it vividly. And it turns out, her kids are Gen Z. Idk why older Gen X'ers and Boomers think millennial just means 'someone younger.'"

18. "Wasting many hours crafting the ideal metropolis in SimCity 2000 And then it all falls apart due to calamity."

19. My Gen Z buddy couldn't fathom that we had to pay a small fee for each text message sent.

20. Many establishments did not accept cards and required cash payments, with most individuals carrying loose bills. Today, however, the situation has flipped, as numerous places have become card-only venues, and fewer people appear to keep cash on their person.

– u/InhLaba

21. I recall frequently using payphones…

22. Having to request a job or even an employment form from your desired workplace, followed by shifting towards applying only through online platforms.

23. Typing 'LOL' on our mobiles required nine keystrokes.

– u/AppleBottmBeans

If you belong to Generation Y, what do you believe we've had the opportunity to experience that previous generations missed out on? Please share your thoughts below!