Redditor ShadowOfAphelion wanted to stroll down memory lane and discuss obsolete items from a certain era.
They asked:
"What is something from the early 2000s that no longer exists?"
DVDs, CDs... who would've thought we'd never need them again? I still do, but I'm a grumpy old man.
Clipped Away
"Clippy the paperclip."
anxietygotmelike
"RIP, Clippy. You were always there for me, even when I didn't want you to be."
wickedcricket2187
word everyone GIFGiphyFlash
"Weird flash cartoons."
borninamsterdamzoo
"I randomly get Trogdor stuck in my head. It’s glorious. “In their THATCH ROOF COTTAGES!!!!! THATCH ROOF COTTAGES!!!!!!”
sturgeon11
"And flash games. Ebaumsworld! I don't want to check if it's still a thing but that was the crap back in middle school for me."
violet_hunter339
Minutes & Tones
"Calling people after 9 because they had free minutes. Also, ring back tones."
UndergroundFlaws
"Or buying those ring tones from commercials where you'd text in the number of the ring tone you wanted... yikes that unlocked a memory I didn't know I had."
kortani
"Are ring back tones, the music the caller hears while calling? If so, I have that, and pay extra to be able to assign specific music to specific contacts 😅."
madsd12
I need Sour
"The fruity Altoids RIP."
THAFTRPRTY
"There's an old timey candy store in Florida called Public Displays of Confection that has a youtube channel that shows off making different hard candies. The owner of the shop spend about a year working on the recipe for Tangerine Sours and I think they are now available for preorder on occasion. I got some a few months ago. I think it needed a bit more sour, but over all I think he got the closest to anything else I have tasted."
YourWormGuy
Let's Chat
"AIM."
workingdonttell
"I loved AIM! Many a night I spent just chatting away with people. I remember spending about three hours talking to some rando, who claimed they were Mel B from the Spice Girls. I loved AOL chatrooms."
poohfan
america online email GIFGiphyAIM and AOL. They were obsolete from the beginning. LOL But I remember them fondly.
Tomato Colors
Anyone else remember the Heinz EZ Squirt Ketchup that came in funky colors like green or purple?"
Shoddy-Mastodon-6465
Pixel Burger GIF by haydiroketGiphyThe Bios...
"Bionicles, or at least any new ones."
Ranger176
"My younger brother (25) posted a picture on Instagram of some Bionicles he put together. He was obsessed as a kid and I guess he’s gotten back into them."
Mjb06
"I have like 20 original Bionicle comics that I’ve had forever that I can’t get myself to donate. If you want to pay for shipping, I’ll send them to him lol."
AFlockofLizards
Drenched
"Real super soakers. You cant find a 30 pound minigun that connects to your water hose to win the water war anymore and i feel like my daughter will miss out on the combat experience."
LowLightComment
"You’re right, they are not the same, and it’s a bummer. Now, if relatively harmless assault weapons are what you’re looking for, I’m not sure if you’re familiar with what Nerf is up to these days, but holy shit, my 7 year old and I will go hard, so much fun."
PossiblyUnhinged
"gate pass"
"Friends waiting for you to deplane at your gate."
BFdog
"You can still do this, by the way. Go to the appropriate airline counter and ask for a 'gate pass' to the arriving plane's gate. You'll have to go through security just like you're getting on a plane, but you can waltz right up to the gate and meet them there. Useful for if you're meeting someone with a wheelchair, or a child."
What_is_a_reddot
Way Back When...
"Video rental stores."
"I know we have I think one within a 50 mile radius. Those rental kiosk's are horrible, nothing like walking through the video store and picking out a couple of movies. We would go to our local pizza place and that was one Hell of a date night. Those were the days."
Shelbysouth43
GiphyI miss you Blockbuster Video.
"Wow, what a difference!"
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It might seem borderline impossible, but it's happened repeatedly throughout history. This Reddit thread ended up pretty fascinating, actually:
What job doesn't exist anymore?
Honestly, we didn't even know half of these jobs were things!
Knock-Knock
Knocker upper. People employed to tap on your bedroom window to wake you up before alarm clocks were a thing.
And the knocker-uppers knocker upper. The knocker uppers had their own knocker uppers who essentially worked the night shift, staying up until the early morning, waking the knocker-uppers and then going to bed.
We don't know how they got up.
Haha, my paternal grandmother was British and when she went to a hotel in Florida once, she asked to be knocked up. She didn't know in America that it meant to get pregnant.
Some Screaming Dude
Unfortunately, town criars are no longer a thing. I think it should be brought back really. I'd rather get my daily news from some dude screaming in the streets than waste resources on newspapers that only 1% of people read.
The Entire Middle Class
An entire class of middle-class jobs that you used to be able to actually make a living off of.
For example, my grandmother worked at Sears for two decades. She was what is essentially now cashier/sales. She walked around helping people with clothing and then rung it up.
She made good money, plus commission, plus bonuses.
She had a retirement, a separate pension, great insurance, plenty of sick days and vacation, etc.
She was divorced with no child support but she raised 3 kids comfortably off that. She had her own home. She sent the kids to college on that money. She didn't have to work extra jobs or have a roommate or live off Ramen. She only had a high school diploma.
That job no longer exists. Sears no longer exists specifically but you will never see a department store cashier who could live a comfortable life off that salary alone and retire happily off it.
Computers
A "computer" - someone employed to do calculations
My Mum was a computer, and now I am a computer programmer which is a little weird
So the computer 3D-printed a computer programmer.
Organs Need Air
Organ pumpers
Organs were once pumped by hand. Now, push a button and the organ blower gets turned on to supply steady wind to the pipes.
Pretty Much The Same
GiphyBuffoon, or court jester.
- dodov21
In the UK, we still have an annual Royal Variety show where performers (many of which are comedians) will perform for the Queen.
Not entirely the same as a court jester, but it's damned close.
- joshi38
Copy Machines
Scriveners!
Before photocopiers were even a thought many documents had to be copied very carefully and exactly over to another sheet of paper by hand.
If someone asked me to do that job, I'd probably have to tell them that I'd prefer not to
Possibly interesting fact: in legal documents to this day, when a party has to amend a filing due to a typo, it's possible that it will be attributed to a "scrivener's error".
Retired From Tires
All of my uncles on both sides of my family, 9 of them, worked in tire plants. Two different plants for two different brands but only 30 miles apart. High school was their highest education. They're all in their 70s now living off a fat pension comfortably. All of the wives were housewives. All raised multiple kids and put most of them through college. Lived in nice middle class homes. They spent their entire adult working life doing entry level-type work and were making bank towards the end. Those two plants closed down 20 years ago at like the same time.
I'm Gen X so I don't really shake my fist at Baby Boomers as much as Millenials but they really did have way more opportunities to make a nice living right out of high school that is pretty much impossible to duplicate these days.
- sumuji