I was on a road trip this weekend and listened through my 2008 music library.  I do know that towards the end of the year, electropop began to emerge with Katy Perry and Lady Gaga, but these shined more in 2009 which did in fact have a lot more early '10s characteristics, especially during the second half.

In areas other than music, 2008 definitely has more ties to the '00s than the '10s.  Bush was still in office.  The tablet/smartphone revolution had not taken place yet with the exception of the iPhone, which was a novelty item in 2008.  Nobody was talking about hipsters yet.  Emo was past its peak but still relevant and its cousin, scene style, was still overwhelmingly popular for teen and twentysomething guys.  2008 was the year of the "Bieber cut" before Bieber came on the scene to make the style no longer fashionable.  I would say well over half of the guys I knew in their late teens or early twenties had that haircut.  Social media was divided between MySpace and Facebook.  YouTube was still the '00s YouTube...mostly home videos as opposed to the commercial/professional content that dominates it today.  Computing was done mostly on Windows XP with some Vista.  By and large, 2008 had more in common with 2004 than 2011 in many areas of culture.

The examples people usually give for 2008 being a '10s year goes back to the music.  Like I said, yes, electropop was taking off towards the end of the year but it in no way dominated the year like it did in 2009.  Here are a few examples of songs that were popular and that I listened to in 2008.  Most of these would have never been popular in 2010.

pLogqyfUHHs

6J1-eYBbspA

GcNiKCmWdYE

qP6JDLQF23g

J3UjJ4wKLkg

XqTzrUJNtyU

nQJACVmankY

koVHN6eO4Xg - This one samples the 2005 viral sensation "Numa numa"

These are just a few songs from 2008 that scream '00s and would sound out of place in the '10s...even as early '10s as 2010 or 2011.

Thoughts?

True that! 2010 was!

Btw, too many videos on one reply slows the downloading of the page.

I also want to add that 2008 is the most recent year that truly feels "old school."  It feels like another world.  2009-12 feel dated but they don't feel completely irrelevant to today's culture.  The mid '10s are closer to the early '10s in culture than the early '10s were to the core '00s.

I also want to add that 2008 is the most recent year that truly feels "old school."  It feels like another world.  2009-12 feel dated but they don't feel completely irrelevant to today's culture.  The mid '10s are closer to the early '10s in culture than the early '10s were to the core '00s.

Eh, I think 2006 was the last old school year.

As you and others on this forum have mentioned, 2006 was the LAST year where you could still get away with certain late 90s/early 00s fashion, such as khaki cargo pants, the last year where you could still buy a CD from Sam Goody or Wherehouse Music, the last where you could still shop at CompUSA and Circuit City, the last year where you had a somewhat fair chance of meeting someone who still had dial-up internet, the last year where Pluto was a planet, the last year of early 2000s shows such as Malcolm in the Middle (even in the 2006 episodes, the characters still had spiked hair and played their Game Boy Colors with Ska Punk on the soundtrack!), Bernie Mac Show, That's 70 Show, West Wing, Will & Grace, Inuyasha, Arrested Development, Teen Titans, etc., the last year of UPN and WB, the last year of classic ABC sports, the last real year of 6th gen gaming, the last full year with a good economy, the last year of the 00s where Republicans had control of Congress, etc.

Yes, Jordan is right - we DO treat 2006 like it's the center of the universe, but for good reason! ;D 2006 is like the inter-dimensional time rift separating Universe A from Universe B.

I would have to agree with you. 2008 was the last year of the core 2000s. You could see the start of the early 2010s. However, 2008 was still the core 2000s, just in it's last breath.

Eh, I think 2006 was the last old school year.

As you and others on this forum have mentioned, 2006 was the LAST year where you could still get away with certain late 90s/early 00s fashion, such as khaki cargo pants, the last year where you could still buy a CD from Sam Goody or Wherehouse Music, the last where you could still shop at CompUSA and Circuit City, the last year where you had a somewhat fair chance of meeting someone who still had dial-up internet, the last year where Pluto was a planet, the last year of early 2000s shows such as Malcolm in the Middle (even in the 2006 episodes, the characters still had spiked hair and played their Game Boy Colors with Ska Punk on the soundtrack!), Bernie Mac Show, That's 70 Show, West Wing, Will & Grace, Inuyasha, Arrested Development, Teen Titans, etc., the last year of UPN and WB, the last year of classic ABC sports, the last real year of 6th gen gaming, the last full year with a good economy, the last year of the 00s where Republicans had control of Congress, etc.

Yes, Jordan is right - we DO treat 2006 like it's the center of the universe, but for good reason! ;D 2006 is like the inter-dimensional time rift separating Universe A from Universe B.

2006 is the last old school year but 2008 is the closest year that I have nostalgia for.

Frankly, it's debatable to see 2008 as either a late 2000s or early 2010s year. Everyone at the time was occupied with the year's election, while they started to become more positive with the Democratic Party (at least for those in America).

Yes, Jordan is right - we DO treat 2006 like it's the center of the universe, but for good reason! ;D 2006 is like the inter-dimensional time rift separating Universe A from Universe B.


Instead of talking about decades that ruled and the things we liked about them, like the 80's and 90's, you guys decide to focus on 2006 like it's the greatest thing in the world or something. Ridiculous. ::)

But now, oh boy, we have another pointless thread about how 2008 fits more into this category rather than that category! Another point that's been made 3,000 posts ago but has been revived for whatever reason. ::) ::) ::)

Instead of talking about decades that ruled and the things we liked about them, like the 80's and 90's, you guys decide to focus on 2006 like it's the greatest thing in the world or something. Ridiculous. ::)

No, we focus on it like it's the worst thing in the world, because it killed everything we hold near and dear to us that 2004 hadn't killed already.

Bile fascination, they call it.

No, we focus on it like it's the worst thing in the world, because it killed everything we hold near and dear to us.


Because 2005 was so much better. :P

Because 2005 was so much better. :P

2005 was one of the mightiest years, everyone except you seems to think so! ;D

Revenge of the Sith... Batman Begins... King Kong... last year with good hip-hop... W00T, go 2005 :)

2008 gave us Super Smash Bros. Brawl so it's best forgotten.  :-X

But you're right that it's a 2000s year. I was still wearing boot cut jeans that year. Skinny jeans didn't happen until late 2009.

2005 was one of the mightiest years, everyone except you seems to think so! ;D

Revenge of the Sith... Batman Begins... King Kong... last year with good hip-hop... W00T, go 2005 :)


Hip Hop was so bad in 2005... Zelek, come on!

The only good movie you mentioned was Batman Begins. Revenge was mediocre but better the other two, though. :P

Hip Hop was so bad in 2005... Zelek, come on!

The only good movie you mentioned was Batman Begins. Revenge was mediocre but better the other two, though. :P

On that note, Batman Begins is actually my favorite of the Nolan movies. Unlike the other two which felt a bit dull and overly-concerned with "gritty realism", this one felt more like a fantasy world (or a, y'know, comic book world :P), and imo it was all the better for it.

2008 was the last full year the culture was predominantly 2000's. 2008 is a late 2000's year, but there's no doubt it was a huge transition year politically and pop culturally. The core 2000's were over by the end of 2007.

I would have to agree with you. 2008 was the last year of the core 2000s. You could see the start of the early 2010s. However, 2008 was still the core 2000s, just in it's last breath.


2008 was late 2000's, but there's no way it was core 2000's anymore. That year was too much of a transition for it to be core. Sure, Bush was still in office, but core 2000's music was past its prime and a lot of core 2000's TV shows had just ended the previous year. 6th generation gaming was over and 7th generation gaming had already became the norm. While 2008 was still late 2000's, a lot of early 2010's influences did start coming as early as late 2007 or 2008, whether it was shows like Phineas & Ferb, Breaking Bad, Mad Men, The Big Bang Theory, the Twilight Saga beginning, or movies like Iron Man or The Incredible Hulk that kicked off the Marvel Cinematic Universe. 2008-early 2009 were late 2000's cultural years on the outside of the core 2000's just like late 2001-2002 were early 2000's cultural years on the outside of the core 2000's.

I recall that most people that year were still listening to '00s-style hip-hop, Stargate-produced R&B ballads, and emo. 

Hip Hop was so bad in 2005... Zelek, come on!

The only good movie you mentioned was Batman Begins. Revenge was mediocre but better the other two, though. :P


Bruh, 2005 had more than just Batman Begins. We also had two System of a Down albums released that year (Hypnotize and Mezmerize).

I recall that most people that year were still listening to '00s-style hip-hop, Stargate-produced R&B ballads, and emo.


This.

Lady Gaga was a rising star during the second half, but GagaMania was more of a 2009 thing.  I think people tend to group 2008 with the early '10s because of the things that debuted that year were things that would have a greater impact on the '10s than the '00s.  However, the established culture was still very much '00s.  I think a lot of people would actually be shocked by how dated the year was if they were teleported back there.

Remember that most of society isn't on the cutting edge of pop culture.  One example is if you had an iPhone in 2007 or 2008, you were either wealthy or a geek.

This.

Lady Gaga was a rising star during the second half, but GagaMania was more of a 2009 thing.  I think people tend to group 2008 with the early '10s because of the things that debuted that year were things that would have a greater impact on the '10s than the '00s.  However, the established culture was still very much '00s.  I think a lot of people would actually be shocked by how dated the year was if they were teleported back there.

Remember that most of society isn't on the cutting edge of pop culture.  One example is if you had an iPhone in 2007 or 2008, you were either wealthy or a geek.


Or you're devoted to Apple so much, that you would buy their newest products by every minute. Even though that wouldn't be me, since I was more into Windows PCs by the time the iPhone was released in mid 2007.

2008 was late 2000's, but there's no way it was core 2000's anymore. That year was too much of a transition for it to be core. Sure, Bush was still in office, but core 2000's music was past its prime and a lot of core 2000's TV shows had just ended the previous year. 6th generation gaming was over and 7th generation gaming had already became the norm. While 2008 was still late 2000's, a lot of early 2010's influences did start coming as early as late 2007 or 2008, whether it was shows like Phineas & Ferb, Breaking Bad, Mad Men, The Big Bang Theory, the Twilight Saga beginning, or movies like Iron Man or The Incredible Hulk that kicked off the Marvel Cinematic Universe. 2008-early 2009 were late 2000's cultural years on the outside of the core 2000's just like late 2001-2002 were early 2000's cultural years on the outside of the core 2000's.

Of course 2008 was the late 2000s, who said that it wasn't?. By last year of the core 2000s, I meant culturally and politically not about what 2008 set up in the future (early 2010s culture).

Of course 2008 was the late 2000s, who said that it wasn't?. By last year of the core 2000s, I meant culturally and politically not about what 2008 set up in the future (early 2010s culture).


Exactly, that's why it's not core 2000's anymore. Core 2000's means CORE 2000's, when it's 85-100% peak of 2000's culture only and no early 2010's influences found at the time and no late 90's influences at all either. There's a reason 2003-2007 are called the CORE 2000's, and not late 2001-2002 or 2008-early 2009 despite those still being 2000's cultural years. 2008 is still late 2000's but it's not core anymore because while it was still predominantly 2000's culture things were transitioning into early 2010's culture especially by the 2nd half of the year. If you're confused, 2003 is the only early 2000's year that belongs to the core 2000's, while 2007 is the only late 2000's year that belongs to core 2000's. The rest of the core 2000's years belong to mid 2000's culture.

Exactly, that's why it's not core 2000's anymore. Core 2000's means CORE 2000's, when it's 85-100% peak of 2000's culture only and no early 2010's influences found at the time and no late 90's influences at all either. There's a reason 2003-2007 are called the CORE 2000's, and not late 2001-2002 or 2008-early 2009 despite those still being 2000's cultural years. 2008 is still late 2000's but it's not core anymore because while it was still predominantly 2000's culture things were transitioning into early 2010's culture especially by the 2nd half of the year. If you're confused, 2003 is the only early 2000's year that belongs to the core 2000's, while 2007 is the only late 2000's year that belongs to core 2000's. The rest of the core 2000's years belong to mid 2000's culture.

I already know this. The thread is about whether 2008 is early 2010s year or not and 2008 is NOT a early 2010s year. Of course being the 2nd to last year of the 2000s, you started to see bits of the early 2010s in 2008. However, 2008 was DEFINITELY not the start of the early 2010s (2009 was). 2008 was the full CULTURAL and POLITICAL year of the 2000s.

I already know this. The thread is about whether 2008 is early 2010s year or not and 2008 is NOT a early 2010s year. Of course being the 2nd to last year of the 2000s, you started to see bits of the early 2010s in 2008. However, 2008 was DEFINITELY not the start of the early 2010s (2009 was). 2008 was the full CULTURAL and POLITICAL year of the 2000s.


I'm not arguing that 2008 wasn't a 2000's year. You started seeing bits of the early 2010's since late 2007 actually (as I've already stated), but that didn't make an early 2010's year, and I'm fully aware early 2010's culture became dominant by fall 2009. All I'm trying to tell you is that 2008 was not core 2000's, 2007 was the final core 2000's year. You might as well include 2001 or 2002 as core 2000's years if you include 2008 in there.

I'm not arguing that 2008 wasn't a 2000's year, hell, you started seeing bits of the early 2010's since late 2007 actually (as I've already stated), but that didn't make an early 2010's year, and I'm fully aware early 2010's culture became dominant by fall 2009. All I'm trying to tell you is that 2008 was not core 2000's, 2007 was the final core 2000's year. You might as well include 2001 or 2002 as core 2000's years if you include 2008 in there.

Yeah, we agree with each other. When I said core I meant similar to but you know whatever. We agree and that's it.

I already know this. The thread is about whether 2008 is early 2010s year or not and 2008 is NOT a early 2010s year. Of course being the 2nd to last year of the 2000s, you started to see bits of the early 2010s in 2008. However, 2008 was DEFINITELY not the start of the early 2010s (2009 was). 2008 was the full CULTURAL and POLITICAL year of the 2000s.


I think what mqg96 said doesn't need to be taken seriously. 2008 to me was a full on cultural and political year within its decade. HOWEVER, by the time we got into November of 2008, everybody knew that Obama would be our president. Although from my perspective, I never CARED for Obama being elected. I had NO knowledge on what's going on politically (considering I was 8-9 in 2008), and it just doesn't seem like something that I would recall deeply.

Not everything between you and mqg96's perspective is a fact beyond this website. It's basically just trivial stuff that nobody would find as important. It's just opinions. Much like how I think 2003-2008 (and early 2009) were the happiest years of my life, since I was a child during those years.

I think what mqg96 said doesn't need to be taken seriously. 2008 to me was a full on cultural and political year within its decade. HOWEVER, by the time we got into November of 2008, everybody knew that Obama would be our president. Although from my perspective, I never CARED for Obama being elected. I had NO knowledge on what's going on politically (considering I was 8-9 in 2008), and it just doesn't seem like something that I would recall deeply.


Yeah, if someone says 2003 is a mid 2000's year I don't really care anymore lol. 2008 will always be remembered more for Obama's election "Yes We Can!" (which is a late 2000's thing) even though Bush was in office. Think of how 2016 went, people were thinking about Trump vs. Hillary all year long. 2016 will be remembered for Trump's election more than Obama still being in office similar to 2008.

I think what mqg96 said doesn't need to be taken seriously. 2008 to me was a full on cultural and political year within its decade. HOWEVER, by the time we got into November of 2008, everybody knew that Obama would be our president. Although from my perspective, I never CARED for Obama being elected. I had NO knowledge on what's going on politically (considering I was 8-9 in 2008), and it just doesn't seem like something that I would recall deeply.

Not everything between you and mqg96's perspective is a fact beyond this website. It's basically just trivial stuff that nobody would find as important. It's just opinions. Much like how I think 2003-2008 (and early 2009) were the happiest years of my life, since I was a child during those years.


Yeah, we agree with each other. When I said core I meant similar to but you know whatever. We agree and that's it.

Yeah, if someone says 2003 is a mid 2000's year I don't really care anymore lol. 2008 will always be remembered more for Obama's election "Yes We Can!" (which is a late 2000's thing) even though Bush was in office. Think of how 2016 went, people were thinking about Trump vs. Hillary all year long. 2016 will be remembered for Trump's election more than Obama still being in office similar to 2008.


Except 2008 didn't really cause so much uproars with politicians. People at the time were more optimistic and cared about Obama during the year's election. It even got through kids at the time, even though we probably never knew why we wanted Obama as our president until later in our lives.

Except 2008 didn't really cause so much uproars with politicians. People at the time were more optimistic and cared about Obama during the year's election. It even got through kids at the time, even though we probably never knew why we wanted Obama as our president until later in our lives.

I agree. However, unlike what you said I was actually interested in the election in 2008 even though I was 8-9 years during 2008.

I've been saying this for sometime. I realized a few years ago that 2008 (and half of 2009) were still 00s to the end, and not early 10s that most people make it out to be.  There have many aspects I can name off, but it has been stated over and over that it doesn't need to be repeated again. There's one thing that hasn't been mentioned however, and that it was also pre-Drake. Yeah, he had the Comeback Season already, but remember just like Gaga, he truly didn't blow up until 2009 with his well-known track Best I've ever had.

Here are some songs that make 2008 sound in place.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1mU6h4Xdxc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TSn53u6wEQ4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cB5e0zHRzHc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UWgRwVRbxc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWBE0sQC5L8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4m1EFMoRFvY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_weSk0BonM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9b8erWuBA44

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0vGsyprO54

Except 2008 didn't really cause so much uproars with politicians. People at the time were more optimistic and cared about Obama during the year's election. It even got through kids at the time, even though we probably never knew why we wanted Obama as our president until later in our lives.


Oh I knew at the time even when I was 12. It was the backlash against George Bush I remember the strong hatred he was getting for keeping the troops in Iraq for so long and the economy going downhill A.K.A. recession. There's some more to it but I'm not going to get into detail right now.

I think the issue that some people seem to not understand is that a decades 'Core' = 'Mid'. There two seperate entities, that generally do intersect, but should still be treated as such. For instance I tend to see 2003 (mostly) as a Core 2000's year, but that doesn't mean its an mid 2000's year like 2004-2006 mostly are. In a similar sense, I see 2007 as a Late 2000's Year but I view it still part of the Core of 2000's culture rather than most of 2008 and 2009.

If we're talking about 'full' years than the Core 2000's in my mind would be from 2004-2007. If were including various time periods at both the beginning and the end it would include, Mid-Late 2003 and Early 2008. From a school years perspective this is how It would look like starting from the 90's

1992-1993 through 1997-1998: Core 90's

-Definitive School Year: 1995-1996


1998-1999 through 2002-2003: Millennium Era (Not distinctly 90's or 00's)

-Definitive School Year: 2000-2001


2003-2004 through 2007-2008: Core 00's

-Definitive School Year: 2005-2006


2008-2009 through 2012-2013: Electropop Era (Not distinctly 00's or 10's)

-Definitive School Year: 2010-2011


2013-2014 through the present: Core 10's

-Definitive School Year: Either 2014-2015 or 2015-2016






Now if were looking at things from a chronological 'early', 'mid', or 'late' perspective than it would look like this:




September of 1991 (Release of Nevermind/Tail end of Cold War) through April 5th 1994 (Kurt Cobain's death): The Cultural Early 90's

-Definitive Year: 1992 (the year of The 92' Election, The LA Riots, and the peak of the 16 bit Console Wars)



Circa April 6th 1994 (After Kurt Cobain's death, the start of the Post-Grunge Era, Britpop becoming big with Ace of Base) through March 9th 1997 (death of Biggie Smalls, the disbandment of Soundgarden, and the international release of 'Wanna Be' by the Spice Girls): The Cultural Late 90's

-Definitive Year: 1995 (The year of The O.J Simpson Trial, OKC Bombing, and The Launch of Windows 95)



Circa March 10th 1997 (After the death of Biggie, the continued popularity of 5th generation game consoles like PS1 and N64, Teen Pop starting to get big) through September 10th 2001 (The day before everything changed): The Cultural Late 90's

-Definitive Year: 1999 (The year of The Y2K Bug, The Matrix, The peak of the Dot-Com Bubble, and the Launch of the Dreamcast)



September 11th 2001 (The day that changed everything, sparked the War on Terror, The Launch of the iPod, Xbox, Gamecube, and PS2 the new Console kings, Teen Pop slowly dying with Hip Hop/R&B influences from the Neptunes getting popular such as 'Im Real' by JLO featuring Ja Rule) through April 29th 2004 (One day before the release of the Mid 2000's cult classic Mean Girls, post 'Nipplegate', Iraq War starting to receive mainstream backlash resulting in Bush's first negative approval rating): The Cultural Early 00's


-Definitive Year: 2002 (Peak in PS2, Enron Scandal, Bush's high approval ratings)



Circa Mid 2004 (The release of Fahrenheit 9/11 which create more skepticism on the U.S govt., The Transition from Web 1.0 internet to Web 2.0 internet, successful release of Shrek 2 which is the final nail in the coffin for the era of 2D animation, end of CN/Nick's Golden/Silver Ages) through November 7th 2006 (Democrats win back Congress as the Bush administration's popularity reaches record lows, The iPod is officially a mainstay in American music culture): Cultural Mid 00's


Definitive Year: 2005 (MJ's second Child Abuse accusation trial, Green Day's American Idiot, Hurricane Katrina)



Circa Winter 2006/2007 (Launch of the Wii, HDTV's starting to become common, HD DVD vs. Blu Ray format wars starting, housing prices starting to rapidly fall, death of Saddam Hussein, announcement of iPhone) through January 20th 2009 (Inauguration of Barack Obama, Great Recession at its peak, electropop starting to become massively big with Lady Gaga's The Fame and The Black Eyed Pees' The E.N.D): The Cultural Late 00's

Definitive Year: 2008 (Bush's record low approval ratings, Iraq Troop Surge, Bankruptcy of Lehman Bros., 08' Election)




I would keep going but we all tend to agree with the formations of the 'early', 'mid', and 'late' 2010's so I'll spare you guys that!

2008 isn't even close to being early '10s, culturally. Even by 2010, the vast bulk of things that defined the year looked quite dated. I can't imagine things like "Low," standard-def television shows, flip phones, MySpace, and emo still seeming current by that point in time.

Despite the Marvel Cinematic Universe technically beginning in 2008 with Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk, the MCU wasn't a definite thing yet, and The Dark Knight, perhaps the quintessential superhero film of the 2000s, was the biggest blockbuster of the year. Television did already have a few significant shows to the 2010s, such as The Big Bang Theory, Mad Men, and Breaking Bad (far before its 2013 peak), but for the most part, it was still dominated by either distinctly 2000s programs like The Office, 24, Lost, and Friday Night Lights or more borderline 2000s/2010s ones like Dexter, 30 Rock, and frankly even Mad Men. Gaming was also on the cusp of 2000s/2010s, with a lean towards the former due to the identifiably 2000s DS and Wii being in their peaks and the 360 and PS3 not being firmly 2010s like their respective successors.

I don't even really think Lady Gaga's first album sounds all that 2010s; it's really more to the 2010s what The Cars' self-titled debut and Blondie's Parallel Lines were to the 80s - they may have been critical stepping stones towards the development of the upcoming decade's sound, but still they were dated even compared to what was typical early in the upcoming decade; just as Blondie's Eat to the Beat and Autoamerican were notably more advanced compared to Parallel Lines and The Cars' Candy-O, Panorama, and Shake It Up were far more comfortably 80s than their self-titled 1978 album, Lady Gaga's The Fame Monster and Born This Way are significantly more futuristic-sounding than The Fame was, despite representing the very beginning of the 2010s. Even with stylistically transitional songs like "Just Dance" and "Poker Face," other numbers from The Fame such as "Paparazzi," "Starstruck," and "LoveGame" are pretty much firmly late 2000s material, in contrast to something like The Fame Monster's "Alejandro," which still sounds quite current today (even though nothing being released comes anywhere close to rivaling its quality).

bchris02 also made a solid point about YouTube, that it was mostly dominated by home videos rather than professional channels. While Smosh, lonelygirl15, and the Angry Video Game Nerd were vital in establishing the website as a major outlet of entertainment, the latter two are pretty much solidly confined to the late 2000s (James is still active and has plenty of fans, but his prime was undoubtedly the late 2000s), while the former evolved into a dramatically different entity once the 2010s drew near and it became less homespun and more commercialized. 2010s YouTube is more represented by programs like ERBOH, Tobuscus, Honest Trailers, The Key of Awesome, PewDiePie, and GameGrumps, not so much the channels that took off in the late 2000s.

2008 isn't even close to being early '10s, culturally. Even by 2010, the vast bulk of things that defined the year looked quite dated. I can't imagine things like "Low," standard-def television shows, flip phones, MySpace, and emo still seeming current by that point in time.

Despite the Marvel Cinematic Universe technically beginning in 2008 with Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk, the MCU wasn't a definite thing yet, and The Dark Knight, perhaps the quintessential superhero film of the 2000s, was the biggest blockbuster of the year. Television did already have a few significant shows to the 2010s, such as The Big Bang Theory, Mad Men, and Breaking Bad (far before its 2013 peak), but for the most part, it was still dominated by either distinctly 2000s programs like The Office, 24, Lost, and Friday Night Lights or more borderline 2000s/2010s ones like Dexter, 30 Rock, and frankly even Mad Men. Gaming was also on the cusp of 2000s/2010s, with a lean towards the former due to the identifiably 2000s DS and Wii being in their peaks and the 360 and PS3 not being firmly 2010s like their respective successors.

I don't even really think Lady Gaga's first album sounds all that 2010s; it's really more to the 2010s what The Cars' self-titled debut and Blondie's Parallel Lines were to the 80s - they may have been critical stepping stones towards the development of the upcoming decade's sound, but still they were dated even compared to what was typical early in the upcoming decade; just as Blondie's Eat to the Beat and Autoamerican were notably more advanced compared to Parallel Lines and The Cars' Candy-O, Panorama, and Shake It Up were far more comfortably 80s than their self-titled 1978 album, Lady Gaga's The Fame Monster and Born This Way are significantly more futuristic-sounding than The Fame was, despite representing the very beginning of the 2010s. Even with stylistically transitional songs like "Just Dance" and "Poker Face," other numbers from The Fame such as "Paparazzi," "Starstruck," and "LoveGame" are pretty much firmly late 2000s material, in contrast to something like The Fame Monster's "Alejandro," which still sounds quite current today (even though nothing being released comes anywhere close to rivaling its quality).

bchris02 also made a solid point about YouTube, that it was mostly dominated by home videos rather than professional channels. While Smosh, lonelygirl15, and the Angry Video Game Nerd were vital in establishing the website as a major outlet of entertainment, the latter two are pretty much solidly confined to the late 2000s (James is still active and has plenty of fans, but his prime was undoubtedly the late 2000s), while the former evolved into a dramatically different entity once the 2010s drew near and it became less homespun and more commercialized. 2010s YouTube is more represented by programs like ERBOH, Tobuscus, Honest Trailers, The Key of Awesome, PewDiePie, and GameGrumps, not so much the channels that took off in the late 2000s.

I agree with you 100%.

bchris02 also made a solid point about YouTube, that it was mostly dominated by home videos rather than professional channels. While Smosh, lonelygirl15, and the Angry Video Game Nerd were vital in establishing the website as a major outlet of entertainment, the latter two are pretty much solidly confined to the late 2000s (James is still active and has plenty of fans, but his prime was undoubtedly the late 2000s), while the former evolved into a dramatically different entity once the 2010s drew near and it became less homespun and more commercialized. 2010s YouTube is more represented by programs like ERBOH, Tobuscus, Honest Trailers, The Key of Awesome, PewDiePie, and GameGrumps, not so much the channels that took off in the late 2000s.


Should I also take note that YouTube wasn't HD yet for most of 2008. It wasn't until the very end of 2008 (like December) when YouTube became HD which still applies to this day of course. One of the biggest factors of the early YouTube days from 2006-2008 is that it was standard definition and videos could not exceed 10 minutes.

I think the issue that some people seem to not understand is that a decades 'Core' = 'Mid'. There two seperate entities, that generally do intersect, but should still be treated as such. For instance I tend to see 2003 (mostly) as a Core 2000's year, but that doesn't mean its an mid 2000's year like 2004-2006 mostly are. In a similar sense, I see 2007 as a Late 2000's Year but I view it still part of the Core of 2000's culture rather than most of 2008 and 2009.

If we're talking about 'full' years than the Core 2000's in my mind would be from 2004-2007. If were including various time periods at both the beginning and the end it would include, Mid-Late 2003 and Early 2008. From a school years perspective this is how It would look like starting from the 90's

1992-1993 through 1997-1998: Core 90's

-Definitive School Year: 1995-1996


1998-1999 through 2002-2003: Millennium Era (Not distinctly 90's or 00's)

-Definitive School Year: 2000-2001


2003-2004 through 2007-2008: Core 00's

-Definitive School Year: 2005-2006


2008-2009 through 2012-2013: Electropop Era (Not distinctly 00's or 10's)

-Definitive School Year: 2010-2011


2013-2014 through the present: Core 10's

-Definitive School Year: Either 2014-2015 or 2015-2016






Now if were looking at things from a chronological 'early', 'mid', or 'late' perspective than it would look like this:




September of 1991 (Release of Nevermind/Tail end of Cold War) through April 5th 1994 (Kurt Cobain's death): The Cultural Early 90's

-Definitive Year: 1992 (the year of The 92' Election, The LA Riots, and the peak of the 16 bit Console Wars)



Circa April 6th 1994 (After Kurt Cobain's death, the start of the Post-Grunge Era, Britpop becoming big with Ace of Base) through March 9th 1997 (death of Biggie Smalls, the disbandment of Soundgarden, and the international release of 'Wanna Be' by the Spice Girls): The Cultural Late 90's

-Definitive Year: 1995 (The year of The O.J Simpson Trial, OKC Bombing, and The Launch of Windows 95)



Circa March 10th 1997 (After the death of Biggie, the continued popularity of 5th generation game consoles like PS1 and N64, Teen Pop starting to get big) through September 10th 2001 (The day before everything changed): The Cultural Late 90's

-Definitive Year: 1999 (The year of The Y2K Bug, The Matrix, The peak of the Dot-Com Bubble, and the Launch of the Dreamcast)



September 11th 2001 (The day that changed everything, sparked the War on Terror, The Launch of the iPod, Xbox, Gamecube, and PS2 the new Console kings, Teen Pop slowly dying with Hip Hop/R&B influences from the Neptunes getting popular such as 'Im Real' by JLO featuring Ja Rule) through April 29th 2004 (One day before the release of the Mid 2000's cult classic Mean Girls, post 'Nipplegate', Iraq War starting to receive mainstream backlash resulting in Bush's first negative approval rating): The Cultural Early 00's


-Definitive Year: 2002 (Peak in PS2, Enron Scandal, Bush's high approval ratings)



Circa Mid 2004 (The release of Fahrenheit 9/11 which create more skepticism on the U.S govt., The Transition from Web 1.0 internet to Web 2.0 internet, successful release of Shrek 2 which is the final nail in the coffin for the era of 2D animation, end of CN/Nick's Golden/Silver Ages) through November 7th 2006 (Democrats win back Congress as the Bush administration's popularity reaches record lows, The iPod is officially a mainstay in American music culture): Cultural Mid 00's


Definitive Year: 2005 (MJ's second Child Abuse accusation trial, Green Day's American Idiot, Hurricane Katrina)



Circa Winter 2006/2007 (Launch of the Wii, HDTV's starting to become common, HD DVD vs. Blu Ray format wars starting, housing prices starting to rapidly fall, death of Saddam Hussein, announcement of iPhone) through January 20th 2009 (Inauguration of Barack Obama, Great Recession at its peak, electropop starting to become massively big with Lady Gaga's The Fame and The Black Eyed Pees' The E.N.D): The Cultural Late 00's

Definitive Year: 2008 (Bush's record low approval ratings, Iraq Troop Surge, Bankruptcy of Lehman Bros., 08' Election)




I would keep going but we all tend to agree with the formations of the 'early', 'mid', and 'late' 2010's so I'll spare you guys that!

Just one little nitpick. The Black Eyed Peas released The E.N.D. after January 20, 2009. The album was released on June 3, 2009 and the album's most famous song Boom Boom Pow was released on March 31, 2009. However, other than that your assessment is pretty accurate.

I don't believe remembering Lady Gaga was that popular for most of 2008. I'd say she really became popular around October/November of 2008.  It takes time to build a fan base.

bchris02 also made a solid point about YouTube, that it was mostly dominated by home videos rather than professional channels. While Smosh, lonelygirl15, and the Angry Video Game Nerd were vital in establishing the website as a major outlet of entertainment, the latter two are pretty much solidly confined to the late 2000s (James is still active and has plenty of fans, but his prime was undoubtedly the late 2000s), while the former evolved into a dramatically different entity once the 2010s drew near and it became less homespun and more commercialized. 2010s YouTube is more represented by programs like ERBOH, Tobuscus, Honest Trailers, The Key of Awesome, PewDiePie, and GameGrumps, not so much the channels that took off in the late 2000s.


Except none of those channels from 2010s YouTube actually originated from the late 2000s. Most of them actually originated from the early 2010s, which kinda started a new era for YouTube by the time 2012 was around.

I don't believe remembering Lady Gaga was that popular for most of 2008. I'd say she really became popular around October/November of 2008.  It takes time to build a fan base.


Just Dance in the summer of 2008 was popular, but it was only one song. She really blew up with Poker Face in late 2008, but even then, I feel like she established herself as a big pop girl, rather than a standard-bearer of what's to come. It was until she came out with Bad Romance in late 2009 that I started seeing her being branded as a game-changer and "making pop artistic". Bad Romance was truly everywhere. Then the Gaga clones followed.

If I were to compare, I'd say Poker Face was like the Spice Girl's Wannabe of electropop, while Bad Romance was the Baby One More Time. :D

2008 isn't even close to being early '10s, culturally. Even by 2010, the vast bulk of things that defined the year looked quite dated. I can't imagine things like "Low," standard-def television shows, flip phones, MySpace, and emo still seeming current by that point in time.

Despite the Marvel Cinematic Universe technically beginning in 2008 with Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk, the MCU wasn't a definite thing yet, and The Dark Knight, perhaps the quintessential superhero film of the 2000s, was the biggest blockbuster of the year. Television did already have a few significant shows to the 2010s, such as The Big Bang Theory, Mad Men, and Breaking Bad (far before its 2013 peak), but for the most part, it was still dominated by either distinctly 2000s programs like The Office, 24, Lost, and Friday Night Lights or more borderline 2000s/2010s ones like Dexter, 30 Rock, and frankly even Mad Men. Gaming was also on the cusp of 2000s/2010s, with a lean towards the former due to the identifiably 2000s DS and Wii being in their peaks and the 360 and PS3 not being firmly 2010s like their respective successors.

I don't even really think Lady Gaga's first album sounds all that 2010s; it's really more to the 2010s what The Cars' self-titled debut and Blondie's Parallel Lines were to the 80s - they may have been critical stepping stones towards the development of the upcoming decade's sound, but still they were dated even compared to what was typical early in the upcoming decade; just as Blondie's Eat to the Beat and Autoamerican were notably more advanced compared to Parallel Lines and The Cars' Candy-O, Panorama, and Shake It Up were far more comfortably 80s than their self-titled 1978 album, Lady Gaga's The Fame Monster and Born This Way are significantly more futuristic-sounding than The Fame was, despite representing the very beginning of the 2010s. Even with stylistically transitional songs like "Just Dance" and "Poker Face," other numbers from The Fame such as "Paparazzi," "Starstruck," and "LoveGame" are pretty much firmly late 2000s material, in contrast to something like The Fame Monster's "Alejandro," which still sounds quite current today (even though nothing being released comes anywhere close to rivaling its quality).

bchris02 also made a solid point about YouTube, that it was mostly dominated by home videos rather than professional channels. While Smosh, lonelygirl15, and the Angry Video Game Nerd were vital in establishing the website as a major outlet of entertainment, the latter two are pretty much solidly confined to the late 2000s (James is still active and has plenty of fans, but his prime was undoubtedly the late 2000s), while the former evolved into a dramatically different entity once the 2010s drew near and it became less homespun and more commercialized. 2010s YouTube is more represented by programs like ERBOH, Tobuscus, Honest Trailers, The Key of Awesome, PewDiePie, and GameGrumps, not so much the channels that took off in the late 2000s.


I agree with all of this 100%

I never thought about differences between the Fame and the Fame Monster but you are right on that.  The Fame Monster was a definite early '10s sounding album.  The Fame wasn't quite as much and was more in line with Britney Spears' Womanizer album.  Katy Perry's "One of the Boys" also was pre-electropop.  While the two big artists that came to dominate the '10s debuted in '08, even their music had more ties to the '00s at that time.

I think the MCU started to become a bigger deal around 2011 and its peak was in 2014-16 with Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers: The Age Of Ultron, and Captain America: Civil War.  I think the MCU's impact on pop culture has peaked and will fade by 2020.  There will still be MCU movies and they will be big, but it won't be what it was during the mid '10s.  Though it debuted in '08, as you said the Dark Knight was the defining superhero of the late '00s and MCU really wasn't on that many people's radar.

Should I also take note that YouTube wasn't HD yet for most of 2008. It wasn't until the very end of 2008 (like December) when YouTube became HD which still applies to this day of course. One of the biggest factors of the early YouTube days from 2006-2008 is that it was standard definition and videos could not exceed 10 minutes.


True.  I forgot about the 10 minute limit.  I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that Internet connections were much slower then.  People think we jumped from dial-up to the high speed Internet we have today but it didn't work that way.  In 2008, the average speed was still between 3 and 15 Mbps.  Most people who didn't pay extra for faster tiers were down closer to 3 Mbps.  Today it's anywhere from 50-300 Mbps.  On a 3 Mbps connection, HD streaming just isn't going to work.

I think the issue that some people seem to not understand is that a decades 'Core' = 'Mid'. There two seperate entities, that generally do intersect, but should still be treated as such. For instance I tend to see 2003 (mostly) as a Core 2000's year, but that doesn't mean its an mid 2000's year like 2004-2006 mostly are. In a similar sense, I see 2007 as a Late 2000's Year but I view it still part of the Core of 2000's culture rather than most of 2008 and 2009.

If we're talking about 'full' years than the Core 2000's in my mind would be from 2004-2007. If were including various time periods at both the beginning and the end it would include, Mid-Late 2003 and Early 2008. From a school years perspective this is how It would look like starting from the 90's

1992-1993 through 1997-1998: Core 90's

-Definitive School Year: 1995-1996


1998-1999 through 2002-2003: Millennium Era (Not distinctly 90's or 00's)

-Definitive School Year: 2000-2001


2003-2004 through 2007-2008: Core 00's

-Definitive School Year: 2005-2006


2008-2009 through 2012-2013: Electropop Era (Not distinctly 00's or 10's)

-Definitive School Year: 2010-2011


2013-2014 through the present: Core 10's

-Definitive School Year: Either 2014-2015 or 2015-2016






Now if were looking at things from a chronological 'early', 'mid', or 'late' perspective than it would look like this:




September of 1991 (Release of Nevermind/Tail end of Cold War) through April 5th 1994 (Kurt Cobain's death): The Cultural Early 90's

-Definitive Year: 1992 (the year of The 92' Election, The LA Riots, and the peak of the 16 bit Console Wars)



Circa April 6th 1994 (After Kurt Cobain's death, the start of the Post-Grunge Era, Britpop becoming big with Ace of Base) through March 9th 1997 (death of Biggie Smalls, the disbandment of Soundgarden, and the international release of 'Wanna Be' by the Spice Girls): The Cultural Late 90's

-Definitive Year: 1995 (The year of The O.J Simpson Trial, OKC Bombing, and The Launch of Windows 95)



Circa March 10th 1997 (After the death of Biggie, the continued popularity of 5th generation game consoles like PS1 and N64, Teen Pop starting to get big) through September 10th 2001 (The day before everything changed): The Cultural Late 90's

-Definitive Year: 1999 (The year of The Y2K Bug, The Matrix, The peak of the Dot-Com Bubble, and the Launch of the Dreamcast)



September 11th 2001 (The day that changed everything, sparked the War on Terror, The Launch of the iPod, Xbox, Gamecube, and PS2 the new Console kings, Teen Pop slowly dying with Hip Hop/R&B influences from the Neptunes getting popular such as 'Im Real' by JLO featuring Ja Rule) through April 29th 2004 (One day before the release of the Mid 2000's cult classic Mean Girls, post 'Nipplegate', Iraq War starting to receive mainstream backlash resulting in Bush's first negative approval rating): The Cultural Early 00's


-Definitive Year: 2002 (Peak in PS2, Enron Scandal, Bush's high approval ratings)



Circa Mid 2004 (The release of Fahrenheit 9/11 which create more skepticism on the U.S govt., The Transition from Web 1.0 internet to Web 2.0 internet, successful release of Shrek 2 which is the final nail in the coffin for the era of 2D animation, end of CN/Nick's Golden/Silver Ages) through November 7th 2006 (Democrats win back Congress as the Bush administration's popularity reaches record lows, The iPod is officially a mainstay in American music culture): Cultural Mid 00's


Definitive Year: 2005 (MJ's second Child Abuse accusation trial, Green Day's American Idiot, Hurricane Katrina)



Circa Winter 2006/2007 (Launch of the Wii, HDTV's starting to become common, HD DVD vs. Blu Ray format wars starting, housing prices starting to rapidly fall, death of Saddam Hussein, announcement of iPhone) through January 20th 2009 (Inauguration of Barack Obama, Great Recession at its peak, electropop starting to become massively big with Lady Gaga's The Fame and The Black Eyed Pees' The E.N.D): The Cultural Late 00's

Definitive Year: 2008 (Bush's record low approval ratings, Iraq Troop Surge, Bankruptcy of Lehman Bros., 08' Election)




I would keep going but we all tend to agree with the formations of the 'early', 'mid', and 'late' 2010's so I'll spare you guys that!


1991 and 1992 were still Bush 41 years and that is what separates them from '93 and '94 in my book. 1993 and '94 are culturally mid '90s years.

Yup. If they have that distinctly awful hairstyle that they wear in the 2010s, it's not 2008. Men were still wearing their hair long and down that year.

Yup. If they have that distinctly awful hairstyle that they wear in the 2010s, it's not 2008. Men were still wearing their hair long and down that year.


True, in 2008 this was everywhere.  In fact I consider this hairstyle a signature of 2008 men's fashion because so many guys were wearing it.

https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/564x/36/b3/ba/36b3bacc6d2e5a14a2d9393435c3ef78.jpg

Over the course of 2010 and 2011, that style really faded out.

Lady Gaga was a rising star during the second half, but GagaMania was more of a 2009 thing.  I think people tend to group 2008 with the early '10s because of the things that debuted that year were things that would have a greater impact on the '10s than the '00s.  However, the established culture was still very much '00s.  I think a lot of people would actually be shocked by how dated the year was if they were teleported back there.



I agree with this fully. I think we would be shocked by how dated it is even though it doesn't feel THAT long ago but in reality it was 9 years ago!  :o

I was just looking through videos of 2008 and one DISTINCT thing I notice is the lack of people looking down at their phones.  ;D

I was just looking through videos of 2008 and one DISTINCT thing I notice is the lack of people looking down at their phones.  ;D


And nobody kept asking people if they were texting their bitches.

I was just looking through videos of 2008 and one DISTINCT thing I notice is the lack of people looking down at their phones.  ;D

I also recently saw a video of a concert in 2008 and no one had a smartphone. The people that had phones all had flip phones but also a lot of people in the crowd either didn't have a phone or didn't hold it up. It's crazy to think that 2008 was just 9 years ago.

I consider 2008 to be in the same era as 2005, for the most part. 2008 was the peak of that era, like the other Olympic/Presidential Election years. I'm very nostalgic for that year. It was a good time in my life.

I consider 2008 to be in the same era as 2005, for the most part. 2008 was the peak of that era, like the other Olympic/Presidential Election years. I'm very nostalgic for that year. It was a good time in my life.

Agreed, same here.

I consider 2008 to be in the same era as 2005, for the most part. 2008 was the peak of that era, like the other Olympic/Presidential Election years. I'm very nostalgic for that year. It was a good time in my life.


I agree.  2008 was basically the finale of that era.  2009 completely changed things and set the tone for the next three years.

Nah, 2008 wasn't part of the same era as 2005. 2005 was still mid 2000's and core 2000's. Now early-mid 2008 could be part of late 2000's like late 2006-2007 though. 2008 as a whole year definitely had a different vibe compared to 2004-2007 but at the same time it was still the last year 2000's culture was dominant. No one can deny that 2008 was a transitional year for pop culture, politics and society (we've mentioned the factors so many times so I'm not gonna bring it up again), but that transition continued on into 2009. 2008 & 2009 were both transitional years with 2008 leaning towards late 2000's culturally and 2009 leaning towards early 2010's culturally.

I also recently saw a video of a concert in 2008 and no one had a smartphone. The people that had phones all had flip phones but also a lot of people in the crowd either didn't have a phone or didn't hold it up. It's crazy to think that 2008 was just 9 years ago.


Yeah, despite what terrible Buzzfeed articles would for nearly all of the 2000s (if not all) people weren't cellphone crazed. Now teens wanted cell phones of course. This has been true since the 1990s. But they weren't as attached to phones until smartphones/tablets became the common thing among the public. However, this wouldn't be until sometime in the early 2010s. From 2000-2009 people liked having phones, but other than the occasional calling and texting they wouldn't be using it at all times.

Yeah, despite what terrible Buzzfeed articles would for nearly all of the 2000s (if not all) people weren't cellphone crazed. Now teens wanted cell phones of course. This has been true since the 1990s. But they weren't as attached to phones until smartphones/tablets became the common thing among the public. However, this wouldn't be until sometime in the early 2010s. From 2000-2009 people liked having phones, but other than the occasional calling and texting they wouldn't be using it at all times.

That was what Buzzfeed said like 6 years ago. Now, as much as I hate their site, Buzzfeed is thankfully seemingly recognizing the difference between the 2000s and 2010s, because all of their 2000s articles nowadays are about things like AIM or flip-phones.

That was what Buzzfeed said like 6 years ago. Now, as much as I hate their site, Buzzfeed is thankfully seemingly recognizing the difference between the 2000s and 2010s, because all of their 2000s articles nowadays are about things like AIM or flip-phones.


That's good to hear. Either they got new artists who actually can remember key things of the 2000s or the writers from before decided to update their views/opinions on the 2000s.

I think the 00s are developing their own identity and separating themselves from the 10s overtime (even the late 00s). Whereas in 2011, it was hard to tell what the 00s identity was because they had just ended.

I think the 00s are developing their own identity and separating themselves from the 10s overtime (even the late 00s). Whereas in 2011, it was hard to tell what the 00s identity was because they had just ended.

It USUALLY takes about 4-5 years before a decade take shape or forms it's own identity.  The cultural 1980s didn't take shape until 1983/1984 (ending in 1988). The cultural 1990s didn't take shape until 1993/1994 (ending in 1997). The cultural 2000s didn't take shape until 2003/2004 (ending in 2008). The cultural 2010s didn't take shape until 2013.

It USUALLY takes about 4-5 years before a decade take shape or forms it's own identity.  The cultural 1980s didn't take shape until 1983/1984 (ending in 1988). The cultural 1990s didn't take shape until 1993/1994 (ending in 1997). The cultural 2000s didn't take shape until 2003/2004 (ending in 2008). The cultural 2010s didn't take shape until 2013.


I disagree, I think the 80s, 90s, 2000s, and 2010s had all developed pretty solid identities within their first few years. In 1980, Atari video games were gigantic, new wave was dominating rock, post-disco had overtaken regular disco, synthpop was really popular, tensions with the Soviets were renewed, and Thatcher was the British PM. In 1990 and 1991, the Cold War was over, house was a huge craze in music, television shows like The Simpsons, Seinfeld, Twin Peaks, In Living Color, and Beverly Hills 90210 were dominating the airwaves, and alternative music was on the rise. In 2000 and 2001, 9/11 happened and popular culture was pretty much entirely targetting millennials instead of Gen-X. At the beginning of the 2010s, electropop was dominating popular music, shows like Adventure Time and The Walking Dead made their debuts, iPhones became standard, and the social climate was quickly turning more activist in nature.

The only recent decade to take forever to develop its own identity, in my opinion, would be the 1960s. The entire first quarter of that decade was pretty much just a stagnation of late 50s culture, despite certain new shows and JFK becoming President. Late 1962 is really the earliest time the 60s had any truly distinct identity from the 50s (the first James Bond movie came out Bridgette Bardot replaced the late Marilyn Monroe as the primary fashion icon, next to Jackie Kennedy; the Beatles released their first single, Peter, Paul & Mary brought 60s-style folk to the mainstream, surf rock gives 60s rock and roll a thematic distinction from late 50s rock), but its identity wasn't truly evident until at least late 1963 or even 1964. In contast, there's no way I'd ever call 1982 a predominantly 70s year, 1992 80s, 2002 90s, or 2012 2000s.

I disagree, I think the 80s, 90s, 2000s, and 2010s had all developed pretty solid identities within their first few years. In 1980, Atari video games were gigantic, new wave was dominating rock, post-disco had overtaken regular disco, synthpop was really popular, tensions with the Soviets were renewed, and Thatcher was the British PM. In 1990 and 1991, the Cold War was over, house was a huge craze in music, television shows like The Simpsons, Seinfeld, Twin Peaks, In Living Color, and Beverly Hills 90210 were dominating the airwaves, and alternative music was on the rise. In 2000 and 2001, 9/11 happened and popular culture was pretty much entirely targetting millennials instead of Gen-X. At the beginning of the 2010s, electropop was dominating popular music, shows like Adventure Time and The Walking Dead made their debuts, iPhones became standard, and the social climate was quickly turning more activist in nature.

The only recent decade to take forever to develop its own identity, in my opinion, would be the 1960s. The entire first quarter of that decade was pretty much just a stagnation of late 50s culture, despite certain new shows and JFK becoming President. Late 1962 is really the earliest time the 60s had any truly distinct identity from the 50s (the first James Bond movie came out Bridgette Bardot replaced the late Marilyn Monroe as the primary fashion icon, next to Jackie Kennedy; the Beatles released their first single, Peter, Paul & Mary brought 60s-style folk to the mainstream, surf rock gives 60s rock and roll a thematic distinction from late 50s rock), but its identity wasn't truly evident until at least late 1963 or even 1964. In contast, there's no way I'd ever call 1982 a predominantly 70s year, 1992 80s, 2002 90s, or 2012 2000s.

Notice, I said USUALLY not always. Also, I did not say that the traces of a decade can not be found in the early part but generally when we are talking about the decades, the cultural peak or years we think about the most when it comes to those decades (the 1980, 1990s, 2000s & 2010s) start in a year ending with 3 or 4.

Notice, I said USUALLY not always.

That's not the point. You still implied that every single decade since the 80s took as long to develop itself as the 60s did. Just because there are a few leftover trends from the previous decade does not mean the current one has no identity yet. I knew, without a doubt, that I was in a different decade from the 2000s back when it was still 2010 because there was already so much relatively new culture that set the present era apart, even though fade tops, Netflix Original shows, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe weren't established yet. It's very different from 1961, a year during which there was hardly even a wink of anything distinguishable from 50s culture.

Also, I did not say that the traces of a decade can not be found in the early part but generally when we are talking about the decades, the cultural peak or years we think about the most when it comes to those decades (the 1980, 1990s, 2000s & 2010s) start in a year ending with 3 or 4.


There were lots of traces of 80s culture in 1979 and late 1978 (think new wave, Dallas, and Atari), traces of 90s culture in 1989 (house music was growing huge, Bush Sr. was President, Roseanne was on television, etc.), LOTS of traces of the 2000s in 1999 (anime, nu-metal, the Internet, The Sopranos, etc.), and plenty of 2010s influences in 2009 (Obama being President, the Great Recession being in full effect, technogy quickly modernizing, etc.). The difference is, like late 1962 through 1963, those incoming influences were not yet dominant. By the years ending in 1 and 2, perhaps even 0, for each decade you mentioned, it was already more than safe to say there was a different identity to the current popular culture.

That's not the point. You still implied that every single decade since the 80s took as long to develop itself as the 60s did. Just because there are a few leftover trends from the previous decade does not mean the current one has no identity yet. I knew, without a doubt, that I was in a different decade from the 2000s back when it was still 2010 because there was already so much relatively new culture that set the present era apart, even though fade tops, Netflix Original shows, and the Marvel Cinematic Universe weren't established yet. It's very different from 1961, a year during which there was hardly even a wink of anything distinguishable from 50s culture.

There were lots of traces of 80s culture in 1979 and late 1978 (think new wave, Dallas, and Atari), traces of 90s culture in 1989 (house music was growing huge, Bush Sr. was President, Roseanne was on television, etc.), LOTS of traces of the 2000s in 1999 (anime, nu-metal, the Internet, The Sopranos, etc.), and plenty of 2010s influences in 2009 (Obama being President, the Great Recession being in full effect, technogy quickly modernizing, etc.). The difference is, like late 1962 through 1963, those incoming influences were not yet dominant. By the years ending in 1 and 2, perhaps even 0, for each decade you mentioned, it was already more than safe to say there was a different identity to the current popular culture.

I'm talking about cultural peak of a decade NOT when the traces of another decade can be found. Of course in the last 2 years of a decade you will see trends that will continue into the new one. When you think about the 1960s do the years 1960-1962 pop up immediately? No, I bet not. I bet that the years 1963, 1964 and 1968 & 1969 pop up. When you think about the 1970s? Do the years 1970-1972 pop up first...NO. The years 1974, 1976-1979 pop up first. When you think about the 1980s which years pop up first? 1980-1982 or 1984-1987?. Probably, 1984-1997. When you think about the 90s which years pop up first? 1990-1992 or 1993-1997?. Probably 1993-1997. I can go on. I'm not saying that you can't see parts of a decades identity in it's earlier years but the cultural peak and when MOST people look back at the HEIGHT (PEAK) of a decades CULTURE, the earlier years usually don't pop up. Neon clothes, perms and bold, geometric print clothing (all continuations of late 1980s fashion trends) were popular in 1991 but definetly NOT 1996. That's my point.

The 1970's felt pretty solid by 1972/1973.
You could definitely tell the 1970's was fading by 1982/1983.
You could tell that the 80's was fading by 1993.
The 00's was definitely different by 2003, even by 2002 you could tell that the 90's was fading.

It's rare that it takes until a '4' year for a decade to have a separate identity, I believe the 1960's is an exception.

I'm talking about cultural peak of a decade NOT when the traces of another decade can be found. Of course in the last 2 years of a decade you will see trends that will continue into the new one. When you think about the 1960s do the years 1960-1962 pop up immediately? No, I bet not. I bet that the years 1963, 1964 and 1968 & 1969 pop up. When you think about the 1970s? Do the years 1970-1972 pop up first...NO. The years 1974, 1976-1979 pop up first. When you think about the 1980s which years pop up first? 1980-1982 or 1984-1987?. Probably, 1984-1997. When you think about the 90s which years pop up first? 1990-1992 or 1993-1997?. Probably 1993-1997. I can go on. I'm not saying that you can't see parts of a decades identity in it's earlier years but the cultural peak and when MOST people look back at the HEIGHT (PEAK) of a decades CULTURE, the earlier years usually don't pop up. Neon clothes, perms and bold, geometric print clothing (all continuations of late 1980s fashion trends) were popular in 1991 but definetly NOT 1996. That's my point.


Well, it's fair enough to feel that a decade's culture usually PEAKS around the middle or late portion of the decade. I think 1967 is the quintessential 60s year, 1977 the quintessential 70s year, 1986 for the 80s, 1995 for the 90s, 2005 for the 2000s, and 2016 for the 2010s so far.

What I don't understand is how you can claim any of those decades, aside from the 60s had not yet developed a true identity until the year ending in 3 or 4. 2012 certainly didn't contain everything that the 2010s will be ultimately remembered for, but there's still really no mistaking it for anything other than a 2010s year. If it was like 1962 was to the 60s, then MySpace still would've been popular, post-grunge and snap would still be mainstream, television and YouTube would continue to be predominantly standard-def, hardly anybody would've owned an iPhone, and the closest things to 2010s music would've been "Just Dance" and "Hot n Cold" peaking around #15 near the end of the year. A decade doesn't have to be in its peak just to have a firm identity.

Well, it's fair enough to feel that a decade's culture usually PEAKS around the middle of the decade. I think 1967 is the quintessential 60s year, 1977 the quintessential 70s year, 1986 for the 80s, 1995 for the 90s, 2005 for the 2000s, and 2016 for the 2010s so far.

What I don't understand is how you can claim any of those decades, aside from the 60s had not yet developed a true identity until the year ending in 3 or 4. 2012 certainly didn't contain everything that the 2010s will be ultimately remembered for, but there's still really no mistaking it for anything other than a 2010s year. If it was like 1962 was to the 60s, then MySpace still would've been popular, post-grunge and snap would still be mainstream, television and YouTube would continue to be predominantly standard-def, hardly anybody would've owned an iPhone, and the closest things to 2010s music would've been "Just Dance" and "Hot n Cold" peaking around #15 near the end of the year. A decade doesn't have to be in its peak just to have a firm identity.

The difference is the unexpected technological advancement and commercialization that happened from 2009-2012. From 1999 to 2002, there wasn't much technological advancement, from 1989 to 1992 there wasn't much technological advancement and commercialization (besides, the Internet but the Internet was in it's VERY EARLY stages in 1992 and most people didn't own a PC in 1992), from 1979 to 1982 there wasn't much technological advancement and commercialization, from 1969 to 1972 there wasn't much technological advancement and commercialization. 2009 to 2012 is different because smartphones, HD TVs, and electropop skyrocketed in popularity in that span but however my statement on the decades is generally true. Yes, 2012 can't be mistaken for 2009 by most people however there is bound to be an outlier/outliers in a trend.

Neon clothes, perms and bold, geometric print clothing (all continuations of late 1980s fashion trends) were popular in 1991 but definetly NOT 1996. That's my point.


It USUALLY takes about 4-5 years before a decade take shape or forms it's own identity.  The cultural 1980s didn't take shape until 1983/1984 (ending in 1988). The cultural 1990s didn't take shape until 1993/1994 (ending in 1997). The cultural 2000s didn't take shape until 2003/2004 (ending in 2008). The cultural 2010s didn't take shape until 2013.


Just a couple of nitpicks but I'd say the 80's lasted up until maybe sometime between mid 1990 to late 1991. 1988 and 1989, in my opinion, are still very 80's years. The fashions mentioned are all mid 80's trends, too. Circa 1984. From 1984 to 1991 people wore perms and bright clothing. :P

Also, the internet has been around since January 1st, 1983.

The difference is the unexpected technological advancement and commercialization that happened from 2009-2012. From 1999 to 2002, there wasn't much technological advancement, from 1989 to 1992 there wasn't much technological advancement and commercialization (besides, the Internet but the Internet was in it's VERY EARLY stages in 1992 and most people didn't own a PC in 1992), from 1979 to 1982 there wasn't much technological advancement and commercialization, from 1969 to 1972 there wasn't much technological advancement and commercialization. 2009 to 2012 is different because smartphones, HD TVs, and electropop skyrocketed in popularity in that span but however my statement on the decades is generally true. Yes, 2012 can't be mistaken for 2009 by most people however there is bound to be an outlier/outliers in a trend.


There was a lot of technological advancement in everyday life from 1999 to 2002. The internet became mainsteam in that time frame and so did cell phones. For example, in 1998, people didn't use the internet nearly as much, and cell phones weren't nearly as common, as in 2002.

The difference is the unexpected technological advancement and commercialization that happened from 2009-2012. From 1999 to 2002, there wasn't much technological advancement,

Er, yeah there was. Sixth-gen video games replaced fifth-gen ones, AIM and the Internet in general became much more standard, Windows XP came out, cell phones got way more popular, and DVD's went from novelties to truly popular alternatives to VHS. Also, the iPod was invented and iTunes was first launched, though they weren't standard for another few years.

from 1989 to 1992 there wasn't much technological advancement and commercialization (besides, the Internet but the Internet was in it's VERY EARLY stages in 1992 and most people didn't own a PC in 1992),

Vinyl died, CD's got more popular than tapes, Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis replaced NES, Game Boy was released, computers DID continue to grow in popularity, animated movies like Beauty and the Beast began using digital ink, and television in general underwent a dramatic shift in tone and content.

from 1979 to 1982 there wasn't much technological advancement and commercialization,

Video games went from a niche to a full-blown craze, new home appliances quickly got invented, home video started to garner popularity, the walkman was invented, tapes became an alternative to vinyl, and cable TV started to emerge.

from 1969 to 1972 there wasn't much technological advancement and commercialization. 2009 to 2012 is different because smartphones, HD TVs, and electropop skyrocketed in popularity in that span but however my statement on the decades is generally true. Yes, 2012 can't be mistaken for 2009 by most people however there is bound to be an outlier/outliers in a trend.


I referred to 2012 as an example of a year that definitely didn't represent the peak of its decade but was still comfortably entrenched in its decade's overall identity. I frankly feel the same way about 2010, even though there were slightly more 2000s holdovers that year (they were clearly in the minority, regardless).

Vinyl died, CD's got more popular than tapes, Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis replaced NES, Game Boy was released, computers DID continue to grow in popularity, animated movies like Beauty and the Beast began using digital ink, and television in general underwent a dramatic shift in tone and content.



The depiction of family life on television went from shows like Growing Pains and Family ties to shows like Roseanne, Married with Children, and the Simpsons from the late 80s to early 90s.

Er, yeah there was. Sixth-gen video games replaced fifth-gen ones, AIM and the Internet in general became much more standard, Windows XP came out, cell phones got way more popular, and DVD's went from novelties to truly popular alternatives to VHS. Also, the iPod was invented and iTunes was first launched, though they weren't standard for another few years.

Vinyl died, CD's got more popular than tapes, Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis replaced NES, Game Boy was released, computers DID continue to grow in popularity, animated movies like Beauty and the Beast began using digital ink, and television in general underwent a dramatic shift in tone and content.

Video games went from a niche to a full-blown craze, new home appliances quickly got invented, home video started to garner popularity, the walkman was invented, tapes became an alternative to vinyl, and cable TV started to emerge.

I referred to 2012 as an example of a year that definitely didn't represent the peak of its decade but was still comfortably entrenched in its decade's overall identity. I frankly feel the same way about 2010, even though there were slightly more 2000s holdovers that year (they were clearly in the minority, regardless).

Those technological advancements and commercialization weren't drastic like from 2009-2012. Also, barely anybody but upper middle class and wealthy people could afford a PC in 1992 and video games actually declined in popularity in 1982 and that's what led to the North American Video Game Crash of 1983. More kids were going to the arcade and MANY people (particularly parents) still viewed video games as a weird & wacky fad. The 6th generation of video games BEGAN in 1999 with the release of the SEGA Dreamcast on 9.9.99 and Sony ANNOUNCED the PlayStation 2 in 1999. The Walkman was released in 1979 so of course it would be popular by 1982 and I could go on but on to your point. Once again, just because 2012 is not 90% similar to 2009 doesn't mean there is not bound to be an outlier/outliers in a trend.

There was a lot of technological advancement in everyday life from 1999 to 2002. The internet became mainsteam in that time frame and so did cell phones. For example, in 1998, people didn't use the internet nearly as much, and cell phones weren't nearly as common, as in 2002.

The Internet was already mainstream by 1999 and cell phones from 2002 were really not that different if at all from those in 1999. In 1995 to 2001, you had the dot-com bubble and it burst in 2000.

The depiction of family life on television went from shows like Growing Pains and Family ties to shows like Roseanne, Married with Children, and the Simpsons from the late 80s to early 90s.

Roseanne premeired in 1988, Married with Children premiered in 1987 (so they were both popular by 1989) and The Simpsons premiered in December 1989.

Roseanne premeired in 1988, Married with Children premiered in 1987 (so they were both popular by 1989) and The Simpsons premiered in December 1989.


I don't have a razor sharp memory of The Simpsons in the 90's let alone when it started (I actually watched it a week ago for the first time since 2008), but I think Bart's voice has gotten slightly lower since it first premiered.

I don't have a razor sharp memory of The Simpsons in the 90's let alone when it started (I actually watched it a week ago for the first time since 2008), but I think Bart's voice has gotten slightly lower since it first premiered.


I used to be a big fan of The Simpsons back in 2008/2009. Although, I loved their 90s episodes more than their modern ones.

Those technological advancements and commercialization weren't drastic like from 2009-2012.

That's just a personal opinion that serves your argument about the early years of decades generally being mere extensions of the previous decade. My guess is that if you were there to remember the decade shifts, the new technology would have felt a lot more seismic than they appear now.

Also, barely anybody but upper middle class and wealthy people could afford a PC in 1992

They were already quite popular in work environments by that year and frankly, plenty of people DID own computers in the early 90s, far more than the 1980s at the very least.

and video games actually declined in popularity in 1982 and that's what led to the North American Video Game Crash of 1983.

That doesn't change the fact that video games came and revolutionized entertainment in the first place during the early 1980s.

More kids were going to the arcade and MANY people (particularly parents) still viewed video games as a weird & wacky fad.

Arcades wouldn't have still been extremely popular in the mid-80s had it not been for the video game boom of the early 80s. Besides, it's not like Pac-Man and Pitfall are somehow 70s holdovers just because the home market tanked in the mid-80s.

The 6th generation of video games BEGAN in 1999 with the release of the SEGA Dreamcast on 9.9.99 and Sony ANNOUNCED the PlayStation 2 in 1999.

The DreamCast was less advanced than later systems like the original XBOX and GameCube, not to mention it wasn't a particularly successful system, anyway. 1999 in gaming was all about Super Smash Bros. 64, Mario Party 1, THPS1, Ocarina of Time, Pokemon RBY, and other iconic 5th-generation titles. It's also a desperate stretch to focus on the PS2's announcement in 1999 rathwr than its actual release in 2000 and full establishment during 2001 and 2002.

The Walkman was released in 1979 so of course it would be popular by 1982

You're simply driving my point home here - the Walkman caused 1982 to feel technologically distinct from 1979.

Once again, just because 2012 is not 90% similar to 2009 doesn't mean there is not bound to be an outlier/outliers in a trend.

I just think you try way too hard to categorize the early parts of a decade with the entire preceding decade just because the culture isn't completely the same as the stereotypical trends of the mid-later years. You're straying too far from the chronological definitions when it's not necessary. The early 90s were definitely still the 90s, it was just a different side of it than the grunge, Internet, and Spice Girls 90s of later. The reason I make an exception with the early 60s is because they were such an overwhelming stagnation of late 50s culture, but even then, certain things like The Flintstones, JFK, and The Twilight Zone are still ultimately 60s trends and not 50s ones, as much as they weren't enough to firmly establish the decade's new identity at the time.

That's just a personal opinion that serves your argument about the early years of decades generally being mere extensions of the previous decade. My guess is that if you were there to remember the decade shifts, the new technology would have felt a lot more seismic than they appear now.

They were already quite popular in work environments by that year and frankly, plenty of people DID own computers in the early 90s, far more than the 1980s at the very least.

That doesn't change the fact that video games came and revolutionized entertainment in the first place during the early 1980s.

Arcades wouldn't have still been extremely popular in the mid-80s had it not been for the video game boom of the early 80s. Besides, it's not like Pac-Man and Pitfall are somehow 70s holdovers just because the home market tanked in the mid-80s.

The DreamCast was less advanced than later systems like the original XBOX and GameCube, not to mention it wasn't a particularly successful system, anyway. 1999 in gaming was all about Super Smash Bros. 64, Mario Party 1, THPS1, Ocarina of Time, Pokemon RBY, and other iconic 5th-generation titles. It's also a desperate stretch to focus on the PS2's announcement in 1999 rathwr than its actual release in 2000 and full establishment during 2001 and 2002.

You're simply driving my point home here - the Walkman caused 1982 to feel technologically distinct from 1979.

I just think you try way too hard to categorize the early parts of a decade with the entire preceding decade just because the culture isn't completely the same as the stereotypical trends of the mid-later years. You're straying too far from the chronological definitions when it's not necessary. The early 90s were definitely still the 90s, it was just a different side of it than the grunge, Internet, and Spice Girls 90s of later. The reason I make an exception with the early 60s is because they were such an overwhelming stagnation of late 50s culture, but even then, certain things like The Flintstones, JFK, and The Twilight Zone are still ultimately 60s trends and not 50s ones, as much as they weren't enough to firmly establish the decade's new identity at the time.

First, there was NO HOME video game boom in the early 80s like to seemed to suggest earlier. Computers in the HOME were MOST CERTAINLY NOT POPULAR in the early 1990s, where did you get that crazy thought from?.  The Dreamcast WAS NOT less advanced than the Xbox, Gamecube, or PS2, it was actually MORE advanced than its other competitors. That is one of the reasons the Dreamcast failed....because it was AHEAD of it's time. I didn't say that the early 1990s weren't the 1990s but they were a CONTINUATION of the late 1980s like pretty much every early years of decades. JFK was a beloved political figure that was assassinated unexpectedly and at such a young age of course that sorrow and legacy would last the rest of the decade (also remember he was killed in 1963 almost 1964, those years end with a 3 or 4), The Twiglight Zone started in 1959 but last until 1964 (year ending with a 4) and the show was so loved that it became iconic and the Flintstones started in 1960 but lasted well into the 1960s. The Flintstones ended in 1966, so of course it would be associated with the 1960s (duh). 2012 was the 2010s yes but ONCE AGAIN, it's an outlier to a general trend.

Look at this graph:
http://21cif.com/tutorials/micro/mm/growth/images/figure3.gif

Source: U.S. Department of Commerce's Census Bureau computer / Internet use estimates

First, there was NO HOME video game boom in the early 80s like to seemed to suggest earlier.

You cannot be serious. The Atari 2600 and its competitors like the Intellevision sold millions upon millions of systems, each with huge catalogues of titles to choose from. TV commercials for video games were everywhere in the early 80s. Though video games existed in the 70s, they weren't a significant commercial force until the turn of the 80s.

Computers in the HOME were MOST CERTAINLY NOT POPULAR in the early 1990s, where did you get that crazy thought from?.

The Commodore 64, IBM, and Amiga were quite popular throughout the 80s and sold millions. They first became relevant in the early 80s, so personal computers had plenty of time to develop further popularity by 1992.

The Dreamcast WAS NOT less advanced than the Xbox, Gamecube, or PS2, it was actually MORE advanced than its other competitors. That is one of the reasons the Dreamcast failed....because it was AHEAD of it's time.

Almost all of its specs are less advanced than the other sixth-gen systems. Its strength as a system is just as much a myth as blast processing was in the 90s. If you look at the graphics for most Dreamcast games, they're blockier and less detailed than they were for the other 6th-gen systems. I'm pretty sure the original XBOX was the most powerful of the 6th-generation consoles.


I didn't say that the early 1990s weren't the 1990s but they were a CONTINUATION of the late 1980s like pretty much every early years of decades.

Yeah, but they weren't a total STAGNATION of late 80s culture like the early 60s were virtually identical to the late 50s. The late 80s were not known for Vanilla Ice, Twin Peaks, Home Alone, The Simpsons as its own show, the Gulf War, In Living Color, Super Nintendo, and so on like the early 90s were.

JFK was a beloved political figure that was assassinated unexpectedly and at such a young age of course that sorrow and legacy would last the rest of the decade (also remember he was killed in 1963 almost 1964, those years end with a 3 or 4), The Twiglight Zone started in 1959 but last until 1964 (year ending with a 4) and the show was so loved that it became iconic and the Flintstones started in 1960 but lasted well into the 1960s. The Flintstones ended in 1966, so of course it would be associated with the 1960s (duh). 2012 was the 2010s yes but ONCE AGAIN, it's an outlier to a general trend.


My point, though, is that 1960-1962 were much more culturally 50s than 1980-1982 were 70s, 1990-1992 were 80s, and 2000-2002 were 90s. Of course JFK, The Twilight Zone, and The Flintstones were 60s things and not 50s things, but they were cultural exceptions during a time when the predominant fashion, celebrity figures, music, social climate, etc. were predominantly no different from the late 50s.

I used to be a big fan of The Simpsons back in 2008/2009. Although, I loved their 90s episodes more than their modern ones.


Most of the episodes from the last 10 seasons are the worst. Lego Simpsons? Give me a break.  ;D

You cannot be serious. The Atari 2600 and its competitors like the Intellevision sold millions upon millions of systems, each with huge catalogues of titles to choose from. TV commercials for video games were everywhere in the early 80s. Though video games existed in the 70s, they weren't a significant commercial force until the turn of the 80s.

The Commodore 64, IBM, and Amiga were quite popular throughout the 80s and sold millions. They first became relevant in the early 80s, so personal computers had plenty of time to develop further popularity by 1992.

Almost all of its specs are less advanced than the other sixth-gen systems. Its strength as a system is just as much a myth as blast processing was in the 90s. If you look at the graphics for most Dreamcast games, they're blockier and less detailed than they were for the other 6th-gen systems. I'm pretty sure the original XBOX was the most powerful of the 6th-generation consoles.


Yeah, but they weren't a total STAGNATION of late 80s culture like the early 60s were virtually identical to the late 50s. The late 80s were not known for Vanilla Ice, Twin Peaks, Home Alone, The Simpsons as its own show, the Gulf War, In Living Color, Super Nintendo, and so on like the early 90s were.

My point, though, is that 1960-1962 were much more culturally 50s than 1980-1982 were 70s, 1990-1992 were 80s, and 2000-2002 were 90s. Of course JFK, The Twilight Zone, and The Flintstones were 60s things and not 50s things, but they were cultural exceptions during a time when the predominant fashion, celebrity figures, music, social climate, etc. were predominantly no different from the late 50s.

Yes, Atari did well in the early 1980s but home video games were still seen as a fad and the North American Video Game Market crashed in 1983 because of Atari. The video game industry in North America from 1983-1985 was pretty much dead. Just because you had those new music stars, conflicts and shows and so on doesn't mean that the early 1990s weren't a continuation of the late 1980s. Why in the world do you think that COMPUTERS IN THE HOME NOT THE WORKPLACE NOT ANYWHERE ELSE BUT..........HOME was popular in 1992?. In 1992, most people couldn't afford a PC and thus most people didn't own one. 1995 changed that trend when computers got cheaper and Windows 95 was released. Yes, the original Xbox was more powerful but the SEGA Dreamcast was still ahead of its time and that's why it failed compared to its competitors. Anyways, what don't you get about the fact that 2012 is an outlier to a general trend?. Geez. Also, look at the graph that I posted.

Most of the episodes from the last 10 seasons are the worst. Lego Simpsons? Give me a break.  ;D


The last good season was the 12th season, in my opinion. Although the Treehouse of Horror specials were good until the 19th one (Season 20).

2008 was a transitional year, but I put it more towards late 00s/early 2010s (one era) than the classic 2000s. 2008 actually feels almost recent to me, but 2007 feels like a super long time ago, which is weird but I guess my life experiences play a role into it as well.

The last good season was the 12th season, in my opinion. Although the Treehouse of Horror specials were good until the 19th one (Season 20).

I have only watched 1 or 2 episodes of The Simpsons since 2011. I watched The Simpsons a lot from 2006-2011 (including The Simpsons Movie in 2007).

2008 was a transitional year, but I put it more towards late 00s/early 2010s (one era) than the classic 2000s. 2008 actually feels almost recent to me, but 2007 feels like a super long time ago, which is weird but I guess my life experiences play a role into it as well.

I think that 2009 was the transitional year. 2008 is actually the last year that I feel nostalgic about even though I enjoyed 2009-2012. To me, 2008 was the last full 2000s year.

In 1992, most people couldn't afford a PC and thus most people didn't own one. 1995 changed that trend when computers got cheaper and Windows 95 was released. Yes, the original Xbox was more powerful but the SEGA Dreamcast was still ahead of its time and that's why it failed compared to its competitors. Anyways, what don't you get about the fact that 2012 is an outlier to a general trend?. Geez. Also, look at the graph that I posted.


Not to burst your bubble, but wasn't Microsoft already dominant by the 80s/early 90s when a lot of offices used computers with MS-DOS and Windows? Windows 95 was a game changer with the company because it was way easier to operate it than previous versions of Windows and MS-DOS. After Win95 was released, every Windows operating system had the same graphical user interface, with modifications used ever since Windows XP was released.


I have only watched 1 or 2 episodes of The Simpsons since 2011. I watched The Simpsons a lot from 2006-2011 (including The Simpsons Movie in 2007).


I was more into The Simpsons when I was a kid in the late 2000s. I was interested with it so much, that I had The Simpsons Game (on PSP) and watched The Simpsons Movie with joy.

Not to burst your bubble, but wasn't Microsoft already dominant by the 80s/early 90s when a lot of offices used computers with MS-DOS and Windows? Windows 95 was a game changer with the company because it was way easier to operate it than previous versions of Windows and MS-DOS. After Win95 was released, every Windows operating system had the same graphical user interface, with modifications used ever since Windows XP was released.

Oh my god, I WASN'T talking about businesses. I was talking about in HOMES, you know the place where people LIVE not work. I even bolded the words "home" and "computers in the home" multiple times. For the last time, MOST PEOPLE DIDN'T HAVE PCs IN THEIR HOMES IN THE EARLY 1990s. Got that?

Oh my god, I WASN'T talking about businesses. I was talking about in HOMES, you know the place where people LIVE not work. I even bolded the words "home" and "computers in the home" multiple times. For the last time, MOST PEOPLE DIDN'T HAVE PCs IN THEIR HOMES IN THE EARLY 1990s. Got that?


Well even before Windows 95 was released, they still have home programs that were useful towards those who had home computers in the early 90s. One example was Microsoft Bob, even though it was a commercial failure, it was still remarkable with computers that ran Windows 3.1 and 95.

Well even before Windows 95 was released, they still have home programs that were useful towards those who had home computers in the early 90s. One example was Microsoft Bob, even though it was a commercial failure, it was still remarkable with computers that ran Windows 3.1 and 95.

Who cares?. I'm talking about popularity and usage not if it existed. This graph shows what I'm talking about:
http://www.relativelyinteresting.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Internet+usage+in+USA.jpg

Who cares?. I'm talking about popularity and usage not if it existed. This graph shows what I'm talking about:
http://www.relativelyinteresting.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Internet+usage+in+USA.jpg


Even if the Internet was a game changer in the mid 90s, thanks to AOL, that wouldn't really solve on why so many people used computers. Starting in the mid 90s, when most people started to buy common computers with Windows 95, it was more about how you could play computer games and programs on it. Especially when you have stuff like Microsoft Office, which was very important to use within homes and businesses.

The difference is the unexpected technological advancement and commercialization that happened from 2009-2012. From 1999 to 2002, there wasn't much technological advancement, from 1989 to 1992 there wasn't much technological advancement and commercialization (besides, the Internet but the Internet was in it's VERY EARLY stages in 1992 and most people didn't own a PC in 1992), from 1979 to 1982 there wasn't much technological advancement and commercialization, from 1969 to 1972 there wasn't much technological advancement and commercialization. 2009 to 2012 is different because smartphones, HD TVs, and electropop skyrocketed in popularity in that span but however my statement on the decades is generally true. Yes, 2012 can't be mistaken for 2009 by most people however there is bound to be an outlier/outliers in a trend.
In your opinion, in what year would you say that there were no longer any significant traces of the '00s, and by that, even traces of 2009?

In your opinion, in what year would you say that there were no longer any significant traces of the '00s, and by that, even traces of 2009?

That year would be 2-0-1-3. 2013.

The home market for computers definitely increased to significant levels by time the Mac arrived in 1984 with it's more user friendly image based GUI. They weren't something everyone and their mothers had in the 80's but they were still very significant and common to find. To deny a year as modern as 1984 and it's explosion of technology is wrong.

And there are tons of differences between 1979 and 1982. The changes of culture and attitude are very obvious:

- In 1979, Beta and VHS were still on equal footing as home video formats. In 1980, however, VHS overtook the home video market and had continued to grow so that by 1982 VHS was extremely popular while not many people were still using beta max aside from a very small few.

- Pretty much all major 1979 films feature an old cinematic 70's-like style. While 1982 had movies like that, too, the year was also home to very modern movies such as the Poltergeist and Tron.

- Another one is that the CD was introduced in 1982; CD's didn't even exist in 1979. Cassettes also didn't really take off in America until 1980 when the Walkman had it's first American release. While they were kind of popular in 1979, they weren't really a serious threat to vinyl until 1980. Portable music was revolutionized for Americans in 1980. Seriously, imagine how big a change that was. Music had never been so conveniently portable before 1980 in North America.

- If you're a soda drinker than 1979 and 1982 would be fairly different for you, too. In 1979 all drinks still used cane sugar. Every last one. Starting in 1980 (but solidifying in 1984) companies started switching to HFCS. In 1982, if you picked up a can of Coke or Pepsi, you might be getting HFCS instead of the old cane sugar recipe used even a few years prior.

- Also, you know, Reagan was president. Big changes. War on drugs, stricter seat-belt laws and not only did he tighten up the drunk driving laws but MADD were established in 1980, too. By 1982, attitudes towards drunk driving in general had taken whole new levels of no tolerance never seen before.

- The PC had become widespread enough to be named the first non-human Man of the Year in 1982. In 1979, attitudes were still weary of whether or not you could take the computer seriously. Businesses started adapting to PC's as early as 1982. Yes, even people started buying PC's for their homes as early as 1982, too.

- One of the biggest things ever is also ignored here: AIDS. 1979-1981 was still a vestige of the sexual revolution era. 1982, however, involved the discovery of AIDS and the first AIDS clinic opening up in San Francisco. That alone is a huge difference as it ended an entire era and changed sexual attitudes overnight.

I believe 2008 was more of a early 2010s (and late 00s, same thing) year than it was mid 00s. Everything changed that year. Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, and other new 10s artists started getting popular, electropop/EDM music started becoming popular, Obama became president, social media sites and technology was growing fast, new fashion, the economic crisis occurred, and a bunch of other stuff.

I think 2007 was early 10's, too. Why?

2006 had this:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/78/El_Mariel.jpg

Trashy 00's rap. No thanks! 8-P

But 2007 on the other hand...

http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/lyricwiki/images/e/e3/Pitbull_-_The_Boatlift.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20090813111423 Oh yeah... 8) 8) 8)

That year would be 2-0-1-3. 2013.
Which month specifically?