To me, I think it was a great decade of technological innovations and advancements.

In the early aughts, we had the iPod, Windows XP, sixth gen consoles, peer-to-peer networking with sites like Napster, Bluetooth, iTunes, and USB flash drives.

In the middle of the decade, Myspace took off like a rocket in 2005 and was briefly the world's most popular social media site. Web 2.0 was released, Facebook launched in 2004 (but wouldn't gain massive popularity until the late 2000s), seventh gen consoles were released, and MP3 players were popular like Zune.

In the late part of the decade, the first iPhone was released in 2007, Facebook overtook Myspace as the most popular networking site in 2009, Windows 7 was released after Windows Vista (which had a mixed response from consumers and critics), HDTVs became more widely available along with the American transition from analog to digital television, Blackberries were very popular, and the Blu-Ray/HD-DVD format war happened (Blu-ray eventually won after distributors used the disc format more).

The 2000s was the first real digital decade. I remember a desktop was the primary way of surfing the web was primarily done on a desktop/laptop, gaming was mostly done locally but online gaming was on the rise, DVDs were replacing VHS tapes and Blu Rays were expensive, flip phones, brick phones, blackberries and slider phones were popular. In the 2000s you had to carry multiple devices to entertain yourself since technology only had a single purpose like to listen to music you bring an mp3 player/iPod, to play videogames you brought a game or PSP, to call people you brought a cellphone. Nowadays you just need a smartphone.

The 2000s was the first real digital decade. I remember a desktop was the primary way of surfing the web was primarily done on a desktop/laptop, gaming was mostly done locally but online gaming was on the rise, DVDs were replacing VHS tapes and Blu Rays were expensive, flip phones, brick phones, blackberries and slider phones were popular. In the 2000s you had to carry multiple devices to entertain yourself since technology only had a single purpose like to listen to music you bring an mp3 player/iPod, to play videogames you brought a game or PSP, to call people you brought a cellphone. Nowadays you just need a smartphone.

It's insane how much mobile technology has changed throughout the years. It was only 11 years ago where you could still see someone walking down the street with a T-Mobile Sidekick slider.  ;D

It's insane how much mobile technology has changed throughout the years. It was only 11 years ago where you could still see someone walking down the street with a T-Mobile Sidekick slider.  ;D



Now everyone walks down the street carrying a smartphone.  ::)

Now everyone walks down the street carrying a smartphone.  ::)
...bumping into everyone!

...bumping into everyone!


Yes, I see that all the time, people live in their own world.  ::)

It's insane how much mobile technology has changed throughout the years. It was only 11 years ago where you could still see someone walking down the street with a T-Mobile Sidekick slider.  ;D
Yeap the sidekick was huge from 2004-09.

Everything changed technologically in the 2000s. The 1990s were also significant for technological change as it brought in the internet/web to average consumers. Both the 1990s and 2000s were pivotal decades for technological changes and will be looked back as such in history. 2000s especially you will notice a night and day difference between the year 2000 and 2009. The 2010s had fewer changes, it was more changes and improvements in the tech itself like the specs and all that rather than the lifestyle changes technology has brought in the 2000s.

The peak. You didn't need a connection just to listen to music or watch films.I do admit the 2010s gave us games with good graphics that I admit I'm spoiled by but I think they're generally trash after a certain title from the 2000s.

Everything changed technologically in the 2000s. The 1990s were also significant for technological change as it brought in the internet/web to average consumers. Both the 1990s and 2000s were pivotal decades for technological changes and will be looked back as such in history. 2000s especially you will notice a night and day difference between the year 2000 and 2009. The 2010s had fewer changes, it was more changes and improvements in the tech itself like the specs and all that rather than the lifestyle changes technology has brought in the 2000s.


That's funny, because I would have argued the opposite ;D

I feel like it's the 2000s with the big spec changes. We went from Nokia brick phones to flip phones to Blackberries in between 2000 and 2009, but they did functionally the same thing: take calls. We want from SDTVs to HDTVs, but they did functionally the same thing: watch TV. We went from VHS to DVD and Blue-ray but they did functionally the same thing: store movies.

But the introduction of the smartphone and the various software apps "disrupted" life as we know it. I read an article recently about how bus ridership in the UK is way down, and the main culprit is people of the ages 16-24 in 2010 rode the bus way more often than those of the same age in 2019. The official explanation given was that kids in 2010 had to meet up IRL if they wanted to have fun with their friends; in 2019 by contrast a lot more socializing takes place online or on digital platforms.

It makes a whole lot of sense. In 2010, most people didn't own smartphones, so if you wanted social media you would have to stay tethered to your seat on your computer. Even for people who did have smartphones, social media apps on smartphones were absolute barebones compared to their Desktop site; I remember the Facebook app was just a link to its clunky mobile site. In 2010 most websites didn't have mobile versions.

In 2010, you still had to call the restaurant and talk to a human to get delivery. You still had to go to the bar/meet in-person to pick up a boyfriend/girlfriend. You had to go to the video store to buy movies. You had to call and hail a taxi the old-fashioned way. You had to compare store prices using store flyers. I can go on and on. Virtually (excuse the pun) all parts of our life has changed thanks to smartphones, in a way it wasn't with just the basic introduction of the Internet.

I put it this way. When Internet went from being 0 hours a day to 1 hour a day, it was a big change. When it went from being 1 hour a day to 24 hours a day, it was a revolution.

^^ well said. I think people really underestimate how much things have changed over the past decade. We are now connected 24/7, which is a huge change from 2010.

And that article is absolutely right. Pew came to the same conclusion - even in 2012, the overwhelming majority of teens said they preferred talking to their friends in person. By 2019, that was no longer the case. In 2010, we met up with friends and just uploaded pictures to our Facebook accounts. It didn’t replace real life interaction.

That's funny, because I would have argued the opposite ;D

I feel like it's the 2000s with the big spec changes. We went from Nokia brick phones to flip phones to Blackberries in between 2000 and 2009, but they did functionally the same thing: take calls. We want from SDTVs to HDTVs, but they did functionally the same thing: watch TV. We went from VHS to DVD and Blue-ray but they did functionally the same thing: store movies.

But the introduction of the smartphone and the various software apps "disrupted" life as we know it. I read an article recently about how bus ridership in the UK is way down, and the main culprit is people of the ages 16-24 in 2010 rode the bus way more often than those of the same age in 2019. The official explanation given was that kids in 2010 had to meet up IRL if they wanted to have fun with their friends; in 2019 by contrast a lot more socializing takes place online or on digital platforms.

It makes a whole lot of sense. In 2010, most people didn't own smartphones, so if you wanted social media you would have to stay tethered to your seat on your computer. Even for people who did have smartphones, social media apps on smartphones were absolute barebones compared to their Desktop site; I remember the Facebook app was just a link to its clunky mobile site. In 2010 most websites didn't have mobile versions.

In 2010, you still had to call the restaurant and talk to a human to get delivery. You still had to go to the bar/meet in-person to pick up a boyfriend/girlfriend. You had to go to the video store to buy movies. You had to call and hail a taxi the old-fashioned way. You had to compare store prices using store flyers. I can go on and on. Virtually (excuse the pun) all parts of our life has changed thanks to smartphones, in a way it wasn't with just the basic introduction of the Internet.

I put it this way. When Internet went from being 0 hours a day to 1 hour a day, it was a big change. When it went from being 1 hour a day to 24 hours a day, it was a revolution.

Smartphones may have not been popular but cell phones were still around and smartphones even though they were not advanced were still available for purchase in 2010 too.

Smartphones may have not been popular but cell phones were still around and smartphones even though they were not advanced were still available for purchase in 2010 too.

That's true. 2010 was part of this awkward transitional phase that the smartphone industry had. You had smartphones with a few physical buttons, slider phones, slow Android interfaces, and other experiments.

That's funny, because I would have argued the opposite ;D

I feel like it's the 2000s with the big spec changes. We went from Nokia brick phones to flip phones to Blackberries in between 2000 and 2009, but they did functionally the same thing: take calls. We want from SDTVs to HDTVs, but they did functionally the same thing: watch TV. We went from VHS to DVD and Blue-ray but they did functionally the same thing: store movies.

But the introduction of the smartphone and the various software apps "disrupted" life as we know it. I read an article recently about how bus ridership in the UK is way down, and the main culprit is people of the ages 16-24 in 2010 rode the bus way more often than those of the same age in 2019. The official explanation given was that kids in 2010 had to meet up IRL if they wanted to have fun with their friends; in 2019 by contrast a lot more socializing takes place online or on digital platforms.

It makes a whole lot of sense. In 2010, most people didn't own smartphones, so if you wanted social media you would have to stay tethered to your seat on your computer. Even for people who did have smartphones, social media apps on smartphones were absolute barebones compared to their Desktop site; I remember the Facebook app was just a link to its clunky mobile site. In 2010 most websites didn't have mobile versions.

In 2010, you still had to call the restaurant and talk to a human to get delivery. You still had to go to the bar/meet in-person to pick up a boyfriend/girlfriend. You had to go to the video store to buy movies. You had to call and hail a taxi the old-fashioned way. You had to compare store prices using store flyers. I can go on and on. Virtually (excuse the pun) all parts of our life has changed thanks to smartphones, in a way it wasn't with just the basic introduction of the Internet.

I put it this way. When Internet went from being 0 hours a day to 1 hour a day, it was a big change. When it went from being 1 hour a day to 24 hours a day, it was a revolution.


While you bring up good points, I still think that overall the technological advances that were made in the 2000s were objectively more pronounced than the 2010s. You proved this by the advancements in specifications of technology, but I would also say that this was based on the utilization of new and or already established technology (like the internet) in interesting and new ways.

From going from the year 2000 in which:

-Cell Phones were still not the norm (I think it hit 50% usage rates in 2001), let alone the concept of Smartphones being so outlandish and crazy. If anybody were using cell phones, it would’ve likely been those archaic Nokia ‘Brick’ phones or those very early concepts of flip phones. Many people in professional fields still used pagers.

-SD Cathode-ray tube (CRT) televisions were practically the only type of TVs that were available to most people (like most of the latter half of the 20th century). HDTVs were too out of reach for most people, and even so we’re still primarily in a CRT build (several years before LCD panels).

-The internet had just hit 50% usage rates; 56k dial up was still the standard (AOL being a major distributor here in the States), social media had not existed yet, and the internet was overall not a necessity (not to mention the smartphone comment from before).

-Video Games we’re still in the 5th generation of Consoles, with the archaic, blurry, 3-D game graphics to boot. PS2 would release late in the year, but the system itself wouldn’t make a splash in software sales that truly utilized its technology until a year later. So 2000 and much of 2001 was still solidly 5th generation/early 3-D era.

-Cell animation was at it tail end, in retrospect, but was practically still the dominate way in creating cartoons for television (like much of the 20th century). Computerized Flash animation would debut a year later, and wouldn’t begin to dominate the animation industry until a few years later. 

-VHS was practically still the only type of video format that was accessible to most people. DVD just becomes somewhat popular this year, due in major part to the release of PS2 late in the year. Not to mention video rental stores still being the only way to buy/rent movies.

-Other forms of physical media such as CDs/Cassettes for music, Floppy Disks for storage, Laserdiscs for niche film enthusiasts, etc. etc. MP3 technology would be revolutionized a year later with the launch of the iPod (which wouldn’t massively increase in popularity until a few years after it’s initial release), this Discmans and those big music boxes (aka jukeboxes) were practically the only accessible ways via listening to music back then.

I could go on and on, but I think you catch my drift. 2000 and 2009 might as well be in separate decades, whereas 2010 and 2019 are much more connected technologically. The differences between 2010 and now are admittedly pretty striking, I am not going to lie. But I still think that one could look at both of these years and see the connections pretty clearly, whereas 2000 might as well be from a different planet.

Like comparing Spyro: Year of the Dragon with it’s dated polygon graphics to something like Uncharted 2, with its borderline-realistic visuals in utilizing the ‘Cell engine’ (even for today’s standards). Or one’s Nokia ‘Brick’ phone in 2000 with the preprogrammed game ‘Snake’, to someone’s iPhone 3GS in 2009 with a fully available App Store to purchase any game you desire on the internet (something like ‘Angry Birds’, as an example). The differences are just too noticeable not to recognize.

While you bring up good points, I still think that overall the technological advances that were made in the 2000s were objectively more pronounced than the 2010s. You proved this by the advancements in specifications of technology, but I would also say that this was based on the utilization of new and or already established technology (like the internet) in interesting and new ways.

From going from the year 2000 in which:

-Cell Phones were still not the norm (I think it hit 50% usage rates in 2001), let alone the concept of Smartphones being so outlandish and crazy. If anybody were using cell phones, it would’ve likely been those archaic Nokia ‘Brick’ phones or those very early concepts of flip phones. Many people in professional fields still used pagers.

-SD Cathode-ray tube (CRT) televisions were practically the only type of TVs that were available to most people (like most of the latter half of the 20th century). HDTVs were too out of reach for most people, and even so we’re still primarily in a CRT build (several years before LCD panels).

-The internet had just hit 50% usage rates; 56k dial up was still the standard (AOL being a major distributor here in the States), social media had not existed yet, and the internet was overall not a necessity (not to mention the smartphone comment from before).

-Video Games we’re still in the 5th generation of Consoles, with the archaic, blurry, 3-D game graphics to boot. PS2 would release late in the year, but the system itself wouldn’t make a splash in software sales that truly utilized its technology until a year later. So 2000 and much of 2001 was still solidly 5th generation/early 3-D era.

-Cell animation was at it tail end, in retrospect, but was practically still the dominate way in creating cartoons for television (like much of the 20th century). Computerized Flash animation would debut a year later, and wouldn’t begin to dominate the animation industry until a few years later. 

-VHS was practically still the only type of video format that was accessible to most people. DVD just becomes somewhat popular this year, due in major part to the release of PS2 late in the year. Not to mention video rental stores still being the only way to buy/rent movies.

-Other forms of physical media such as CDs/Cassettes for music, Floppy Disks for storage, Laserdiscs for niche film enthusiasts, etc. etc. MP3 technology would be revolutionized a year later with the launch of the iPod (which wouldn’t massively increase in popularity until a few years after it’s initial release), this Discmans and those big music boxes (aka jukeboxes) were practically the only accessible ways via listening to music back then.

I could go on and on, but I think you catch my drift. 2000 and 2009 might as well be in separate decades, whereas 2010 and 2019 are much more connected technologically. The differences between 2010 and now are admittedly pretty striking, I am not going to lie. But I still think that one could look at both of these years and see the connections pretty clearly, whereas 2000 might as well be from a different planet.

Like comparing Spyro: Year of the Dragon with it’s dated polygon graphics to something like Uncharted 2, with its borderline-realistic visuals in utilizing the ‘Cell engine’ (even for today’s standards). Or one’s Nokia ‘Brick’ phone in 2000 with the preprogrammed game ‘Snake’, to someone’s iPhone 3GS in 2009 with a fully available App Store to purchase any game you desire on the internet (something like ‘Angry Birds’, as an example). The differences are just too noticeable not to recognize.
Pure facts. The 2010s were much more consistent with smartphones, 4G, wi-fi, gaming being more reasltic.

Another thing is how people got TV.  Little dishes started in the late 90s and were iffy (Primestar, DSS) but really took over (Dish Network/Direct TV) in the 2000s.  You no longer were out of luck if you didn't live in town where there was cable. 

But also, the 2000s were the last great decade for pay TV on C-band (big dish).  I stayed on the ride as long as it lasted.  Master feeds started getting dropped in the 2000s, but companies like NPS and SRL negotiated to keep it going as long as they could.  Finally in 2016 they were forced to drop it for good.  Here after fighting for 17 years with my HOA to keep my dish, I finally got a new house and planted the dish here only to find out the pay TV was disappearing.  But that's ok, there are still tons of oddball freebies out there which I enjoy and I can't get anywhere else.

I could go on and on, but I think you catch my drift. 2000 and 2009 might as well be in separate decades, whereas 2010 and 2019 are much more connected technologically. The differences between 2010 and now are admittedly pretty striking, I am not going to lie. But I still think that one could look at both of these years and see the connections pretty clearly, whereas 2000 might as well be from a different planet.

I agree although I think the change between 1990 and 1999 trumps those two. If 2000 and 2009 are separate planets then 1990 and 1999 are separate universes, lol. And it's funny because I never used to think much about this change, being that the late 90s were my first memories. The early-mid 90s I just ignored, didn't think much about them at all, as they were before my time. Then I looked more closely at footage and media from the early 90s and I could certainly see how huge the changes between 1990 and 1999.

It's been theorized that if you look at cultural decades as being XXX3-XXX3 instead of XXX0-XXX0, it paints a somewhat more consistent picture from start to end. 1993-2003 being 90s culture although I know some people here get angry about the statement "The 90s ended in 2003-2004".

That's true. 2010 was part of this awkward transitional phase that the smartphone industry had. You had smartphones with a few physical buttons, slider phones, slow Android interfaces, and other experiments.

There were a lot more phones to choose from in the late 2000s/early 2010s. I still fw slider phones.

It's insane how much mobile technology has changed throughout the years. It was only 11 years ago where you could still see someone walking down the street with a T-Mobile Sidekick slider.  ;D


I don't find that odd at all! It was just the smartphone of it's day.

That's funny, because I would have argued the opposite ;D

I feel like it's the 2000s with the big spec changes. We went from Nokia brick phones to flip phones to Blackberries in between 2000 and 2009, but they did functionally the same thing: take calls. We want from SDTVs to HDTVs, but they did functionally the same thing: watch TV. We went from VHS to DVD and Blue-ray but they did functionally the same thing: store movies.

But the introduction of the smartphone and the various software apps "disrupted" life as we know it. I read an article recently about how bus ridership in the UK is way down, and the main culprit is people of the ages 16-24 in 2010 rode the bus way more often than those of the same age in 2019. The official explanation given was that kids in 2010 had to meet up IRL if they wanted to have fun with their friends; in 2019 by contrast a lot more socializing takes place online or on digital platforms.

It makes a whole lot of sense. In 2010, most people didn't own smartphones, so if you wanted social media you would have to stay tethered to your seat on your computer. Even for people who did have smartphones, social media apps on smartphones were absolute barebones compared to their Desktop site; I remember the Facebook app was just a link to its clunky mobile site. In 2010 most websites didn't have mobile versions.

In 2010, you still had to call the restaurant and talk to a human to get delivery. You still had to go to the bar/meet in-person to pick up a boyfriend/girlfriend. You had to go to the video store to buy movies. You had to call and hail a taxi the old-fashioned way. You had to compare store prices using store flyers. I can go on and on. Virtually (excuse the pun) all parts of our life has changed thanks to smartphones, in a way it wasn't with just the basic introduction of the Internet.

I put it this way. When Internet went from being 0 hours a day to 1 hour a day, it was a big change. When it went from being 1 hour a day to 24 hours a day, it was a revolution.


You realise the smartphone was introduced in 2007, right? Which is not the 2010s. You make 2010 and 2020 seem really separate but they aren't. I remember in 2013 (just a few years after 2010) everyone and they're dog had a smartphone, even my mum got one in 2011 and I've always had a saying that goes "You know something is mainstream when you're parents get it!"


I agree although I think the change between 1990 and 1999 trumps those two. If 2000 and 2009 are separate planets then 1990 and 1999 are separate universes, lol. And it's funny because I never used to think much about this change, being that the late 90s were my first memories. The early-mid 90s I just ignored, didn't think much about them at all, as they were before my time. Then I looked more closely at footage and media from the early 90s and I could certainly see how huge the changes between 1990 and 1999.

It's been theorized that if you look at cultural decades as being XXX3-XXX3 instead of XXX0-XXX0, it paints a somewhat more consistent picture from start to end. 1993-2003 being 90s culture although I know some people here get angry about the statement "The 90s ended in 2003-2004".


When I've seen archive footage of the early 90s it often strikes me as having more in common with the 70s than 2000s!

Interesting theory on measuring decades by starting the 3rd year in, rather than the first year.

Interesting theory on measuring decades by starting the 3rd year in, rather than the first year.

xxx3 is the 4th year in, not the third year in... A decade starts with the year 0 so you can't forget that. And no it's not a good theory at all. The decade starts earlier often, not later.