Even though I used to jump on the bandwagon of bashing this era like others often did, in retrospect it wasn't completely bad. I mean you still had good stuff like 30 Rock, Late Registration, Oracular Spectacular, Kanye West revolutionizing hip-hop with Graduation and 808's, The Dark Knight, Avatar TLA, Clone Wars 2008, Halo 3, iPods, Golden Age YouTube, the general excitement and optimism over Obama's election, etc.

The Recession did suck though, and the excess of the decade's early part came home to roost in the latter half, which is why I can understand the hate. Still, I'd take 2005-2009 over 2020, of course.

Aside from the recession it wasn't that bad. I think the recession has colored people's perception of this half of the decade quite greatly, or the fact that culture from this half of the decade just seemed rather forgettable. This is the half of the decade I'm nostalgic for.

I'd never get the opposite impression.

And here come the "that era began in 2006, not 2005" posts in 3, 2, 1...

Anyhow 2006 and 2007 except for Q4 were kind of a dark period in my life, mainly in my personal life but I didn't care for the culture either. Still better than 2020 of course. I really enjoyed 2008, despite the recession. 2009 was good too but slightly downhill compared to 2008.

'05 wasn't. It was still part of the classic and mid 2000s. I felt a shift in late 2005 / early 2006, and it wasn't good (wasn't horrible but it was no longer that classic kick-a** vibe).

'05 wasn't. It was still part of the classic and mid 2000s. I felt a shift in late 2005 / early 2006, and it wasn't good (wasn't horrible but it was no longer that classic kick-a** vibe).


I didn't care for the late 05/early 06 period as mentioned above, except for my first trip to Europe in November which was the highlight of the year, but after that it was all downhill. Late 2007/early 2008 was when things became better.

Personally and pop culturally I didn’t enjoy 2006-2009 as much as I did 2000-2005. A lot of things at least for kids at the time we’re transitioning into something different by 2006. The world was changing, we were heading into a huge recession that would wipe out lots of toy stores in my area, Music stores and movie stores. Personally my perspective of the 2000’s shifted around that time. It felt like we were officially entering the digital age by that point as well.

Personally and pop culturally I didn’t enjoy 2006-2009 as much as I did 2000-2005. A lot of things at least for kids at the time we’re transitioning into something different by 2006. The world was changing, we were heading into a huge recession that would wipe out lots of toy stores in my area, Music stores and movie stores. Personally my perspective of the 2000’s shifted around that time. It felt like we were officially entering the digital age by that point as well.


The Late 2000's for Millennials were very similar to the Early 1990's for Gen-X/Xennials. We were also going through a recession at the time though not as bad as the Late 00's. I remember things changing and not being so fun like the 80's, but after a few years I started to appreciate the new culture. I was also going through changes in my own life going from elementary school to middle school, and you know how that's an awkward transition for most people.

It's the era when things started to feel more modern and closer to how things are now compared to the earlier part of the 2000s. I remember being one of the first people to use Netflix how it's used today, my parents installing it on our living room TV. iPhones starting to become a thing too, even though I I only remember the more well off people using them, everyone else having a BlackBerry or a T-Mobile Sidekick or just a flip phone. I remember the first two Transformer films being huge blockbusters. Comedies like The Hangover and Step Brothers and Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby everywhere throughout the latter half of the decade, it just has that late to mid 2000s feel to them that you rarely see in modern day comedy movies. It's definitely the part of the 2000s I remember and I'm nostalgic for the most.

It's the era when things started to feel more modern and closer to how things are now compared to the earlier part of the 2000s. I remember being one of the first people to use Netflix how it's used today, my parents installing it on our living room TV. iPhones starting to become a thing too, even though I I only remember the more well off people using them, everyone else having a BlackBerry or a T-Mobile Sidekick or just a flip phone. I remember the first two Transformer films being huge blockbusters. Comedies like The Hangover and Step Brothers and Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby everywhere throughout the latter half of the decade, it just has that late to mid 2000s feel to them that you rarely see in modern day comedy movies. It's definitely the part of the 2000s I remember and I'm nostalgic for the most.


Also comedies like Wedding Crashers, 40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up, Superbad, Role Models, Pineapple Express, Tropic Thunder, etc. They don't make that many good comedies anymore. Also I remember getting the original Apple TV which was nothing as we know it today (another streaming app like Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney+, etc.). Back then all it did was sync with your iTunes on your desktop/laptop, and half the time it didn't sync. That's part of the reason I got turned off from Apple.

The early 00s are getting all the nostalgia now, but wait a few years and the second half will catch up. I remember when 1999 was the cutoff for nostalgia, then that got moved to 2001, now it seems to have moved up to 2003 or so. Give it a while.

That said, I think 2009, possibly 2008, will wind up being lumped in with the early 2010s for a lot of people. Stuff like Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Taylor Swift, Twitter, Obama, the Tea Party, the economic recession, smart phones popping up in music videos (even though the average person didn't have it),  and such all fit into 2012 more than they do 2007.

The early 00s are getting all the nostalgia now, but wait a few years and the second half will catch up. I remember when 1999 was the cutoff for nostalgia, then that got moved to 2001, now it seems to have moved up to 2003 or so. Give it a while.

That said, I think 2009, possibly 2008, will wind up being lumped in with the early 2010s for a lot of people. Stuff like Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Taylor Swift, Twitter, Obama, the Tea Party, the economic recession, smart phones popping up in music videos (even though the average person didn't have it),  and such all fit into 2012 more than they do 2007.

I don't think '90s nostalgia has reached its peak yet. Unless nostalgia has just become really lame and people will be stuck on the '80s forever but I doubt that. I think 1990s nostalgia will really explode this decade. We'll see though.

The early 00s are getting all the nostalgia now, but wait a few years and the second half will catch up. I remember when 1999 was the cutoff for nostalgia, then that got moved to 2001, now it seems to have moved up to 2003 or so. Give it a while.

That said, I think 2009, possibly 2008, will wind up being lumped in with the early 2010s for a lot of people. Stuff like Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Taylor Swift, Twitter, Obama, the Tea Party, the economic recession, smart phones popping up in music videos (even though the average person didn't have it),  and such all fit into 2012 more than they do 2007.


I feel like we're entering the Mid 00's nostalgia (the emo/MySpace era). Early 00's nostalgia was more in the Late 10's, like with the "2002" song in 2018. And I think the Late 00's/Early 10's nostalgia will become big in the Mid 2020's.

I spent some of my childhood years in that era, and I fondly enjoyed it. I remember Nokia being everywhere, YouTube gaining massive popularity, and I was playing some PS3 and Wii games.

At least 2005-2009 had 2007, which to this day, is still my favorite year of the 2000s with the best video games (Halo 3 and Super Mario Galaxy), music (Graduation, In Rainbows, Oracular Spectacular), and tech (iPhone and 7th gen gaming being underway).

I spent some of my childhood years in that era, and I fondly enjoyed it. I remember Nokia being everywhere, YouTube gaining massive popularity, and I was playing some PS3 and Wii games.

At least 2005-2009 had 2007, which to this day, is still my favorite year of the 2000s with the best video games (Halo 3 and Super Mario Galaxy), music (Graduation, In Rainbows, Oracular Spectacular), and tech (iPhone and 7th gen gaming being underway).


I enjoyed the late 2007 and early 2008 (basically the time period of the 2007-08 school year for those in school) for the same things you mentioned. I especially liked the song "The Good Life" from the Graduation album and also the R&B artist The-Dream had a lot good songs. Super Mario Galaxy was the highlight of the holiday season and also the first Assassin's Creed, and then Super Smash Bros Brawl and GTA IV.

This era will always feel kind of new to me. Maybe if I didn't move cities in late 2005 I wouldn't feel that way. But things felt different culturally too.

Freedom Writers, Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix and Mr. Bean's Holiday are not my favorite movies. However, they do bring back a few memories.

There are a couple of decent to good songs from 2007 musically, Grace Kelly by Mika and Shut Up And Drive by Rihanna.

I remember the American version of Power of 10 (I don't know if it was the first version) being a likeable television show and Agricola is possibly the best board game to come out of the '00s.

I agree. 2005-2009 wasn't all bad for pop culture. However, I haven't seen two of the three movies that I mentioned above since they came out.