In terms of fashion, technology, politics and pop culture

1980-2000. It’s not even up for debate.

1980 was a mostly analog world while 2000 was mostly digital, so 1980-2000 had a bigger change.

The technological advances were more radical from 1980-2000.

One of the obvious reasons: The invention of the World Wide Web.

Each to each own both of this periods of had many changes.

1980 was a mostly analog world while 2000 was mostly digital, so 1980-2000 had a bigger change.


2000 was actually mostly analog too. Less than 20% of the world population stored info on digital format. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c5/Analog_to_digital_transition.jpg/300px-Analog_to_digital_transition.jpg

I feel like if it wasn’t for the 80’s and 90’s we wouldn’t have what we have today. For an example the 90’s brought on the accessibility of Internet and cell phones. The smart phone was invented in the 90’s. In the 2000’s we seen those things fuse together and evolve. In the 2010’s we live in a completely digital world with a majority of us owning those things, but it was all due to the 80’s-90’s. The 2000’s-2010’s were just an era of evolution for what was already created 10-25 years beforehand.

1980-2000 and it's not even close.

As I've said before, in just 10 years the world went from the 99% analog Neon Era where most people never heard of the internet,

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to the half-digital Y2K Chrome Era with 3D gaming and millions of internet users.

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It's hard to believe these are even the same decade, and really it's no wonder "Xennials" got so misty-eyed over that late 80s-early 90s era, because it became bygone real quick due to how fast everything was advancing.

As bchris02 said, in 2009 you could dress like 2000 and get away with it somewhat. You certainly couldn't dress like 1990 in 1999 and get away with it.

As bchris02 said, in 2009 you could dress like 2000 and get away with it somewhat. You certainly couldn't dress like 1990 in 1999 and get away with it.


I wouldn't be surprised if women got mocked for wearing perm hair in the late 90s.    ;D

Anyways, the juxtaposition of early and late 90s commercials was jarring yet very intriguing.

I wouldn't be surprised if women got mocked for wearing perm hair in the late 90s.    ;D

Anyways, the juxtaposition of early and late 90s commercials was jarring yet very intriguing.


I feel like some 80’s early 90’s fashion was still pretty prevalent in the late 90’s, specifically with more boomer/early gen x people. I was born in the mid late 90’s and if you go through my baby photos all I see are my aunts with permed hair and Farrah Fawcett hairstyles along with high waist jeans and tucked in shirts. I think this persisted into the early 2000’s because by 2003 the term “mom jeans” became a joke.

2000 was actually mostly analog too. Less than 20% of the world population stored info on digital format. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c5/Analog_to_digital_transition.jpg/300px-Analog_to_digital_transition.jpg

It was still mostly analog in the UK too despite us being a wealthy nation. People on here constantly overestimate how early certain technologies become widespread. Only 25% of the UK population had home access to the internet in 2000. Most people didn’t have mobile phones. Most people didn’t even have satellite or digital TV yet. Might be different in the US but that was the case here.

You could also argue that although digital technology was becoming increasingly widespread in 2000, analog technology was at least very common if not more common, whereas in 2020 analog technology is virtually nonexistent. If analog tech was more common in 2000 than digital tech then that’s one way 2000 would be closer to say 1984 than 2020. If you showed people in 2000 some of the stuff we have now they’d be dumbfounded.

Anyway, if 1980-2000 saw bigger changes than 2000-2020 then presumably the 2000s weren’t the most changeful decade - that would be the 90s.

I wouldn't be surprised if women got mocked for wearing perm hair in the late 90s.    ;D

Anyways, the juxtaposition of early and late 90s commercials was jarring yet very intriguing.

Though, if you go by the people who say 1990-1992 was a continuation of the 80s, and don't start 90s culture until 1993, then the shift isn't quite as jarring.

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Here, the 1995 commercials are still different from the 1999 commercials. But unlike 1990 vs 1999, 1995 and 1999 don't feel like they're separate planes of existence. Instead 1999 feels like a more polished evolution of 1995.

1980 - 2000 was a way, way bigger change.

1980 - 2000 was a way, way bigger change.

Honestly I was expecting you to say 2000-2020 was a bigger change. ;D

Wasn't this the other day that this forum was mindblown at how dated and almost 80s-ish the year 2000 looked in a home video?

Funny that opinions keep flip flopping from thread to thread ::)

Wasn't this the other day that this forum was mindblown at how dated and almost 80s-ish the year 2000 looked in a home video?

Funny that opinions keep flip flopping from thread to thread ::)

Seeing a big change between 2000 and 2020 doesn't make it a bigger change than from 1980 to 2000... It just makes it a big change, but not a bigger change. Nobody in their right mind would ever say 2000 looked "80ish". What was being said is that 2000 from 2020 looked similar to how 1980 looked in the year 2000. So you must have misunderstood what was being said. Like people were talking perspective-wise. How looking back at 2000 from today was similar to looking back at 1980 from 2000. But the 1980s had nothing to do with 2000 still.

On another note, we're talking about 1980 here.... Is 1989 more connected to 2000 than 2020 to 2000? That's at least arguable, they are closer in distance. But 1980? Not a chance... The internet changed everything that's why 2000 is more connected to 2020. Most people had some form of internet in the year 2000. And most people never heard of the word internet in 1980.

I updated the poll and added the 20 year period inbetween 1990-2010(aka the 90s and 2000s). Was this period even more changeful then both either periods

Things changed the most 1990 - 2010 for sure.

Things changed the most 1990 - 2010 for sure.


We went from perms/big hair in 1990 to skinny jeans, tight fitted clothing and super straight hair in 2010

I voted 1990 to 2010. The 90s planted the seeds for the technology that we have in the 21st-century, however I would also argue that the 80s planted the seeds for a lot of 21st century culture As we know it today.

I voted 1990-2010. However, I'm going to go out on a whim here and say that if I had to choose between 1980-2000 and 2000-2020, surprisingly, I would choose the latter. I think just the mere fact that much of society in the early-mid 2000s, at least from a day to day perspective, was still relatively similar to the Late 20th century, is evidenced in itself of how much things have changed in the last 20 or so years. 'Living Room culture' was still at the fabric of the American family in 2005 as much as it was in 1985 or 1995. Whereas that entire concept was already a thing of the past by 2015. We tend to make fun of Back to the Future: Part II for it's rather buoyant portrayal of what the future year of 2015 would be like. However, one aspect about the year 2015 that the film got right was this:

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Remove the cartoonish portrayal of the devices, and replace them with smartphones, and really the movie's prediction becomes a lot more accurate. Marty's kids being so caught up on their personal electronics to the point of being oblivious to their surroundings, heck his own daughter is using a phone at dinner time ;D. Marty forced to excuse himself from his family having dinner so that he could do a video conference with his boss from the comfort of his own house. 'Working from home' wasn't much of an option in the 2000s, like the 80s & 90s, but had certainly started to become the norm in the 2010s. All of these things were obviously a pipe dream in 1989, but even in like 2000 or 2005 it would've still seemed kind of far fetched.

I posted this on another thread recently, roughly about the same topic:

http://www.inthe00s.com/index.php?topic=61626.0

I would imagine that if one were to build a time machine (Delorean style 8)) and would to warp a kid from 2002 back in time to 1984, while there would be some adjustments, for sure, all in all the kid would generally be able to have a conceptual understanding of knowing how to live life in those times. Whereas, you cannot say the same for your average kid of today if they were to be transported back in time to 2002.


-A world in which, when the internet wasn't the necessity in our lives like it is today, not to mention how excruciatingly slow it was, be it that.

-A world in which, there were no smartphones, tablet computers, and various other advanced electronics, the closest perhaps being a Gameboy.

-A world in which, there were no streaming services, meaning a world when kids still had to wait for their certain programs to come onto TV, be it via Cable or even Saturday Morning Cartoons (as millions of Americans still didn't have cable and only relied on 'rabbit ears'), not to mention that 'brick & mortar' video rental stores like Blockbuster and Hollywood Video still reigned supreme ("Be Kind, Rewind", try subjectgating a modern kid with having to rewind a VHS tape...... they won't last ;D).

-While video game graphics in 2002 do have more in common with video game graphics of today, gaming culture as a whole was dramatically different and definitely more akin to 1984, emblematic of how there was still little to no online multiplayer for video game consoles, so the 'old school' way of going to friends houses to play local split screen video games was still the norm.

-Finally, you cannot forget to mention how much of the 'childhood experience' was still being set on being outdoors, which, in a weird way, is a major indictment on the current year in which playgrounds, at least where I live, have been closed off due to the pandemic, but even right before the pandemic hit, you'd notice that many playgrounds have been relatively empty for years, in comparison to merely even a decade ago.

1980-2000 sees the introduction of video games, electronic music (Even though it was already popular in 1977, it was further amplified since then), rap music, MTV, transition from Analog lives to Digital computing, and the Internet. Therefore, 1980-2000 is the winner here.

2000-2020 did have some nice changes like Near-photorealistic graphics in games, CGI movies, smartphones and tablets, Voice assistants, legalization of gay marriage, and Virtual Reality though this is just basically a modernization and refinement of existing technology, and a few more tweaks to politics and social lives.

1980-2000 sees the introduction of video games, electronic music (Even though it was already popular in 1977, it was further amplified since then), rap music, MTV, transition from Analog lives to Digital computing, and the Internet. Therefore, 1980-2000 is the winner here.

2000-2020 did have some nice changes like Near-photorealistic graphics in games, CGI movies, smartphones and tablets, Voice assistants, legalization of gay marriage, and Virtual Reality though this is just basically a modernization and refinement of existing technology, and a few more tweaks to politics and social lives.


You left out 1990-2010

1980-2010. It’s not even up for debate.

You left out 1990-2010
I'll get into that shortly

I have a feeling this new period we are entering in (2020 - 2040) will be extremely changeful. Look how much already changed since the start of 2020.

I have a feeling this new period we are entering in (2020 - 2040) will be extremely changeful. Look how much already changed since the start of 2020.


A recession, pandemic, and civil unrest. Yeah....mostly not for the better. But any 20-year period will be impactful in some way.

I'd say that 1990-2010 was arguably about as changeful as 1960-1980 was, just factored more on the technological side as opposed to the cultural side of the 1960s-70s. The 1980s were mostly just an evolution of 1960s-70s styles along with an modern update to certain styles of the 1950s. Yes, many Boomers and older at the time hated all of the synths/reverbs of the era, but it was still the Cold War era, the Internet hadn't yet been around, and even many of the computers weren't quite developed to the point yet were typewriters were fully a thing of the past. But then it seemed shortly after 1990 hit, a lot of the contemporary political principles (partisanship, political correctness, the rise of the developing world) came on. Of course, this was also when rock music started to lose its dominance as the most popular genre of music like it was from the '60s-'80s, hip-hop and EDM started to become big (gangsta/techno in the '90s, etc.)

Overall, I picked 1980-2000, but only by a close shave, mostly due to the vast changes of the 1990s. The 2000s was when most people made the full-on transition to a digital world and is a close second behind the 1990s for overall change, but the ultimate "world is getting smaller" moment was with the dot-com boom of the mid-late '90s, and the 1980s outdoes the 2010s with things like the evolution of video games (from Space Invaders to 16-bit), cable TV, VCR penetration, as well as the groundwork for the end of the Cold War and the adoption of trickle down economics that remains to this day. That said, the 2010s are likely going to be compared to the 1980s and 1950s as being relatively quiet, decadent decades where most of the groundwork for the changes in following decades are taking place underground.