Listen up, fellow ’90s kids—our childhood is now considered “vintage.” Let that sink in.
We grew up in an era where we had to memorize phone numbers, rewind VHS tapes, and fight over who got to use the one family computer. Now, Gen Z looks at us like we personally survived the Oregon Trail.
If you’re ready to feel a little nostalgic, slightly betrayed, and existentially old, buckle up—because these 20 mind-bending facts will shake you to your core.
1. Blockbuster Has Been Dead for Over a Decade
Remember Friday nights at Blockbuster, wandering the aisles, debating whether to rent a movie or just stare at the new releases for an hour?
Yeah, kids today will never know the absolute pain of realizing someone else rented the last copy of Space Jam.
2. There Are Adults Who Were Born After Shrek Came Out
Shrek was released in 2001. That means there are full-grown voting, tax-paying adults who have never lived in a world where “SomeBODY once told me” wasn’t a cultural anthem.
3. The Fresh Prince’s Son Is Older Now Than Will Smith Was on the Show
Will Smith was 22 years old when The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air started.
Jaden Smith? 25.
Somewhere, Uncle Phil is shaking his head at us.
4. The Internet Used to Be a Privilege, Not a Right
Kids today don’t understand the deep, primal rage of getting kicked off AOL because your mom needed to use the phone.
Or the mystical power move of someone in your house picking up the phone and disconnecting you mid-download.
5. Tamagotchis Are Considered “Retro” Now
Back in the day, keeping a Tamagotchi alive was harder than raising an actual child. Now? They’re collectibles.
Meanwhile, I still haven’t forgiven my mom for throwing mine away when I forgot to feed it for three days.
6. Kids Today Will Never Know the Struggle of LimeWire
Want a song? Click download, wait 3 hours, pray it’s not a virus, and hope the FBI doesn’t come knocking.
Also, 50% chance you just downloaded a Bill Clinton speech instead of the actual song.
7. The Final Episode of Friends Aired 20 Years Ago
That’s right. Ross and Rachel officially got back together two decades ago.
Which means if you were born the day Friends ended, you’re now old enough to be in college and questioning your own life choices.
8. You Used to Have to Take Pictures… and Then Wait Days to See Them
No instant previews. No filters. Just blind faith that your disposable camera captured the right moment.
And the soul-crushing disappointment when you finally got the photos back and realized your finger was covering the lens the whole time.
9. Floppy Disks Had Less Storage Than a Single Selfie Today
A floppy disk held 1.44 MB of data.
Your phone won’t even let you take a photo that small.
Meanwhile, kids today see the save icon and have no idea why it looks like that.
10. If You Missed a TV Show, You Just… Missed It
No DVR. No streaming. No “I’ll just watch it later” nonsense.
If you missed an episode of Pokémon, you had to wait for the rerun or rely on a friend to tell you what happened—poorly.
11. MTV Used to Actually Play Music Videos
Yes, it wasn’t just reality shows.
There was a time when you could turn on MTV and see actual music videos instead of 16-year-olds crying about their toxic relationships on reality TV.
12. Disney Channel Original Movies Are Now Considered Classics
Halloweentown, Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century, Smart House—these movies are now nostalgic treasures.
Which means we’re officially the old people who say, “They don’t make ‘em like they used to.”
13. Every ‘90s Commercial Was Basically a Mini Action Movie
Everything from Skip-It to Moon Shoes made it seem like you were one purchase away from living in an extreme sports highlight reel.
In reality? You’d just roll your ankle in the driveway.
14. People Don’t Use CDs Anymore
Remember making the perfect mixtape?
Now? People just send a Spotify link like it’s nothing. There’s zero emotional effort involved.
15. People Think “The Macarena” Is Just a TikTok Dance Now
Excuse me?! We suffered through weddings, school dances, and awkward family gatherings just for it to be reduced to a TikTok trend?!
16. Lunchables Are Smaller Now
Maybe we grew up, or maybe corporate America betrayed us.
Either way, the pizza Lunchable used to feel like a feast. Now? It’s basically an appetizer.
17. People Don’t Know the Struggle of Setting a Ringtone
Once upon a time, you had to either pay $3.99 for a polyphonic ringtone or spend an hour recording a song off the radio.
And you knew someone was rich if they had a full song as their ringtone.
18. Cartoon Network Shows Are Over 20 Years Old
Dexter’s Lab? Ed, Edd n Eddy? Powerpuff Girls?
Older than some of your coworkers. Let that settle in.
19. We Used to Have to Physically Go to the Video Game Store for Cheat Codes
Before Google, we had to buy a whole book of cheat codes just to figure out how to unlock all the characters in Mortal Kombat.
Now? Kids just YouTube it.
20. We’re Now the “Back in My Day” Generation
It finally happened.
We’re officially the people who say, “Back in my day, we had to wait for the internet to dial up.”
And somehow, Gen Z still doesn’t believe us.
Final Thought
If you made it through this list without feeling old, congratulations, you’re lying to yourself.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go ice my knees and complain about how expensive everything is.
