Time continues to march forward and the world around us changes, whether we like it or not. While some change is nearly instantaneous and powerful, other is so gradual and subtle that it’s barely noticeable. And before we know it, the things that we took for granted might have become just a memory.
Redditor u/isawillmakeyouhappy sparked an intriguing online discussion after asking people about all of the things, from technology and products to trends, that have “disappeared silently” over the years. Scroll down for a blast from the past and to see what might have gone away without you noticing.
Bored Panda wanted to get to grips with why we feel nostalgia for the technology of the past and whether it's possible to guess what kind of products will stay relevant in the future, so we got in touch with consumer psychology specialist Matt Johnson, Ph.D. He is the host of the marketing psychology blog and the author of ‘Branding that Means Business.' Be sure to check out our interview with Johnson below!
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"Research in the psychology of memory has found that our recollection of previous events is generally positive. Overall, memory is kind—especially of distant times like our childhood. This is one of the reasons why nostalgia is so powerful—it's the warm glow of the past, being conjured up into the present moment," Johnson, the host of the marketing psychology blog and the author of 'Branding that Means Business,' told Bored Panda.
Because nostalgia is such a powerful force, some companies use it to market their products. "When it comes to evoking memories through marketing, nostalgia reigns supreme. Brands often employ various strategies, such as using a beloved retro song, reintroducing older product versions, or featuring familiar characters from the past in their advertisements," the consumer psychology expert told us.
My faith in humanity
"These tactics aim to establish a profound emotional connection with our personal recollections of days gone by. Such connections can significantly influence our future choices and behaviors. One could even argue that Adidas's resurgence in the sneaker market can be attributed to their revival of '80s and '90s shoe models like Superstars and Stan Smiths."
This isn't the only approach, however. Johnson explained that another subtle method that brands and sometimes even politicians use to harness the power of nostalgia is portraying things as reminiscent of the 'Good Old Days.'
"An excellent example of this is the iconic Coca-Cola commercial from 1971, featuring a diverse group of young adults on a hillside singing in harmony, 'I'd like to teach the world to sing... I'd like to buy the world a Coke.' This commercial, released during a tumultuous period marked by the Vietnam War and civil rights protests, successfully tapped into the collective nostalgia for a simpler and more harmonious era, associating Coca-Cola with this longing sentiment."
The capacity to give. I’m not talking in abstract, I’m talking about the possibility to just give things to people.
For instance, before you could just put money in meters in front of car, but they changed it so you had to put a ticket in your car. But then people start to give their tickets with unused time left on them, so they change it again and you have to indicate your license plate on it.
I used to receive what we call restaurant tickets in my countries. These are vouchers given by your company to pay part of your lunch. It was a great thing to give away to homeless people because it was basically money they could only use to eat and not for drugs. Now we have these credits on a card and we can give them anymore.
It was possible to give tickets to people to take the bus, now they are fading away and we have to use an app instead.
Even money is harder to give away. Hard currency is disappearing because it’s becoming that much easier to just pay with your phone anything you need. The end result is that it’s becoming harder to just give money to strangers. Also it makes it that much easier for banks and government to know exactly everything that you buy.
I agree! Who care who pays for the parking spot. If someone pays for 4 hours from that spot, and only uses 2, they should have every right to have some else park there for the remainder 2 hours they paid for! There should be no stipulations in something given to you in exchange for work, like food vouchers. This is all greed from the higher ups in the world.
The rest of the product in bags, jars, and containers. Damn shrinkflation. Everything is slowly reducing in size and going up in price.
According to Johnson, it's difficult to say which products or technology will stay relevant in the future. However, he added that "we could get some indication by understanding the degree to which they tap into universal themes of human nature."
He explained: "There's a reason, for example, that the biggest, oldest, and most globally recognized brands have this kind of appeal. For example, Coca-Cola is aligned with 'happiness,' Nike is aligned with 'individual excellence,' and Apple with 'innovation' and 'think differently.' These are perennial themes that could be popular anywhere, anytime, and to anybody," the author of 'Branding that Means Business' shared how these approaches have given these brands longevity.
"This is in contrast to more niche products and brands with a smaller, specialized target market. So while we can't be completely certain, understanding the universal appeal of the brand's associations will be a strong indication of its enduring power."
Pleasantly uncrowded tourist destinations.
There's just too many people, every damn where. I don't want to go anywhere.
Fear of consequences for actions, common sense and being outdoors without havimg to have an activity.
This post might make you pay more attention to what tech and product trends are going out of fashion around you at this very moment. For instance, most of us probably know deep in our hearts that 3D cinema was a bit of a failed experiment. However, it wasn’t until we were reminded that it existed that we realized just how long it’s been since we’d gone to a 3D movie.
Similarly, pay phones and phone books used to be ubiquitous around homes and towns pretty much everywhere. But the odds are that very few of us noticed the moment when they were finally phased out. Of course, they still exist in some areas of the world, but elsewhere, it’s hard to compete with easily accessible smartphones and the internet.
Catalogs, phone books, and checks, designated smoking sections in restaurants.
ETA: Does anyone remember the coin operated horses outside of grocery stores? Because I was trying to think of other things that just went away and I suddenly realized those are no where to be found now.
Paid lunches. The term 9-5 used to be 8 hours including lunch. now most jobs are 9-6 with no paid lunch. but people still use the term nine to fives
What our childhoods were like is likely to influence how we feel about certain things, from products to technology. If someone had a difficult childhood, for instance, they might not remember their past environments with fondness.
On the flip side, someone who had a very happy and wholesome upbringing might associate those feelings with the things that surrounded them back then.
That’s why someone might miss the aesthetics or technology of previous decades: they’re artifacts of happy (or happier) times when they had fewer responsibilities and more time to spend with the people they love.
Kids playing outside.
I grew up playing outside and I just don't see that anymore....
Just because you don't see it doesn't mean they aren't playing outside
Common courtesy.
Culutre has tilted toward selfishness and your own experience.
Phrasing like "This is my truth" would be commonplace otherwise. Or an emphasis on niche concerns of the individual.
Colors of restaurants and fast food. Did anyone else notice how bland McDonald looks now and some other restaurants?
Heck, I remember when Taco Bell had a seven-color logo. It was very festive, like a small Mexican village during a fiesta!
However, it’s far from healthy to constantly think about the past. If you’re always reminding yourself how much ‘better’ things used to be, then you’ve gotten stuck in a nostalgic rut. It’s a warped view because we’re only focusing on the positives.
This can make you blind to genuinely good life opportunities and relationships in your present. Nostalgia is best enjoyed in small amounts when you need to quickly boost your mood and help you get through some tough moments.
Worrying about how everything was so much better a few decades ago, however, is exhausting and can make you less likely to embrace genuine improvements in tech. Being grateful for what you do have is an antidote to this. And if you have the patience and willingness to learn new skills and adapt to an ever-changing world, you might find that the present can be pretty darn great, too.
Actual ownership, of anything. It's all sold as a service now a days.
i still own a whole bunch of dvds, because i wanted to make sure that i always had access to those movies and didn't have to like, rent them online or something. now i don't have access to them anyway because i don't have a dvd player or even a dvd drive in my laptop. i can only watch what i can find on amazon, netflix, etc. It feels very precarious.
Mechanical credit card machines that took an imprint then you had to sign.
The happiness we had in childhood
Depends on which kid you talk to, I imagine. There are so many things that my parents, myself, and my kids got to do that gave us all happiness in childhood that my grandkids will never get to experience, as it happens with each generation. Doesn't mean kids have happiness in childhood infinitely better today.
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Not all of us had happy childhood because of bullying. I am glad to see most schools have a zero tolerance for bullying these days. Except it continues to happen on social media sites.
I found it again. Got divorced in midlife and decided to have my "second childhood" early. Best thing ever. My bedroom is all pink and rainbows and stuffed animals. Highly recommended.
as the song says.... oh yea, life goes on, long after the thrill of living is gone....
But this is true if everyone. Before adulthood taught us the truth that things were not always what they seem. I am 74 and I remember feeling like I was dragged into adulthood kicking and screaming.
Thanks cell phones and social media. Oh, and no accountability.
Being able to purchase even the most simple things, without having to give up all your personal info..
Hell, they at least ask for a name when you want a nasty burger from any fast food joint..
Rock radio stations. I live in a town with 1m ppl and there isn't a single rock station that isn't classic rock
The utter tragedy of being on a road trip, radio constantly scanning and never settling on anything remotely tolerable. Time to crank the ol' Discman to full volume, wrap it in three sweatshirts to prevent skips and plug it into the black cassette.
US Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh's massive gambling debt
Garage sales, and a local newspaper that lists where they are on.
There was a time a furnished half my house and filled my kitchen from garage sales.
Yo-Yos
Soooo much in games. Cheat codes, unlockable cosmetics, DLC that isn't just a veiled micro transaction. Games being sold for 60 us dollars.
To be fair, in some games I can understand the price raise. I mean, games keep having better graphics, smarter enemy AIs, bigger maps (open world for example) and more realistic animations. I understand why those cost more because it takes more resources to make them, and even though I don't like it, I also understand why some content is cut due to the time limits the development has. However, this only goes for actually large games such as Baldur's Gate 3 or the recent Final Fantasy titles, there's absolutely no reason why some random effortless CoD, Fifa or Pokémon should cost that damn much.
Missing people on milk containers.
Bugs, especially on the car windshield. I'm somewhat horrified thinking about how much bug juice was on the car's windshield and grill when I was a kid, but today my own vehicle is very clean.
A customer came to pick his car up from the shop last week and asked if we took checks. I'm like...nah dog. He was bitching about it, but then pulled his debit card out that's attached to the same bank account and swiped it no problem. Like...why?
Laundry detergent ads talking about how the detergent was good at removing grass stains from children's clothes.
VCR tape rewinders.
Courtesy to film horizontally
I saw a comedy bit a few years ago (5?) that was about getting people to shoot pictures landscape instead of portrait. I'm a photographer... it bugs the hell out of me when people default to portrait...
AOL messenger (and ICQ). I used to love having people pop in and message me on these apps. ICQ was great because it allowed for people on AOL, yahoo, MSN, etc. to communicate. Sad that it just disappeared. I met so many great people.
I miss ICQ, it used to have a random chat option where you could connect with just some other user who also had it turned on. 9 times out of 10 it was some dude who wanted to talk about his penis, but sometimes you could meet cool people.
Play places at fast food establishments. There aren’t that many that still have them.
Awwwweee! This is exactly how McD's high chairs looked 🤔 about 30ish years ago
Voice overs in movie trailers.
At this point I associate it more with Honest Trailers and was even wondering if that's what made me assume they were a thing but I even remember when Chris Pine was presenting the award for best cinematography at the 2013 Oscars and he made a joke about how all trailers started with "In a world...". There was even a movie called "In a world..." that came out in 2013 about a woman trying to make it as in Hollywood doing voiceovers for big movie trailers but for some reason I can't think of when exactly voice overs in movie trailers died out, I just remember that they were a thing and then they weren't.
Lay-a-way plan. Which I’m sure was due to the rise in credit cards, but still
St. Bernard rescue dogs with little barrels of brandy attached to their collars.
Because they never existed. Whilst Saint Bernards were actually used to search for people that got buried/lost in avalanches, they didn't have alcohol with them because drinking that would only make you cool out faster (even though they could carry other things). The typical Barry with the little barrel was a marketing gag.
Single-topic blogs. Remember things like Regretsy, Stuff White People Like, Look at this F*****g Hipster, Cake Wreck, People of Walmart, FML, S**t My Dad Says, Awkward Family Photos, etc.? Those were everywhere from about 2007-2013. And then suddenly they went away.
I suppose some of them survive in the form of subreddits now.
Well judging by another recent BP post the People of Walmart are alive and well
The horrible and terrifying migrant caravans from a few election cycles ago.
It seems like every election season, they think of a new thing to get everybody all distracted and scared so they don't have time to discuss more important issues.
Picture-in-picture as a television feature. You don't hear about that anymore.
LMFAO
To people who don't know, they are the guys who made Party Rock. Haven't seen them ever since.
Pagers. I remember thinking "who's going to page you at school, and how are you going to call them back?"
3D TVs and to a lesser extent 3D in cinemas.
For a while, so many movies in the cinema had a 3D option. Many were not even shot with stereoscopic cameras, they just had their regular frames reprocessed digitally for the 3D effect.
3D TVs were the next "logical step" bringing this same effect to the living room. But it turns out that something that works in an environment where you sit still in a fixed spot doesn't work as well in an environment where you look at the screen from all kinds of angles and directions throughout a single viewing.
Oh I have an actual one people miss. Bored Panda of old, used to be informative and entertaining, now it's whiny reddit tiktok bulls**t.
I wish people would understand that just because something isn't on your radar, doesn't mean it's gone. So many things on this list are still around. For example--someone mentioned Macklemore. A lot of people might agree--oh yeah, that Macklemore guy--he just disappeared. I'd almost be inclined to say that too because I don't listen to him, I'm not a fan, and I don't pay attention to the radio because I'd rather listen to my playlists. But a simple search shows he just kicked off a tour recently. The Seattle Times did an interview with him in June, and he performed with Ed Sheeran last month. He clearly didn't disappear--he's just not on that person's radar. Yo-yos--never disappeared. It's a hobby that is thriving. Kids playing outside? They're still out there.
IMDB discussion forums. Man I miss those. Could easily find thousands of discussions on any movie or TV episode ever made.
Crunchyroll might be the best alternative you can get, though not the same because it has mainly anime, but there’s animes in all categories, and some of the shows require a subscription premium account, which is why I hardly use the app. Sorry to confuse you. 😅
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Please don't challenge them. It's not regurgitated tik tok reels, at least. 😀
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Actual community in towns & cities. With local newspapers, radio and tv stations being eaten by national media outlets, local shops and businesses replaced by global chains, and local leaders beholden to their political parties or out of area special interests it seems like no one is really invested in community. Especially in the towns that have lost manufacturing or major employers.
I'm old enough to remember when large metal scales, about the size of a grandfather clock, were in railway stations in Australia for people to weigh themselves but I can't recall how much you had to pay. Also, the small cinemas that showed newsreels about major events etc, which would be repeated, hourly IIRC, throughout the day. EDIT: Mrs Agfox remembers it costing a penny to weigh yourself & also mentioned the sawdust that was always spread on the floors in butcher shops
My dad remembers the newsreels being played before the Saturday cartoons and I think they stuck around longer in the country than the city (since tvs weren't available as early there).
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G-rated movies. Does anybody remember the last time they saw a G-rated movie in a theatre? Or saw one advertised?
Also the beer ads about being able to get girls/sex after drinking beer
Load More Replies... Milk in bottles, palm pads, basically decent people, mp3 players, vhs players. The list goes on!
Local dairies around me still do glass bottles, either in stores or for you to have refilled there. If they did any lactose free that way I would buy them!
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My thirties. Seriously, I used to be thirties like all the time. Everywhere I went, no matter the time of day it was thirties, thirties...now, just....gone. It's been years now and nobody even mentions it anymore. They're all just tik tokking and ignoring that my thirties ever existed. It's not right. My opinion.
With the exception of insects, all the items mentioned in this post had human creators and could be brought back at any time, if enough people wanted them. Their absence is a conscious choice, usually market-driven, so all you need to do is create a demand. Get onto one of the world's 500 million social media influencers and offer to film them for a day in return for creating a buzz.
Most of them is existing, or things what no one miss... Or everyone hated... Or just people complaining because they cannot understand the new stuff (probably never tried).
Mental health facilities in North America. They have been replaced by prisons.
So many of these things are "Yeah and?" or just "Good riddance". Like no-one is really pining for VCR Rewinders to come back.
Things I miss that that have disappeared. Well, computers that you can program, pure mathematics that's useful, and theoretical physics that actually describes reality. The only computers that you can program using a procedural language (as opposed to object oriented) are supercomputers that no single person can afford to buy. The last pure mathematics that was actually useful was fractals, and that was way back in 1978. The last new theoretical physics that actually describes reality was cosmic inflation, and that was 1981. There has been heaps of pure mathematics and theoretical physics since, but not one jot of it is useful.
Laws making it impossible for television shows to change the volume. It would be one volume that wouldn't go up and down
Every 5 years or so kids seem to be obsessed with them again. I helped some kids make them two weeks ago at a school holiday program.
Load More Replies... Oh I have an actual one people miss. Bored Panda of old, used to be informative and entertaining, now it's whiny reddit tiktok bulls**t.
I wish people would understand that just because something isn't on your radar, doesn't mean it's gone. So many things on this list are still around. For example--someone mentioned Macklemore. A lot of people might agree--oh yeah, that Macklemore guy--he just disappeared. I'd almost be inclined to say that too because I don't listen to him, I'm not a fan, and I don't pay attention to the radio because I'd rather listen to my playlists. But a simple search shows he just kicked off a tour recently. The Seattle Times did an interview with him in June, and he performed with Ed Sheeran last month. He clearly didn't disappear--he's just not on that person's radar. Yo-yos--never disappeared. It's a hobby that is thriving. Kids playing outside? They're still out there.
IMDB discussion forums. Man I miss those. Could easily find thousands of discussions on any movie or TV episode ever made.
Crunchyroll might be the best alternative you can get, though not the same because it has mainly anime, but there’s animes in all categories, and some of the shows require a subscription premium account, which is why I hardly use the app. Sorry to confuse you. 😅
Load More Replies... Please don't challenge them. It's not regurgitated tik tok reels, at least. 😀
Load More Replies... Actual community in towns & cities. With local newspapers, radio and tv stations being eaten by national media outlets, local shops and businesses replaced by global chains, and local leaders beholden to their political parties or out of area special interests it seems like no one is really invested in community. Especially in the towns that have lost manufacturing or major employers.
I'm old enough to remember when large metal scales, about the size of a grandfather clock, were in railway stations in Australia for people to weigh themselves but I can't recall how much you had to pay. Also, the small cinemas that showed newsreels about major events etc, which would be repeated, hourly IIRC, throughout the day. EDIT: Mrs Agfox remembers it costing a penny to weigh yourself & also mentioned the sawdust that was always spread on the floors in butcher shops
My dad remembers the newsreels being played before the Saturday cartoons and I think they stuck around longer in the country than the city (since tvs weren't available as early there).
Load More Replies... G-rated movies. Does anybody remember the last time they saw a G-rated movie in a theatre? Or saw one advertised?
Also the beer ads about being able to get girls/sex after drinking beer
Load More Replies... Milk in bottles, palm pads, basically decent people, mp3 players, vhs players. The list goes on!
Local dairies around me still do glass bottles, either in stores or for you to have refilled there. If they did any lactose free that way I would buy them!
Load More Replies... My thirties. Seriously, I used to be thirties like all the time. Everywhere I went, no matter the time of day it was thirties, thirties...now, just....gone. It's been years now and nobody even mentions it anymore. They're all just tik tokking and ignoring that my thirties ever existed. It's not right. My opinion.
With the exception of insects, all the items mentioned in this post had human creators and could be brought back at any time, if enough people wanted them. Their absence is a conscious choice, usually market-driven, so all you need to do is create a demand. Get onto one of the world's 500 million social media influencers and offer to film them for a day in return for creating a buzz.
Most of them is existing, or things what no one miss... Or everyone hated... Or just people complaining because they cannot understand the new stuff (probably never tried).
Mental health facilities in North America. They have been replaced by prisons.
So many of these things are "Yeah and?" or just "Good riddance". Like no-one is really pining for VCR Rewinders to come back.
Things I miss that that have disappeared. Well, computers that you can program, pure mathematics that's useful, and theoretical physics that actually describes reality. The only computers that you can program using a procedural language (as opposed to object oriented) are supercomputers that no single person can afford to buy. The last pure mathematics that was actually useful was fractals, and that was way back in 1978. The last new theoretical physics that actually describes reality was cosmic inflation, and that was 1981. There has been heaps of pure mathematics and theoretical physics since, but not one jot of it is useful.
Laws making it impossible for television shows to change the volume. It would be one volume that wouldn't go up and down
Every 5 years or so kids seem to be obsessed with them again. I helped some kids make them two weeks ago at a school holiday program.
Load More Replies...