# What did the world look like in the year 2000? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 5, 2014, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-the-world-look-like-in-the-year-2000/690078 "2014-06-05T00:44:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2014, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-the-world-look-like-in-the-year-2000/690078/41 "2014-06-06T16:43:19Z")
In January of 2000, a rare bipartisan bill sailed through Congress making the public performance of a certain Prince song a felony offense. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2014, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-the-world-look-like-in-the-year-2000/690078/42 "2014-06-06T17:11:57Z")
> [@protoboard](#): > > Still statistically cell phone users were a numerical minority throughout the 90s. Even if only 5 percent of people had them they’d seem to be “everywhere” but in reality most people in the 90s did not have them yet. Depending on where you’re talking about but I am almost certain the majority of Irish people had a cell phone by 1999. ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2014, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-the-world-look-like-in-the-year-2000/690078/43 "2014-06-06T19:01:11Z")
The world you are asking about, known among it’s former inhabitants as “Earth”, ceased to exist in the year reckoned by some of their calendars to be 2000. Please disregard all of the other “posts”, they are but leftover informational snippets that are still floating in the biosphere, fueled by random electrical charges, reacting with anything possessing an opposite charge - much like what one sees happen when salt is applied to the exposed leg muscles of a dead frog. 'Tis merely the illusion of life from something absolutely, postively and completely dead. I am sorry to be the one to break this news to you, but you must admit that it explains a lot. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2014, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-the-world-look-like-in-the-year-2000/690078/44 "2014-06-06T19:09:48Z")
> [@Rodgers01](#): > > Don’t know if either of these were “groundbreaking” (though they are things that I and I think most people use every day) but in 2000 Wikipedia, YouTube, and iPods did not exist. iPods are just digital Walkmen; I doubt anyone from 2000 would have blinked in the least. However, a modern smartphone would have been pretty remarkable- for the most part it would outperform the PCs of the day, and with a cool touchscreen interface thrown in. Plus, it’s a phone and text message platform and likely has better connectivity than most people had with their desktops back then. Keep in mind this was the days of Palm Pilots, and most people had big-ass clunky cell phones (by modern standards), if they had a cell phone at all. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2014, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-the-world-look-like-in-the-year-2000/690078/45 "2014-06-06T19:52:39Z")
iPhones and iPads are just souped up Newtons. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2014, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-the-world-look-like-in-the-year-2000/690078/46 "2014-06-06T22:59:16Z")
Possibly apropos here: This just in! I just spotted this article on ABC on-line news: [A Visual Collection of Yesterday’s Technology](http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/photos/visual-collection-yesterdays-technology-23978166). I can’t see the pictures myself due to limitations in my browser configuration, but the teaser shows a thumbnail pic of a TEAC reel-to-reel tape recorder. (I think that puts this article way before 2000-era technology.) Enjoy. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2014, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-the-world-look-like-in-the-year-2000/690078/47 "2014-06-06T23:06:42Z")
Hell, I’m old enough to remember when the “in the year 2000” ideas were thoughts about the future with flying cars and moon colonies. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-did-the-world-look-like-in-the-year-2000/690078.md?page=2)