Life
Expectations You Had About The New Millennium
Remember how daunting the idea of a new Millennium beginning sounded in the '90s? Even with Robbie William's hopeful "Millennium," it was still pretty scary. Our years were going to start with "2" now! Everything was going to change! We were going to start driving hover cars and time traveling! That said, if you remember diving into the new Millennium, you probably remember a lot of hysteria. People were worried things weren't going to be all gold and all technology, and that the world was going to burn because of numbers. And so we started to panic.
Looking back now, a lot of your ideas about the new Millennium probably seem pretty ridiculous. You took them very seriously at the time, but now all you want to do is write a letter to your great, great grandchildren letting them know that when the Millennium flips over again, into the 3000s, they're going to be OK. And we were better than OK when the Millennium started. I mean, we still had Britney Spears, didn't we? And didn't she get even better in those first few years of the 2000s? Here are some things you thought about the new Millennium in the '90s that seem ridiculous now.
1. That All Out Computers Would Explode/Stop Working
For whatever reason we believed that the internal clocks of computers would not be able to fathom the date beginning with the number two, and would go back to zero instead, and absolutely anything that relied on a computer to operate would just stop working.
2. That Our Computers Would Turn Against Us
In the event that our computers didn't stop working, there was also the fear that they would become sentient and turn against us, Terminator style.
3. That The Apocalypse Would Begin
All this computer mayhem, of course, was going to lead us to the apocalypse. People were even hoarding canned food, just in case. And when I say people, I mean actual, sane people.
4. Everything Would Become Virtual Reality
In the event that everything ran smoothly when the clock struck twelve, ushering in the 2000s, we had some pretty ridiculous ideas about that too. As though everything would just advance into a vastly different future immediately, we believed that we'd have certain luxuries because of the year, one of them being a lot of virtual reality.
5. We'd All Move To Mars
Oh, didn't you hear? In the '90s we collectively decided we'd be moving to Mars.
6. We'd Start Driving Hover Cars
Again, the technology we expected at the turn of the Millennium was incredible. We genuinely were excited about all the hover technology. I mean, we have hover boards now, but they don't really hover, do they? I mean, they still touch the ground, we just call them hover boards to make ourselves feel cooler about electronic skateboards.
7. The Future Of The Internet Was AOL
When the Millennium began, we never saw Google coming. We subscribed to the church of AOL.
8. That We'd Be Alright Because Our Oil Would Last Forever!
In the innocence of the '90s, we believed in the power of our resources. Which we thought would not only last, but would be affordable forever. It's hard to admit you're wrong, but I think by now we can all concede we had some weird ideas about the Millennium.
9. Flying Between Countries Would Become Faster And Easier
I don't know about you, but I was really excited about the future of aviation. We just thought getting around on planes would be much more efficient. Anyone who has flown knows this to be untrue. Especially those who have experienced delays longer than their actual flights. And turbulence. No one has figured out how to get rid of that.
10. We'd Download Our Brains Onto Hard Drives And Live Forever As Computers
OK this one is straight out of Friends, but you still thought it, right?
11. Two Words: Blade Runner
If you ever had a vision of the future in the '90s, it was probably very similar to whatever was going on in Blade Runner. A lot of anthropomorphic robots with confused feelings.
12. Things Would Be Immediately And Irreparably Different
Probably the most ridiculous thing we thought about the Millennium in the '90s was that changes would happen in an instant. Like one second we'd be celebrating at our New Year's Eve party, and the next second we'd be battling sentient hostile robots on Mars at the very stroke of midnight. Oh, sweet summer children of the '90s — turns out the more things change, the more they stay the same.
