12 Things You Don't Miss From The '90s

As tempting as it is to think that everything was better in the ‘90s, before social media, smartphones, and skinny jeans, it’s best not to romanticize the past. It only takes a moment of reflection to start listing the many things that you don’t miss from the ‘90s — things that we are all too happy to let firmly remain hidden in the past (like any pictures of me ages 11 through 14). If you need your memory jogged, the folks at Reddit remember all the downsides of the ‘90s. A mere eight hours ago, reddit user Nithe1975 posted the question: “What thing about the 1990s do you NOT miss?” and received a resounding response with nearly 400 comments from the community.

For many of us, the ‘90s was an idyllic decade where Nickelodeon was putting out some of their finest cartoons, Bill Clinton was our saxophone-playing president, and the economy was booming. Our technology was simple yet functional — phones had cords, music came on CDs and tapes, maps were printed on paper. You would save things onto a floppy discs, not the mysterious “cloud.” Furbys, Tamogatchis, and Pokemon can still hit us with powerful waves of nostalgia, but if given the chance, I doubt anyone would actually want to return to a time before high-speed internet and dating apps. Here are a few things, courtesy of AskReddit, to stop that nostalgic dreaming once and for all:

1. The Dial-Up Modem And That "Special" Noise It Made

Remember when the internet was slow?? Remember when webpages took forever to load, and it was basically only good for stalking your crush and looking at shirtless pics of celebrities? (My favorite search: "Colin Firth No Shirt" "Colin Firth Wet Shirt"). Would you actually want to go back to that? I think not.

And what was up with that screeching dial up noise anyway?

Leave it to Reddit to know everything.

Whatever the loading noise was, I still hear it in my nightmares.

2. The Phone Versus Internet Argument

Every '90s kid remembers having the same fight with their parents when they were busy on AOL messenger.

3. Car Stereo Theft

Remember when you couldn't leave your stereo in your car without being consumed by an overwhelming paranoia that someone would break in and take it? How would you listen to your sweet jams then?

Redditor Ksuwildcat just got real.

4. Taking Said Stereo Out Of Car And Lugging It Around

Heavy detachable stereos? Definitely don't miss that!

Gotta love those "sweet tape mixes" — our online playlists just aren't the same.

Speaking of online playlists ...

5. Giant Speakers And Expensive Music

Before the introduction of laptops and music players that weigh little more than a feather and take up as much space, listening to our jams was a tad more labor intensive. We had giant speaker systems, binders full of compact discs, and boxes of tapes taking up precious space. Before people really started to burn CDs with ease, having a good music collection was expensive. Back then, being banned from Tower Records actually meant something.

I so agree.

6. Low-Quality TV Resolution

The content was amazing, but the quality of the picture? Not so good.

Me without HD:

But it wasn't just the image quality that was the problem, points out redditor Iwkyawy. The boxy TVs were quite cumbersome as well.

7. Baggy Clothes

While you may wish that those tattoo neck chokers would stay put in that grungy decade, the fashion of the '90s is coming back.

Hopefully these won't make an appearance:

Or any of this:

I'm on the fence about plaid mini skirts though, 'cause Cher is one of my all-time heroes.

And I'm cool with Doc Martins and Jelly sandals, they can stay.

8. Getting Information From Books

With high-speed internet, anything you can possibly want is just a quick search away — but it wasn't always like that, points out reddit user Milain.

Finding information took time and effort and it was quickly outdated.

9. VCRs

Today we can download any show we missed, set our DVR to record, or use a streaming service to watch it at our leisure. Back in the '90s you had to be in front of the TV when your program came on, or you were stuck waiting for the rerun.

VHSs were no prize either. They often skipped, or the image would become fuzzy, and you had to hold the rewind them every time. Kids born after 2000 probably have no idea what the slogan "Be kind, rewind" even means. And now I feel old.

10. Christina Aguilera?

A heated debate arose over the '90s Christina versus modern Christina. You can check out the details of the argument on the post and leave your own opinion in the comments.

There is a heated debate over the boy bands as well:

I was a huge Backstreet Boys fan, and will always love the Spice Girls. I believe they have stood the test of time. Hi Ci Ya, hold tight!

11. Being A Teenager

Also anything having to do with hormones can stay in the past:

Yep. I'd happily leave that in the '90s — though it does come back to haunt me from time to time. Will not miss my my saying, "Don't touch your face you'll only make it worse!"

12. The Hair

'Nuf said.

Images: Koron/Moment/Getty Images, Screenshots/Reddit, The3hreeBetches/YouTube, Giphy (1, 2, 3)