GTA vice city is retro

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Yet 1980s was it's own era. I feel like 2005 - now has been one big same ol same ol

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Hard disagree. 2005 and today are very much not alike.

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general culture perspective

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Technology is vastly different

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Technology is vastly different

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Is it, though? AOL rolled out unlimited Internet to the masses in I think 1997. The BlackBerry was released in 1999. MySpace and Facebook rolled out in 2003 and 2004, respectively. Hell, most American households are still accessing the internet with the copper coax cable broadband that I had at my house in about 2002.

Have all of these technologies been refined over the last two decades? Sure. Are they fundamentally, paradigm shiftingly different? In my opinion, no.

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I’m sure there’s some political culture war rebuttal, but from a general culture perspective: clothing, food, music, interior design, etc, are all much more similar in 2024 to 2005 than 2005 was to 1986.

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In terms of fashion - maybe? Not a big follower of what kids or people in big cities wear.

Food - I think cuisine in the US has gotten a LOT more international and experimental than even in 2005. That, also, is probably very dependent on WHERE you live though.

Music - Music is more diverse, but I get what you're saying - the most popular stuff sounds mostly the same. Instead of new genres of music taking over the mainstream, technology gave those genres their own audiences so that's probably why you never saw another movement as big as the alternative/grunge movement in the 90s.

Interior Design - Um... you mean decorating?

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Broadband in 2005 was somewhere between 25%-30%. Total internet usage in the US in 2005 was 68%. Contrast to today, where broadband use is at 92% and total internet use is at 98%. Also, the first true smart phones (with customizable apps, etc.) came out in 2007 (first iPhone) - which one has to admit is a pretty massive game changer in the realm of technology. The first Android smartphone came out in 2008. I would say the advent of smartphones is pretty massive in changing culture in the US, if not other parts of the world.

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Again, refined? Certainly. Fundamental paradigm shifts? No.




Is an iPhone 15 a vastly better entertainment machine? Sure. Is that transformative in the way that the BlackBerry created the “always connected” internet work culture? In my opinion, no.

To be clear, I’m not saying technology has stagnated in the past 20 years. What I’m saying is that the last two decades have been focussed on refining, proliferating, and monetizing technology more than it has been about transforming it. The late 90s to early 2000s changed the world. Since then, it’s more of the same, just prettier, faster, and better.

And I say that as someone who is heavily into tech

Eta: We should also keep in mind that we’re dickering over two years. If it makes everyone happy, we can revisit this thread two years from now when, presumably, we can all agree that the two decades preceding that date were just iterations on more of the same