The ’90s weren’t that long ago… but technologically speaking, they might as well be ancient history. Before everything lived in the cloud and inside a phone, daily life involved old tech and tiny inconveniences that today’s kids would consider completely bizarre. Looking back now, many of those simple parts of daily life can seem strange or confusing to younger generations.
From how we communicated to the way we watched movies and listened to music, these moments show just how quickly everyday life can change. Let’s dive into 18 normal things we did in the ’90s that would confuse kids today.
1. Burning CDs
CDs are slowly becoming obsolete. Before playlists lived on streaming apps, we made them by “burning” songs onto blank CDs. This involved waiting patiently while your computer slowly transferred music onto a shiny disc that could hold about 15–20 songs. If someone bumped the computer mid-burn, the CD would scratch and be as good as garbage. Creating the perfect mix CD for a friend was basically the ’90s version of crafting a heartfelt Spotify playlist.
2. Rewinding VHS Tapes
Be kind, rewind. Watching a movie meant using a VHS tape, and courtesy required you to rewind it when you were finished. Families had VHS rewinders, and if a tape was left without rewinding it, dad wouldn’t let you forget it.
3. Waiting for the Internet to Connect
Getting online meant listening to a robotic symphony of screeches and beeps from your dial-up modem. During this time, nobody in the house could use the phone. If someone picked up the receiver, your connection would drop instantly. It was the technological equivalent of someone unplugging your Wi-Fi mid-game.
4. Printing Directions
Before GPS apps, road trips required printed directions from MapQuest. These pages included step-by-step instructions like “Turn right in 0.4 miles,” which we inevitably missed. Once you missed a step, the rest of the directions became useless. At that point, you were basically navigating by vibes.
5. Returning Movies To Rental Stores
Friday night often meant a trip to the video rental store. You’d wander aisles of plastic cases hoping the movie you wanted wasn’t already checked out. If it was, you had to settle for whatever random action movie remained on the shelf. Late fees were the detrimental financial punishment for forgetting to return it on time.
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6. Using A Pay Phone
If you were out and needed to call someone, you found a pay phone and inserted coins. You’d dial carefully, hoping you had enough change for the conversation. If not, you might make a quick “come pick me up” call before the line disconnected. It was texting before texting existed.
7. Waiting Hours to Download Music
Downloading music in the late ’90s could take hours. Starting a file before bed and hoping it would be finished by morning was completely normal. If the connection dropped overnight, the download failed. Nothing builds patience quite like waiting eight hours for one song.
8. Using a Discman
I wonder what kids today would think about Discmen. In case you need a reminder, it was a CD player that you plugged headphones into to listen to music on the go. Walking too fast or hitting a bump could cause the music to skip, and could potentially scratch and ruin your disc.
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9. Untangling Headphone Cords for 10 Minutes
I’m convinced ’90s headphones were made to tangle. Earbuds had a magical ability to tie themselves into a knot when they were left alone for five minutes. Untangling them required patience, determination, and sometimes light negotiation with the universe.
10. Carrying a Pocket Full of Change
Today, we disregard change as if it’s worthless. But in the ’90s, having a pocket full of change was crucial. Loose coins were essential because so many things required them. Change bought arcade games, pay phones, vending machines, and parking meters. People often jingled when they walked thanks to all the quarters.
11. Calling Movie Theaters for Showtimes
Instead of checking an app, you dialed a phone number and listened to a robotic voice list showtimes. The recording often spoke just slowly enough to be annoying. If you missed your movie’s time, you had to wait through the entire message again.
12. Playing Computer Games from Floppy Disks
Games came on floppy disks that held a tiny amount of data. Installing a game sometimes required inserting multiple disks one after another. You’d feel like a tech wizard swapping disks every few minutes. Losing just one disk meant the whole game was useless.
13. Waiting for the Computer to “Defragment.”
Computers occasionally required a mysterious maintenance task called disk defragmentation. It took a long time and displayed colorful moving blocks on the screen. No one really understood what it did, but everyone knew it had to happen eventually.
14. Recording TV Shows on a VCR
If you were going to miss a show, you programmed the VCR to record it automatically. Setting the timer involved navigating a confusing menu and hoping you did it correctly. One small mistake could record the wrong channel for two hours. Nothing hurts like discovering you recorded the news instead of your favorite show.
15. Carrying Around a Tamagotchi
Many kids carried a tiny digital pet called a Tamagotchi that demanded constant attention. It beeped when it was hungry, bored, or if you were unlucky, during class. Owners had to feed it, play with it, and keep it alive like a very needy pixel creature. Letting it “die” felt weirdly like failing at pet ownership.
16. Using the Yellow Pages
Looking up a business meant flipping through a massive phone book, not just googling it. The Yellow Pages section listed businesses alphabetically by category. Finding a number required patience and finger strength. The book itself was roughly the size of a small dictionary.
17. Recording Home Videos
Families often used bulky camcorders to record birthdays, vacations, and random moments. The footage lived on VHS or smaller tapes that were later played on the TV. Many recordings included shaky camera work and someone accidentally covering the microphone. Today, we can capture small moments instantly, so a long home video doesn’t make much sense.
18. Using a Paper Calendar
Many households tracked events on large wall calendars. Birthdays, appointments, and reminders were written in pen or marker. The entire family relied on the same calendar for schedules. While paper calendars are still used, cell phones have removed the actual need for them. You have your entire calendar on your phone now.
Want to see more ’90s content?
Check out 18 Pairs of Famous Faces From the 90s and 00s That Are Actual Relatives, or take a look at 20 ’90s Trends That Are Making a Comeback. Finally, if you want to see animals that went extinct in the late 1900s, check out 16 Animals That Went Extinct In The Late 1900s (1980s-1990s).
