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A list of things that were true on August 27, 2001
- maxklein 17y ago* 911 was an emergency code * Twitter was something birds did * A tablet was something a doctor gave you * Touchscreen meant using a stylus * We were all excited about part 2 and 3 of the Matrix coming out * Napster, Gnutella were what was happening. Bittorrent was not yet there * You were reading slashdot
- mortenjorck 17y ago* It was pretty cool that your new phone's number display was not only dot-matrix but could do 4 shades of gray * Your entire office was full of bulky CRTs and a 15" flat panel cost more than a 21" tube * Windows XP offered a better user experience than OS X
- derefr 17y ago* It was pretty cool that your new phone's number display was not only dot-matrix but could do 4 shades of gray I remember this: it was back when the "complicated" in "I wish I had a phone that was less complicated" meant SMS.
- jcl 17y ago* Every new piece of electronics had an eye-melting blue LED power indicator. This was considered extremely cool at the time.
- bshep 17y ago* We could get on an airplanes with little or no hassle ( no liquid restrictions, you could keep your shoes on, etc )
- joshstaiger 17y agoYour loved ones could greet or see you off at the gate.
- ars 17y agoNo they couldn't. Not in any airport I'd ever been at. You always needed a boarding pass, or a pass saying you needed to accompany someone (for medical reasons, or for minors) to get through security.
- rgrieselhuber 17y agoYou didn't fly through Columbus, Ohio then.
- allenp 17y agoPortland, OR would let you go the gate without a boarding pass...
- jemfinch 17y agoNot my experience in US airports. That restriction didn't exist at most airports (any airports that I boarded or arrived at) until after 9/11. Watch TV shows from the era (Friends, for example, or the Jet Li "Romeo and Juliet" movie) and you'll see the same thing: we used to be able to see people off at the gate. Such people still needed to go through security, of course, but they did not need a boarding pass to do so.
- thwarted 17y agoI actually think lack of people who are not traveling at the gate almost makes having to spend any time in an airport terminal almost bearable.
- ra 17y agoIn the US maybe. In most countries anyone can get to the gate in a domestic terminal.
- icefox 17y ago
- RyanMcGreal 17y ago> We were all excited about part 2 and 3 of the Matrix coming out Oh, to be that naive again.
- borism 17y agoActually I think touchscreens which you touched with your fingers were much more prevalent back then (in e-kiosks, ATMs etc) Having touchscreen on your mobile device was real luxury.
- aminuit 17y ago* Nobody knew where Banda Aceh was * Barack Obama was a little known Illinois state senator * xkcd did not exist
- jgrahamc 17y agoI'm I alone in finding the last one moving? The thought that Pioneer 10 is out there but we can't hear it anymore is sad.
- borism 17y agoInteresting, but we still can hear Voyagers and Voyager 1 is much farther away than Pioneer 10: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyager_program#Powering_down http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voyager_program#Powering_down
- Sukotto 17y agoI'm more worried about Voyager coming back
- mortenjorck 17y agoWith a threatening message engraved on it in an exotic, indecipherable alphabet?
- sailormoon 17y agoIf it's indecipherable, how do you know it's threatening?
- derefr 17y agoAngry eyebrows.
- philwelch 17y agoOr perhaps surrounded by a giant cloud, wanting desperately to touch its creator and elevate itself to a higher plane of existence.
- nfnaaron 17y agoWhich will likely translate as "Keep your damn ball out of my yard, you kids!"
- hasanove 17y agoSo much happened... and only DOW survived almost unchanged
- deleted 17y ago[deleted]
- joshfinnie 17y agoI have to say that is a very skewed statement. What the DOW has done in the past ten years to basically end up in the same spot is amazing! Though it is very interesting to note!
- ericb 17y agoI'd like to see tech/medical breakthrough lists. I try to remember how fast things are changing, but aside from some flashy phones, I'm having trouble feeling in awe of the last decade at the moment. Anyone have any links?
- edw519 17y agoThere was no hacker news. (I don't even remember what I would have been doing instead.)
- theycallmemorty 17y ago"Charley, Ivan, Jeanne, Katrina, Dean, and Ike were not names associated with weather." With the exception of Katrina this is still true.
- aminuit 17y agoUnless you live or have loved ones who live anywhere near The Gulf Coast, in which case it is very much true.
- Agathos 17y ago"The Petronas Towers were the tallest skyscrapers in the world." Only if you count unoccupied, decorative spires.
- joe_the_user 17y agoI don't get it, This is mostly a list of things that are current now but weren't current then. It makes it sound like 2001 was like today except missing a few things. But I know people filled their days just as fully in those distant days as they do today. What did they fill them with? I would like to see a list of the positive assumptions people had then that aren't around any more.
- nfnaaron 17y ago"But I know people filled their days just as fully in those distant days as they do today. What did they fill them with?" Yes, they filled their days, but it took longer.
- idleworx 17y agoThings that were true on August 27, 2001, I wasn't posting silly comments on HN.
- pwnstigator 17y agoI probably speak for half the board when I say that the first addition for that list to come to mind was, "I was a virgin". Let me also add to that list: recessions were mild and announced in hindsight, and most peoples' fortunes and jobs actually improved during expansions.