26 Things From the Past We’d Bring Back in A Heartbeat

‘Phone calls with human participants on both ends’
26 Things From the Past We’d Bring Back in A Heartbeat

There were plenty of little joys that made us smile throughout the ‘90s and early aughts — the sweet, plasticky-smell of a brand-new VHS tape, writing on your classroom’s overhead projector with one of those fancy markers, taking a trip to the grocery store and not spending $100, and of course, breaking in a brand new CD

“Something about biting that cellophane off and frantically unwrapping it,” one Redditor recalled of the nostalgic experience. “Such a rush.” 

The tactile experience of opening a CD, flipping through the picture-filled liner notes and listening to it without ads blaring every two songs is one of many old-school trends we’d love to see make a comeback in 2025. 

Redditors mentioned other artifacts they’re hoping make a speedy return, including video rental stores, screen-less car consoles and calls with two human participants.

AvonMustang 2mo ago I miss browsing the New Releases wall at the video store. Miss Family Video... 294 Reply ... The_Erlenmeyer_Flask 2mo ago The location near me still has their metal signage up. 16 Reply ...
Jaydeeem89 2mo ago Not fully obsolete, but I miss DVDs a lot. All the behind the scenes and extras, the little menus. Lost that magic with streaming - 1.2K Reply ... SoftYetCrunchyTaco ОР . 2mo ago Edited 2mo ago CDs too. Something about biting that cellophane off and frantically unwrapping it, flipping through the little CD booklet. Such a rush 313 Reply ...
III-Bison6303 2mo ago Ipod. music goes uninterrupted by notifications 924 Reply ... StoneyCalzoney 2mo ago There's a good size community of hobbyist modders over at r/iPod that are restoring more back to life every day, some take it up a notch by adding modern features like haptic feedback, integrated Bluetooth, or even replacing the 30pin connector with a USB-C connector. I personally modded a few myself and the one I daily drive has nearly 1TB of storage, extended battery, and haptic feedback. I keep around 8k songs and 8.5k podcast episodes. 90 Reply ...
moe_saint_cool 2mo ago I can't believe I'm saying this, but actual knobs on car stereos. I'm fine with a digital screen and stuff, but I want my knobs and physical buttons back 411 Reply ...
Tronn3000 2mo ago This is semi obsolete but pre-algorithmic social media and YouTube. Your MySpace feeds were just posts from friends in chronological order and YouTube was just a rabbit hole of random videos that you'd spend a bunch of time watching. Now everything is curated trash and filled with ads. I wish there was a law making algorithmic curated feeds optional on the internet. - 236 Reply ...
Narissis 2mo ago Physical smartphone QWERTY keyboards. Every time the swipe functionality on the Google keyboard gives me the wrong word (which is like 40% of the fucking time), I pine for the keyboard on my old HTC Touch Pro2. - 175 Reply ...
Ut_Prosim 2mo ago Pre-enshittified google. What a wonder it was for a decade, before SEO and ad quotas and Al fluff ruined it. 80 Reply ...
einstyle e 2mo ago Phones and laptops where you could swap out the battery. 82 Reply ... + 3 more replies
Forward_Ear_5808 2mo ago Renting movies. It so was fun to peruse the aisles and 'discover' a movie. You felt like you had special knowledge. I loved horror movies as a kid, and still remember some of the covers. - 110 Reply ...
Certain_Lobster1123 2mo ago Physical buttons in cars, and serialized TV, ie. When they release one episode a week instead of all at once. I think it's why GoT was one of the last big TV shows that created a serious cultural impact, because they released it one episode at a time so everyone wanted to watch it together in the same day and talked about it the next day. I miss having those shows that everyone is watching together - 143 Reply ...
gogogadgetdumbass 2mo ago True landlines. Now most landlines are VOIP (voice over internet phone) so if your power or internet goes out your phone is done too. Old landlines could work during a power outage. - 52 Reply ...
bellybuttonbanger 2mo ago The thrill after burning a new cd with all your favorite jams on it 69 Reply ... SAO666 2mo ago I'll go older. Recording the top 10 on cassette and making copies for your friends, making mix tapes for your crush. 27 Reply ...
Adorable-Flight5256 2mo ago Rolodexes. It was the only way you could evict people from your personal and professional life without causing a ruckus. 22 Reply ... + 1 more reply
AfroBaggins 2mo ago I've spent the past hour trying to set up an old 4K Smart TV and I swear to God, TVs were way better before smart technology. Android sets are dumb as bricks. 24 Reply ... + 3 more replies
remindmetoblink2 e 2mo ago Pagers. I was a badass teen for exactly 2 years. 39 Reply ...
generalgooberpea 2mo ago 3.5 mm headphone jack on smart phones. I like that option and I think they sounded better. 49 Reply ... + 1 more reply
Celebrindae . 2mo ago Rotary phones. They're not 100% obsolete, but nearly. - 42 Reply ...
doogleman3000 2mo ago Flash games. At least without a stupid emulator, just visit the site and the game just worked no download required. Even could play them in the back of the computer lab in school if you knew how to use a proxy to get around their firewalls 30 Reply ... + 1 more reply
realgone2 2mo ago CD player in cars. I had one until I bought my new car. I hate bluetooth 44 Reply ... kirradoodle 2mo ago My ancient Volvo is old enough to have a CD player AND a cassette tape player. Love my CDs. 14 Reply ...
ActiveHope3711 2mo ago The yellow pages. It was great to look for a service or goods and have the results all be local. 39 Reply ... + 4 more replies
EffectiveRelief9904 2mo ago Quarters and tokens for arcade games. Gtfo with these debit cards, like wth 18 Reply ... + 1 more reply
Unable_Eye_7108 2mo ago I miss getting a big fat Sunday newspaper. Colored comics, a tv guide type magazine for the week, Parade magazine, big sections of real estate, want ads, cars, a big sports section, editorials, a business section, a home section, so much stuff. We'd spend half the day looking it all over. We lived in a bigger city. There was more than one paper. There would be a big temporary news stand outside of church on Sunday morning. My dad would buy a couple of big papers. It was great. 16 Reply ...
HeartonSleeve1989 2mo ago Floppy disks, I could pop one out and eject it all day. 15 Reply ... + 4 more replies
BeginningNobody4812 2mo ago Cars with CD players, low-tech appliances that would last for decades, cell phones with headphone jacks & microsd slots 15 Reply ... + 3 more replies
FujiKitakyusho . 2mo ago Phone calls with human participants on both ends. 8 Reply ...
RamboBambiBambo 2mo ago Back when videogames were mostly contained on a physical medium rather than having to download most of the game online. Because now we don't own most of the games despite purchasing them. 605 Reply ...

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