While Gen Z faces its own set of economic challenges, there are many everyday hassles from the past that they’ll never have to endure. Technological advancements and changes in lifestyle have eased or even eliminated some of the struggles that were once a part of daily life. This article highlights some of the common annoyances that older generations dealt with but Gen Z won’t have to navigate.
Limited Access to Information
Long before the internet was everywhere, you’d use encyclopedias for homework or research. If you needed something specific, you would go to the library. And if you wanted to know what was happening in the world, you had to wait for the news on TV or in the newspaper.
Texting on Numeric Keypads
Back in the day, texting was an art form. You had to navigate the T9 predictive text, which often guessed wrong, turning simple messages into guessing games. To type one word, you had to press the same button multiple times to get the letter you wanted. And with a strict limit on how many characters you could send, every message had to be very short.
Early Morning Cartoon Schedules
Weekends for kids used to be structured around TV schedules, especially the Saturday morning cartoons. Missing an episode meant waiting weeks, if not longer, for a rerun. Luckily, TVs eventually allowed everyone to program a VCR to record their favorite shows, though the technology was often less than reliable.
Manual Car Windows
Manual car windows now seem like a relic of the past. Rolling down a window required actual physical effort, turning a knob in what could sometimes be a mini workout. This was especially inconvenient while driving, as adjusting a window could be distracting and therefore dangerous.
Payphones and Phone Booths
Not so long ago, making a phone call when out was not the norm. You needed the right change in your pocket, and then came the hunt for a phone booth. Once you found one, privacy was a luxury, as your conversation could easily be overheard by strangers.
Physical Bank Transactions
Banking used to be an ordeal that required actual physical effort and planning. You’d stand in line waiting for a bank teller to be available for simple transactions like deposits or withdrawals. Filling out paperwork for each transaction added to the hassle, and if you needed banking services outside of normal hours, you were out of luck.
Blockbuster Video Late Fees
Every time you went to Blockbuster, it felt like a race against the clock. You got to pick out cool movies, but you also had to make sure you brought them back on time to avoid extra charges. If you were late, you’d end up paying more.
The Limitations of Landline Phones
The era of landline phones came with its own unique set of challenges. Being tethered to one spot by a long cord meant you were literally attached to your conversation spot. Did you miss a call because you weren’t home? You’d better hope your answering machine caught it. And forget about private conversations; anyone in the house could easily eavesdrop on your chats.
Fax Machine Complications
Imagine if your friends had to type out your texts to read them. That is how faxes worked. The machine was loud and slow, making sending even a simple page a bit of a hassle. Forget deleting sent messages! Once it was gone, it was gone.
Balancing Chequebooks
Investopedia says chequebooks helped people stay on top of their finances, but we’re not sure the effort was worth it. You had to write down everything you spent or got and make sure it all added up correctly. Making a mistake could mess up your budget, and you would have to start over.
Paper Road Maps and Atlases
Gitnux reports that Google Maps has 1 billion daily active users, and we’re not surprised. The pain of using a paper map is simply too much. You had to figure out how to fold it back up right, understand all the symbols, and find where you needed to go without getting lost. Thank God that’s over!
Typewriter Corrections
Writing with a typewriter made you think about every word you typed because fixing mistakes wasn’t easy. If you messed up, you had to use correction fluid or tape, which was a hassle. Each letter you typed stayed there, so you had to be careful and think about what you were writing.
Waiting for Film Releases on Cable or DVD
The average wait time between a movie’s theatrical release and its DVD release was approximately four months. Buying DVDs to build a collection was very expensive, with prices varying widely. If you missed a movie in theaters, you had to wait with no alternatives to catch up.
The Era of Disposable Cameras
Before smartphones, disposable cameras were all the rage, but they had so many issues. They left no room for error and were also very wasteful. According to a report from the Environmental Protection Agency in 2007, disposable cameras contributed to a notable amount of waste due to their one-time-use nature.
Dial-Up Internet
Back in the day, getting on the internet wasn’t easy. You’d hear a loud, screeching noise as the computer tried to connect, often needing several tries. Once online, everything was slow. Loading a webpage could take forever, and if someone was using the internet, you couldn’t use the house phone.
Physical Photo Albums and Film Development
Remember waiting anxiously to see how your photos turned out? Every photo taken was a gamble, with a limited number of shots available on each roll of film. According to PetaPixel, there are about 5 billion photos taken on smartphones per day, a stark difference from just 20 years ago.
VHS Tapes
Remember VHS tapes? Watching a movie once required more effort than just a couple of clicks. You had to rewind the tapes before taking them back to the store, which was polite but time-consuming. Sometimes, the picture was fuzzy, so you’d have to mess with the VCR’s settings, which didn’t always work. And if you collected movies, they would take up so much space in your home.
Burning CDs for Custom Playlists
The process of making a playlist was once so lengthy that not everyone could do it. First, you had to buy blank CDs, which cost money. Each CD could only hold so many songs, so you had to choose carefully. Then, you’d spend a lot of time putting the songs on the CD.