Life
Sometimes it's nearly impossible to believe that the start of the '90s was more than 20 years ago. If you grew up in the decade that was just discovering all things digital, you probably remember some tech annoyances that you're glad you don't have to face anymore. But imagine what it was like for your mom and dad. There were plenty of tech struggles '90s parents dealt with that no parent has to deal with today, thankfully.
If you have a family of your own now, imagine how much more difficult your daily routine would be without the ease and simplicity modern technology provides everyone these days. From television to devices that play music to smart phones, the world certainly has come a long way since the days when a "portable" phone was brand-new and was about as heavy as a brick.
Your children most definitely will end up hearing tales from their grandparents about how unruly and complicated technology and gadgets were back in their day. But before anyone rolls their eyes just yet, remember that the struggle was indeed real for them.
So check out some of the top things parents of the '90s had to deal with that today's parents (fortunately) don't.
1
Rewinding VHS
Regardless of the decade, most kids go through a period where they act without thinking about future consequences. I know my parents were frustrated numerous times when I not only left a tape in the VCR but I had forgotten to rewind it, too.
2
Getting Bumped Offline
Kids and parents alike had to deal with the insanely annoying way to connect to the internet. Prior to Wi-Fi, your home phone (i.e. the land line) and your Internet were connected through the same system. So if you were on the phone while you parents were trying to surf the web, there was probably some yelling across the house.
3
Finding Scratched CDs
Children, for the most part, are pretty careless with other people's belongings even if it's unintentional. Yet '90s parents would just have to take a deep breath when they realized their favorite CD had been scratched beyond repair.
4
Never Having Signal
More common in the later part of the decade, many parents had some type of cell phone. At first this seemed like an amazing breakthrough, allowing people to travel without worrying about finding a payphone to make a call. But, there weren't nearly as many cell towers as there are now, so signal was spotty at best.
5
Losing Information
Although personal computers weren't totally inoperable in the '90s, they certainly had a lot of issues. For instance, if Windows crashed or you got "the blue screen of death," anything you were working on was completely lost. Sadly, there was no cloud to use as back-up in the '90s.
6
Skipping & Jamming Music Players
Parents of the '90s rejoiced when they discovered they could stay active and listen to music at the same time. Unfortunately, tape players like the Walkman could get easily jammed and CD players like the Discman frequently skipped if there was any movement involved. Thank God for iPods, right?
7
Explaining "Sold Out" To Kids
Before Netflix, Hulu, and even RedBox, the only places you could rent movies from, were stores like Blockbuster. Unfortunately, since they sold and rented tangible items, that meant that inventory was limited. So if a parent hosting a sleepover had to explain that Home Alone was sold out, they were in for a night of complaints.
8
Unintentionally Ruining Memories
In the '90s, cameras were pretty much just point-and-click. That meant there was no preview screen to check and see if you got the shot, needed to use flash, or anything like that. Many families were disheartened to find the memories they thought they'd captured turned out to be blurred or otherwise ruined after picking them up from being developed.
9
Waiting Forever For Downloads
Whether a parent in the '90s worked in the tech industry or not, at some point their job probably required them to download a project or program. This wouldn't be a problem in today's world. But back then, you might as well have clicked "Start" then taken a vacation, because downloading things took forever and could be easily interrupted or end up requiring more space than you had.
