Time continues to march forward and the world around us changes, whether we like it or not. While some change is nearly instantaneous and powerful, other is so gradual and subtle that it’s barely noticeable. And before we know it, the things that we took for granted might have become just a memory.

Redditor u/isawillmakeyouhappy sparked an intriguing online discussion after asking people about all of the things, from technology and products to trends, that have “disappeared silently” over the years. Scroll down for a blast from the past and to see what might have gone away without you noticing.

Bored Panda wanted to get to grips with why we feel nostalgia for the technology of the past and whether it’s possible to guess what kind of products will stay relevant in the future, so we got in touch with consumer psychology specialist Matt Johnson, Ph.D. He is the host of the marketing psychology blog and the author of ‘Branding that Means Business.’ Be sure to check out our interview with Johnson below!

#1

The prizes in cereal boxes.

Image credits: moonbunnychan

“Research in the psychology of memory has found that our recollection of previous events is generally positive. Overall, memory is kind—especially of distant times like our childhood. This is one of the reasons why nostalgia is so powerful—it’s the warm glow of the past, being conjured up into the present moment,” Johnson, the host of the marketing psychology blog and the author of ‘Branding that Means Business,’ told Bored Panda.

Because nostalgia is such a powerful force, some companies use it to market their products. “When it comes to evoking memories through marketing, nostalgia reigns supreme. Brands often employ various strategies, such as using a beloved retro song, reintroducing older product versions, or featuring familiar characters from the past in their advertisements,” the consumer psychology expert told us.

#2

Lifetime licenses….everything is subscription now.

Image credits: needforspeed5000

#3

Catalogs, phone books, and checks, designated smoking sections in restaurants.

ETA: Does anyone remember the coin operated horses outside of grocery stores? Because I was trying to think of other things that just went away and I suddenly realized those are no where to be found now.

Image credits: Wow3332

“These tactics aim to establish a profound emotional connection with our personal recollections of days gone by. Such connections can significantly influence our future choices and behaviors. One could even argue that Adidas’s resurgence in the sneaker market can be attributed to their revival of ’80s and ’90s shoe models like Superstars and Stan Smiths.”

This isn’t the only approach, however. Johnson explained that another subtle method that brands and sometimes even politicians use to harness the power of nostalgia is portraying things as reminiscent of the ‘Good Old Days.’

“An excellent example of this is the iconic Coca-Cola commercial from 1971, featuring a diverse group of young adults on a hillside singing in harmony, ‘I’d like to teach the world to sing… I’d like to buy the world a Coke.’ This commercial, released during a tumultuous period marked by the Vietnam War and civil rights protests, successfully tapped into the collective nostalgia for a simpler and more harmonious era, associating Coca-Cola with this longing sentiment.”

#4

Pay phones.

Image credits: anon

#5

Paid lunches. The term 9-5 used to be 8 hours including lunch. now most jobs are 9-6 with no paid lunch. but people still use the term nine to fives

Image credits: pokemonandgenshin

#6

The capacity to give. I’m not talking in abstract, I’m talking about the possibility to just give things to people.

For instance, before you could just put money in meters in front of car, but they changed it so you had to put a ticket in your car. But then people start to give their tickets with unused time left on them, so they change it again and you have to indicate your license plate on it.
I used to receive what we call restaurant tickets in my countries. These are vouchers given by your company to pay part of your lunch. It was a great thing to give away to homeless people because it was basically money they could only use to eat and not for drugs. Now we have these credits on a card and we can give them anymore.
It was possible to give tickets to people to take the bus, now they are fading away and we have to use an app instead.

Even money is harder to give away. Hard currency is disappearing because it’s becoming that much easier to just pay with your phone anything you need. The end result is that it’s becoming harder to just give money to strangers. Also it makes it that much easier for banks and government to know exactly everything that you buy.

Image credits: mickdrop

According to Johnson, it’s difficult to say which products or technology will stay relevant in the future. However, he added that “we could get some indication by understanding the degree to which they tap into universal themes of human nature.”

He explained: “There’s a reason, for example, that the biggest, oldest, and most globally recognized brands have this kind of appeal. For example, Coca-Cola is aligned with ‘happiness,’ Nike is aligned with ‘individual excellence,’ and Apple with ‘innovation’ and ‘think differently.’ These are perennial themes that could be popular anywhere, anytime, and to anybody,” the author of ‘Branding that Means Business’ shared how these approaches have given these brands longevity.

“This is in contrast to more niche products and brands with a smaller, specialized target market. So while we can’t be completely certain, understanding the universal appeal of the brand’s associations will be a strong indication of its enduring power.”

#7

The middle class.

#8

Privacy

Image credits: ThinkShower

#9

My faith in humanity

This post might make you pay more attention to what tech and product trends are going out of fashion around you at this very moment. For instance, most of us probably know deep in our hearts that 3D cinema was a bit of a failed experiment. However, it wasn’t until we were reminded that it existed that we realized just how long it’s been since we’d gone to a 3D movie. 

Similarly, pay phones and phone books used to be ubiquitous around homes and towns pretty much everywhere. But the odds are that very few of us noticed the moment when they were finally phased out. Of course, they still exist in some areas of the world, but elsewhere, it’s hard to compete with easily accessible smartphones and the internet.

#10

Ringtones

Image credits: yeahsurealright-

#11

The rest of the product in bags, jars, and containers. Damn shrinkflation. Everything is slowly reducing in size and going up in price.

#12

Kids playing outside.

I grew up playing outside and I just don’t see that anymore….

Image credits: Floridaman9393

What our childhoods were like is likely to influence how we feel about certain things, from products to technology. If someone had a difficult childhood, for instance, they might not remember their past environments with fondness.

On the flip side, someone who had a very happy and wholesome upbringing might associate those feelings with the things that surrounded them back then.

That’s why someone might miss the aesthetics or technology of previous decades: they’re artifacts of happy (or happier) times when they had fewer responsibilities and more time to spend with the people they love.

#13

Colors of restaurants and fast food. Did anyone else notice how bland McDonald looks now and some other restaurants?

Image credits: Wonderful-Middle1755

#14

Mechanical credit card machines that took an imprint then you had to sign.

Image credits: optoph

#15

Being able to purchase even the most simple things, without having to give up all your personal info..

Hell, they at least ask for a name when you want a nasty burger from any fast food joint..

However, it’s far from healthy to constantly think about the past. If you’re always reminding yourself how much ‘better’ things used to be, then you’ve gotten stuck in a nostalgic rut. It’s a warped view because we’re only focusing on the positives.

This can make you blind to genuinely good life opportunities and relationships in your present. Nostalgia is best enjoyed in small amounts when you need to quickly boost your mood and help you get through some tough moments.

Worrying about how everything was so much better a few decades ago, however, is exhausting and can make you less likely to embrace genuine improvements in tech. Being grateful for what you do have is an antidote to this. And if you have the patience and willingness to learn new skills and adapt to an ever-changing world, you might find that the present can be pretty darn great, too.

#16

Cigarette lighters/ashtrays in cars

Image credits: Timmy26k

#17

All the phone numbers I had locked in my memory.

#18

Garage sales, and a local newspaper that lists where they are on.

There was a time a furnished half my house and filled my kitchen from garage sales.

Image credits: bourneidentikit

#19

Fear of consequences for actions, common sense and being outdoors without havimg to have an activity.

#20

Pleasantly uncrowded tourist destinations.

There’s just too many people, every damn where. I don’t want to go anywhere.

#21

Actual ownership, of anything. It’s all sold as a service now a days.

#22

Yo-Yos

#23

Rock radio stations. I live in a town with 1m ppl and there isn’t a single rock station that isn’t classic rock

#24

Pagers. I remember thinking “who’s going to page you at school, and how are you going to call them back?”

Image credits: Lord_Dino-Viking

#25

VCR tape rewinders.

Image credits: wombasrevenge

#26

Common courtesy.

Culutre has tilted toward selfishness and your own experience.

Phrasing like “This is my truth” would be commonplace otherwise. Or an emphasis on niche concerns of the individual.

#27

Single-topic blogs. Remember things like Regretsy, Stuff White People Like, Look at this F*****g Hipster, Cake Wreck, People of Walmart, FML, S**t My Dad Says, Awkward Family Photos, etc.? Those were everywhere from about 2007-2013. And then suddenly they went away.

I suppose some of them survive in the form of subreddits now.

Image credits: Dahhhkness

#28

Soooo much in games. Cheat codes, unlockable cosmetics, DLC that isn’t just a veiled micro transaction. Games being sold for 60 us dollars.

Image credits: Kuma9194

#29

Predictability

The Milkman, the Paperboy, Evening TV

Image credits: PhatRender-R

#30

Missing people on milk containers.

Image credits: No-Singer4938

#31

Lay-a-way plan. Which I’m sure was due to the rise in credit cards, but still

#32

Play places at fast food establishments. There aren’t that many that still have them.

Image credits: justhewayouare

#33

Ronald McDonald apparently.

Image credits: Durien9

#34

The plastic caps on the bottom of 2 liter soda bottles.

Image credits: Apprehensive_Pause12

#35

Voice overs in movie trailers.

At this point I associate it more with Honest Trailers and was even wondering if that’s what made me assume they were a thing but I even remember when Chris Pine was presenting the award for best cinematography at the 2013 Oscars and he made a joke about how all trailers started with “In a world…”. There was even a movie called “In a world…” that came out in 2013 about a woman trying to make it as in Hollywood doing voiceovers for big movie trailers but for some reason I can’t think of when exactly voice overs in movie trailers died out, I just remember that they were a thing and then they weren’t.

Image credits: Sugarbear23

#36

3D TVs and to a lesser extent 3D in cinemas.

For a while, so many movies in the cinema had a 3D option. Many were not even shot with stereoscopic cameras, they just had their regular frames reprocessed digitally for the 3D effect.

3D TVs were the next “logical step” bringing this same effect to the living room. But it turns out that something that works in an environment where you sit still in a fixed spot doesn’t work as well in an environment where you look at the screen from all kinds of angles and directions throughout a single viewing.

Image credits: Rannasha

#37

Picture-in-picture as a television feature. You don’t hear about that anymore.

Image credits: Colonelfudgenustard

#38

St. Bernard rescue dogs with little barrels of brandy attached to their collars.

#39

LMFAO

To people who don’t know, they are the guys who made Party Rock. Haven’t seen them ever since.

Image credits: TheDonMan1997

#40

Haven’t seen fidget spinners around for quite some time

Image credits: WhichWhereas1879

#41

Late-night Grocery Store trips. Working 2nd shift is a nightmare now, but I’m still blessed to be off 3rd’s. Used to work the Close-Open split and I think that’d kill me these days.

#42

AOL messenger (and ICQ). I used to love having people pop in and message me on these apps. ICQ was great because it allowed for people on AOL, yahoo, MSN, etc. to communicate. Sad that it just disappeared. I met so many great people.

Image credits: Linux4ever_Leo

#43

Freestanding newspaper stands

#44

Courtesy to film horizontally

#45

The happiness we had in childhood

#46

A customer came to pick his car up from the shop last week and asked if we took checks. I’m like…nah dog. He was bitching about it, but then pulled his debit card out that’s attached to the same bank account and swiped it no problem. Like…why?

#47

US Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s massive gambling debt

#48

Somebody that I used to know.

#49

Starlets carrying tiny dogs with them when they go out

#50

Laundry detergent ads talking about how the detergent was good at removing grass stains from children’s clothes.

#51

Original screenwriting

#52

The horrible and terrifying migrant caravans from a few election cycles ago.

It seems like every election season, they think of a new thing to get everybody all distracted and scared so they don’t have time to discuss more important issues.

#53

Those shoes with the little wheels in them.

#54

The NFT moment has passed

#55

Bugs, especially on the car windshield. I’m somewhat horrified thinking about how much bug juice was on the car’s windshield and grill when I was a kid, but today my own vehicle is very clean.

Image credits: chairitable

#56

Just simply being outside. I workout in the park 3-4 days a week. Running , stretches , push-ups, etc. I don’t even bring my phone , don’t need it , and it’s just extra weight bouncing in my pocket as I try to run. I’ve noticed , particularly on Saturdays , troves of people come out to walk in the park , but not like they used to. These people are all geared up , backpacks , phone chargers, ample supplies for at least a full day or more , etc. These people act like simply going to a walk in the park is like an excursion to an unknown world. Its obvious they don’t get out much, you can just tell by looking at most of them. The only other normal everyday dwellers like me are old people going for a walk without phones i their hands of course like all these other people . Seriously a lot of these people likely spent ALL MORNING planning for this walk in the park . Often times I see people arrive and leave all before I’m done. Almost all of them are on their phones the entire time ! They just walk slow and stare down, and it’s like they are trying to “get it over with” like they know they NEED outdoors and fresh air , and exercise , but they don’t enjoy any part of it , so they have to force themselves through it while staying glued to their phones, and bringing an insane amount of supplies because they are that unfamiliar with simply being outside like it’s an alien world. It’s kind of sad honestly .

#57

The “I’m feeling lucky” button on Google.

Image credits: Tomfooleries

#58

Dubstep

#59

Charlie Sheen

#60

Public bins! Where did they all go?

#61

Long distance phone companies and their ubiquitous advertising.

#62

Hardee’s

We don’t have any left in my town. Used to be one on every major roadway. We still have a Long John Silvers but not a single Hardees.

#63

CD’s Video rental stores

Postman, the classic postman who just walks or bikes aroundan area dropping purely letters, unlike today where everything is just being thrown in front of your house by UPS and Fedex people. In connection with this mail boxes will be gone too

#64

Macklemore

#65

Covid masks
Source: boredpanda.com