this post was submitted on 15 Dec 2025
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Adjusted for inflation, an NES would cost $600 dollars today. An NES game would cost $150. You had to go to the mall to buy the games.
Thanks to spotify, youtube, and piracy music is now essentially free and available almost everywhere. Adjusted for inflation a CD/tape album you bought in 1985 would cost $30. You would had to travel to the mall, but an entire album just for that one song you liked, and listen to it on repeat for an entire month or stay up late to tape a particular song from the radio.
Don't glorify the past too much. We have never had such easy and cheap access to such a wide variety of media and games. Napster and early torrenting worked well, but the quality was often shit for plenty of stuff.
Guys! It's ok! We can't buy houses, we no longer own our own computers, and everything we have is rented, not owned.......but it's ok! Because now music is freeeeeeeee!!!!!!
I'm certainly not renting my home computer...
What are you even on about?
Phones, computers and screens are still very affordable from a historical perspective and compared to the 2000s, you can easily pirate all media and games and own them in perpetuity, and it's incredibly affordable to buy stuff online direct from the manufacturer. Buying second hand components and stuff has arguably also never been easier. If you're not an idiot, it's also still relatively (RIP specialised forums) easy to find the information to repair most things yourself online too. Especially with parts being so readibly available. Freeing yourself of Microsoft has also never been easier.
I went to a shop recently, was quoted 2500 for something. Twenty years ago I would have had no alternative. Now, I simply went on the internet and ordered direct from the manufacturer for 500.
I mean, housing is ridiculously expensive, sure. But what are you renting except your home?
I mean, honestly... You're quite clearly too young to have been paying bills in the 2000s aren't you?
Streaming is getting more expensive, but if you adjust for inflation, it's still cheaper than cable/internet was back in the 2000s. I mean, my mobile plan costs me 5 euros a month for limitless calls, data, and calls. Back in the 2000s I would have been able to send 20 text messages for that amount.
And it's not as if you need to pay for streaming. You need an internet subscription, a phone plan, and a VPN (which is also incredibly affordable).
Also, a reminder that hetero white male America is not the world. It really wasn't that great in the 2000s for a lot of us.
Sometimes I feel like the difficulty of access for old video games and music made it even more exciting. When everything is a button click away, it loses some luster.
My kids can watch literally anything on tv. I try to tell them about a time when, sure, there were 30 or 40 channels, but only a handful of them catered to me. Maybe TGIF on ABC, or Sunday nights on Fox, and Nickelodeon was always good. Disney was pay to play. Might get lucky and get something good on TNT. When you flipped to a channel and something good was on, it was awesome. Even when they started putting guides on the channels, or the TV Guide channel, you could get lucky and find something, and that was nice.
Obviously same goes for radio, and not counting the whole station not coming in and the song being half static.