Gen Z asked to name this 90s electronic device, and they are dumbfounded

[winb83]

I mean, I know what a record player looks like and they were already obsolete when I was a kid

I think there's just a generational divide between people who remember a world without the internet and people who never knew a world without the internet. The latter seem to just not know much about how the world was before. They'd probably be horrified to learn there was a time you had to do actual research to write a school paper without just stealing Wikipedia sources and referencing those for example.

 

[The Pledge]

I knew what 8 tracks were and that was before my time. I’ve never used one I grew up on cassettes & cd’s

We only had a handful of tech back then. It’s hard not to know what electronics were popping

Throw Gen Z some bail, new tech comes out damn near monthly

 

[2 Up 2 Down]

I was even able to know about died devices before my time as a kid from movies/TV and parents/grandparents. Also I had a general curiosity to learn stuff before my time

 

[Mike_Pipeson]

It's an ancient device not relevant since 2001, which predates the birth of much of Gen Z.

How many of yall even know what a telegraph machine looks like? How about a mimeograph machine?

Did you really say VHS technology, which is just at about 50 years old and was still in use until about 2006 as ancient technology and then bring up 2 examples of technology that were created in the 17th century and not been used relatively much in 100 years!?!

Just say the proper thing that Gen Z is basically retarded and keep it moving

 

[Barlow]

It's an ancient device not relevant since 2001, which predates the birth of much of Gen Z.

How many of yall even know what a telegraph machine looks like? How about a mimeograph machine?

Did you just compare a telegraph to a fukking vcr A year before you were born is not that long ago to not know a previous piece of technology, especially if you have…parents or grandparents

I was born in 94 and know what a tape deck and record player look like. That would be a more apt comparison

They were still making dvd/vcr combos for a while.

 

[Lord Beasley]

And

ask us about stuff from 1970's and 80's


we get it old folk and young folk exist in the world

color me shocked

we know what record players, 8tracks, and ataris are tho. these kids just dumb

 

[Lambent55]

Should have also started asking them other questions to jog their memory, like have they ever saw the movie The Ring,

 

[Windows 91]

Could probably show these kids a Gameboy and they wouldn't know what it was.

 

[Umoja]

It's not really surprising for a couple of reasons.

1. The rate at which technology is changing. Growing up, equipment from our parents' time wasn't really made obsolete.

2. The way we consume media has changed. As a kid, I'd watch what my mum watched which meant watching shows like Knight Rider, A Team, The Cosby Show, Bewitched etc. I'm sure the same applied for most people born before the 00s because it wasn't the norm for kids to just watch what they wanted to watch on a tablet. Anyway, watching older media exposed you to older devices, trends etc.

 

[Brolic]

It's an ancient device not relevant since 2001, which predates the birth of much of Gen Z.

How many of yall even know what a telegraph machine looks like? How about a mimeograph machine?

I knew what a typewriter and a rotary phone was when I was a kid even though no one used them.

 

[Roid Jones]

The lil ones in my family are still at the fact that game console control pads used to have cords

 

[Kingshango]

This shyt actually got y’all crying.

Time to book that check up.

 

[Cakebatter]

Nah OG Mixtapes ..

I once had to literally explain how a mixtape was made to some gen Z'ers. They knew and used the term, but didn't know what one was. They were flabbergasted at the thought of having to sit through the entirety of every song that your added to a mixtape.

 

[Bubba T]

Did you really say VHS technology, which is just at about 50 years old and was still in use until about 2006 as ancient technology and then bring up 2 examples of technology that were created in the 17th century and not been used relatively much in 100 years!?!

Just say the proper thing that Gen Z is basically retarded and keep it moving

Did you just compare a telegraph to a fukking vcr A year before you were born is not that long ago to not know a previous piece of technology, especially if you have…parents or grandparents

I was born in 94 and know what a tape deck and record player look like. That would be a more apt comparison

They were still making dvd/vcr combos for a while.

This question is being asked in 2025 so yes, the VCR is ancient. It isnt relevant to those kids and anyone in their circle so it isn’t out of the ordinary that they don’t know what it looks like in first glance. I mentioned the telegraph and mimeograph because it’s all the same. Irrelevant technology that isn’t used.

 

[Fani Willis fan]

Could probably show these kids a Gameboy and they wouldn't know what it was.

Right these kids in particular are just not tapped in.
The gen Zs in my family know what a walkman is.