Following -1998- ★

Following 1998, waiting became a glitch. Google was founded in September 1998. The iMac dropped in August of that year—translucent blue plastic promising that technology didn't have to be a beige box in a dusty office. Suddenly, answers were five seconds away. Music fit in your pocket (shout out to the original Rio PMP300). The friction of life was being sanded down.

Following 1998, irony took over. Grunge died. Nu-metal and boy bands fought for the radio, and the cynicism of the late 90s gave way to the pre-traumatic stress of 9/11. We stopped dreaming about flying cars and started worrying about the backup of our hard drives.

There is a specific weight to the phrase “the late nineties.” But if you dig deeper, the true hinge—the year everything began to creak before the floodgates opened—was not 1999. It was . Following -1998-

Following 1998, we entered the long now. Everything is recorded, archived, and optimized.

The Last Polaroid Summer: Why 1997 Felt Like the End of an Era Following 1998, waiting became a glitch

I miss when “following” just meant the next page in a book, not a metric of your worth.

Following 1998, the world didn't just change. It accelerated. Suddenly, answers were five seconds away

I don’t want to go back permanently. I like having the sum of human knowledge in my palm. But I miss the silence. I miss the waiting.

He’s right. Before 1998, waiting was a condition of life. You waited for a letter. You waited for your favorite song to come on the radio so you could hit ‘record.’ You waited for Thursday night at 8:00 PM because if you missed Seinfeld , it was gone until summer reruns.

October 5, 2023