I read something recently that caused me to think of my earlier years, specifically childhood and adolescence, in a different, more enlightened way. It was about the oldest members of Gen Z, from 1997 (my birth year), to maybe the early 2000s, and how we grew up with what’s been called a “hybrid upbringing,” in terms of advances in media and technology. And when I think about it, it makes sense.
As a small child, we used VHS tapes at home, and in school they played music and stories on cassette tapes and vinyl records. Fun fact, I got put in a timeout in preschool for running my finger on the vinyl grooves while the disc was spinning! We also used CDs to listen to music at home. I can remember sitting under the gazebo in our backyard with my bright red portable CD player and headphones, listening to Brittney Spears and 98 Degrees. But when I was a little older, around 6 or 7, that’s when tapes were officially being phased out and overtaken by DVDs. We had our massive VHS collection for many years and alternated between them and DVDs, but eventually, times changed, and we gave our supply away, fully embracing the DVD era. This must have been when I was 9 or 10.
My sister and I had a desktop Windows computer in our playroom, and back then, you played games by putting a CD-ROM in the disc drive and installing the game onto your computer. It was either that, or we played the daylights out of the flash games available on websites for Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, and Barbie. Simply put, the Internet only existed in one room. We didn’t carry it with us 24/7.
And then, of course, the iPod and MP3 players crept into the mix about the same time we started embracing DVDs. My Dad was the first in our house to buy an iPod and I saw him replace his office Windows desktop with a Mac. At the time, I don’t remember feeling sad or regretful about the changing methods of media consumption. Maybe I was just too young to really think about those things, but from what I remember, I just accepted it and went with it. Before I knew it, you could buy music online from this thing called iTunes, and the big catch? You no longer had to buy the whole album just for one song! I actually have the first two iPods we ever had still in my possession! My pink nano is likely packed away somewhere back in California.
Consumer media demand was shifting towards convenience. I received a pink iPod nano for my 10th birthday, and it was quite the novelty to be able to fit hundreds of songs into my pocket! No more clunky CD players or overstuffed CD carriers. My 10th year was also when I received my first cellphone, a Razr flip phone that was a pain to text on and only held two games: Solitaire, and another card game that I can’t remember.
And then when I was 12, the iPhone came out. The first smart phone. I still remember the buzz around that. A touch screen phone with Internet? Unheard of! What was even more astonishing for us kids was the day a boy in my class brought his new iPhone to school. A kid with a phone this high-tech was a sight to behold, for at recess, a swarm of kids crowded around him to look at it. I remember looking at him and thinking, “Wow! That kid must be rich to have one of those!” It wouldn’t be until almost my 14th year that I would get one of those. Of course, the years went on, and digital media continued to take precedence over analog and digital.
I think discovering prog played somewhat of a role in revitalizing my love for retro media consumption. There’s a nostalgic factor, but there’s also the feeling of truly “experiencing” the album or movie you’re holding in your hands. There’s the TLC of handling the disc, the opening of the gatefold, the ability to appreciate the album’s artwork, you get the idea. I think my hybrid upbringing also factors into the soft spots I harbor for tapes, CDs, and records. I know Gen Z gets a bad rap from the older folks, but it’s pretty cool to have grown up alongside technology in the twilight years of analog all the way through the dominance of the digital era. I think having this new perspective on growing up in the era I did has made me feel more proud to be part of Gen Z!
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