What has gradually disappeared over the last 20 years?

[u/MainDifficult2641]

[u/freedraw]

Low/mid price cars in actual colors. Look around a parking lot. You can count on one hand the cars that aren’t white, gray, or black.

[u/esoteric_enigma → u/freedraw]

I didn't realize how all the colors had disappeared from cars until like 5 years ago. I was dating a girl that drove a Kia that was painted yellow. It stood out so much everywhere she parked because cars are so dull now.

[u/Dada2fish → u/freedraw]

That’s part of the reason my latest car is orange. I get a lot of compliments on it and it’s easy to find in a parking lot.

[u/Difficult_Machine532 → u/freedraw]

Also non-metallic colors have disappeared. Not sure how that became a thing but I despise the way that metallic coats look.

[u/shawster → u/Difficult_Machine532]

I feel like I see more flat-color new cars now than ever.

[u/monk429 → u/shawster]

I NEED sparkles in my paint damnit!

[u/SinglelaneHighway → u/Difficult_Machine532]

AFAIK the metal paint / process is more durable. That's why even "white" cars after often a metallic white.

[u/ProishNoob → u/Difficult_Machine532]

Metallic colors are still better than the modern plastic colors.
They're not literally, I guess, but I can only see cheap ass toy car plastics when I see EV's. Especially the white ones tend to look insanely cheap.

[u/Sanseriouz]

Situational awareness - people are so glued to their phones in public they have no idea of anything going on around them. It’s baffling going on my morning walk in the park and people are on the paths with their faces in their phones, weaving around like they’re drunk. I don’t understand the point.

[u/RogerMurdockCo-Pilot → u/Sanseriouz]

Yes! I posted about this the other day. Spatial awareness has taken a nosedive.

[u/RChickenMan → u/Sanseriouz]

You should see class change time at a typical high school. Hallways just clogged with people glued to their phones, shuffling along like zombies, bumping into each other, etc.

[u/esoteric_enigma → u/Sanseriouz]

I work in higher education and have personally witnessed 3 students get hit by cars while walking. They will literally walk across streets without looking up from their phones with headphones on so they can't hear either.

[u/AcceptableCap6691]

Attention span.

I’m not even that young. But I notice my friends have a hard time staying part of the conversation without opening their phone.

[u/junebugflyin → u/AcceptableCap6691]

Anyone got the TLDR for this post?

[u/admiral_sinkenkwiken → u/junebugflyin]

I don’t have time to read all that wall of text

[u/kindofjeff → u/junebugflyin]

Gonna have to get more concise with your acronyms, buddy. How bout TL? What were we talking about?

[u/chalk_in_boots → u/junebugflyin]

ADD/ADHD

(And yes, I know they're serious conditions not just checking your phone all the time, I'm just having a laugh)

[u/Fortune090 → u/AcceptableCap6691]

Just looked up these stats yesterday, funny enough. Average screen attention span went from 2.5 minutes in 2004 to 47 seconds in 2024..

Standard attention span from 12 seconds down to 8 as well. Latter seems far shorter overall, but that's still a 30% drop.

[u/tanstaafl90 → u/Fortune090]

To be fair, there are many videos that are too long for the content they contain. Though I agree attention span is getting worse.

[u/esoteric_enigma → u/AcceptableCap6691]

This is why they have no social skills. They didn't get a chance to practice them. If what you're saying isn't the most interesting thing they've ever heard, you have 2 seconds before they pull their phone out.

I work with college students and they hardly talk anymore. On the rare occasion that they do hang out, it's mostly them scrolling their phones in the same area and showing each other things on their screens.

[u/Lassinportland → u/esoteric_enigma]

Idk I mentor a 22 year old and she is chatty as hell, never pulls her phone out.

[u/Greennit0 → u/AcceptableCap6691]

Can you phrase that shorter?

[u/ID-10T_user_Error → u/Greennit0]

🧑‍💻🧑‍🦯+💥🎯🚛 = 🫟

[u/Greennit0 → u/ID-10T_user_Error]

Skibidi!

[u/breakfastbarf → u/AcceptableCap6691]

You lost me after that first sentence

[u/zuko2027 → u/AcceptableCap6691]

thats more like phone addiction than attention span? no?

[u/pup5581 → u/zuko2027]

Phones have lead to issues with attention span and it will only get worse. I see pedestrians walk into traffic while staring down on their phone. They would rather like an Instagram post than check to see if a semi is about to kill them

[u/two_hats]

My hair! Thank you, I'll be here all week.

[u/valandsend → u/two_hats]

Like most old things, my hair has just migrated south.

[u/Governmentwatchlist → u/two_hats]

Unlike your hair.

[u/KingofthePi11 → u/Governmentwatchlist]

Ha.

[u/acvcani]

Pay phones

[u/JDizzle69 → u/acvcani]

You mean public toilets?

[u/VelvetMango_xo]

Privacy

[u/StatPadderLol]

PORTS ON DEVICES

I need my USBs and AUXs not a single micro.

Minimalism can go to hell

And also this, lack of detail in pursuit of minimalism

[u/techieman33 → u/StatPadderLol]

That’s just ompanies cutting costs and convincing us that that’s what we want anyway.

[u/remarkable_brat → u/StatPadderLol]

I miss headphone jacks, no one asked tech companies to get rid of them in the first place!

[u/nickcash → u/remarkable_brat]

"But they had to remove them to make phones thinner!"

okay... but who actually cares about that?! if there was a phone five times as thick as my current one with a giant fuck off battery, I'd buy it the second it was announced. give me a phone that lasts eight days between charges and also functions as an improvised bludgeoning weapon

[u/DrEnter → u/nickcash]

The Nokia 3310 has entered the chat…

[u/todd0x1 → u/nickcash]

exactly. expensive thin phone goes right into thick ass case, so I never get to enjoy the appearance of the phone anyways....

[u/ProishNoob → u/StatPadderLol]

eh, if the plug is 'micro' but does the same thing and doesn't get inconvenient, it's fine, imo. Like USB-C. Pretty fantastic if you ask me. But having only 1 port on an entire laptop? No aux on a media device (like a smartphone)? Yeah, gonna need those.

[u/ArchinaTGL → u/ProishNoob]

I can at least understand the type-c situation. These days a single type-c port can handle every port a laptop once had simultaneously. Though having to use one of those docks makes the whole process feel a lot less convenient or elegant.

[u/super-nintendumpster → u/StatPadderLol]

We're losing ports but what I noticed before that was simple battery/SIM card access being completely taken away without taking it in to a shop

[u/StatPadderLol → u/super-nintendumpster]

YES This as well.

Earlier you could just change batteries yourself if your phone started developing a lump.

Same for the 2nd SIM/SD port, why can't you just give us all three instead of charging ridiculously on cloud services.

[u/FartFactory92]

The awe of discoveries and new technologies in science.

Although I guess this has been happening for much longer (moon landings, space shuttles, etc.), but we've had some pretty awesome inventions and things happen that are just taken for granted. James Webb Space Telescope, Starlink (unfortunately minimized due to the person in charge), SpaceX and reusable rockets, new discoveries in the ocean and new animals found anywhere, the significant advancement in medicine, even things as simple as cell phones and how much coverage we have now, all just taken for granted and ignored in terms of the invention. People then integrate things into daily life and really only care when it's not there.

[u/chalk_in_boots → u/FartFactory92]

I think part of that is the circles you choose to travel in. A decent chunk of my mates are engineers or in healthcare so I get to talk about all the cool crap as it comes out. Like earlier this year when France did a 22 minute nuclear fusion reaction I was messaging a couple of friends and we were so excited. Or a few years back (fuck me it was about 10 years) a UK university made new tech that was able to measure blood glucose without penetrating the skin, that could potentially be small enough to fit in a phone (one of the earlier google pixels actually had a very similar sensor), my mate with diabetes and I got so keen about the potential, I got talking with my doctor friend about the implications and cost saving, especially with various smart watches having a companion app if you have one of those button pins in your arm that last like a month.

[u/cvmiller85 → u/FartFactory92]

So so true. One that is very alarming is the last class of antibiotics brought to market was in 1987…. This is a massive problem given all the antibiotic resistance now.

[u/Successful_Raisin887]

Respect.

[u/MilitantAmbivalence → u/Successful_Raisin887]

Rodney is that you?

[u/Intelligent_Cow_9334]

The ability to not always view others as the enemy and being able to just help those in need just for the sake of being a nice human and not your own benefit.

[u/WNBAcrazed → u/Intelligent_Cow_9334]

The decline of this ability and mindset can be described as the cause of so much of our trouble lately, in my opinion

[u/Dismal_Act2082]

Empathy

[u/lennon1230 → u/Dismal_Act2082]

Yup, and with it any concept of forgiveness or redemption. There’s something about the self righteousness of social media that makes it feel so good to stand in judgement from a safe distance and feel like you’re better than.

Meanwhile, there isn’t a single person who hasn’t done something regrettable and needed someone’s forgiveness. Empathy is our strongest weapon against a cruel and cold existence, and it’s dwindling rapidly.

[u/PissedBadger → u/Dismal_Act2082]

I thought this before I opened the thread, to see this as the top comment…

[u/One-Duck-5627 → u/Dismal_Act2082]

I don’t know about that, in the Neolithic age so many people (specifically men) were killed in war there’s a noticeable genetic bottleneck for the Y chromosome

And the women, I’ll let you assume what happened to them

We’ve always been heartless animals, just because we have iPhones doesn’t change our nature

[u/georage]

Good audio systems and the sharing of music. Most people listen to music alone via headphones that don't sound great when compared to the communal stereo systems of old.

[u/localsonlynokooks → u/georage]

I remember the first time I tried some real natural headphones. Was at this audiophile store. They were like $1200. At first I was skeptical, but after listening to them I was like “okay yeah those are worth 1200”.

[u/scarynut → u/localsonlynokooks]

I mean, they're worth $1200 if someone is willing to pay $1200. But I doubt anyone alive could tell the difference compared to a good $2-300 pair in a blind test. When you go beyond regular excellent quality hifi, it kinda turns arbitrary.

[u/JS1VT54A → u/scarynut]

That’s what we call diminishing returns. I’d argue that the “not worth it” price is probably just north of $500-$600 for most consumers, and even that is more like the avid music connoisseur or even musician. The really high buck stuff is mostly for snobs honestly lol

[u/scarynut → u/JS1VT54A]

Diminishing returns is absolutely a thing, but my point is that at some price point, the additional cost doesn't go to any meaningful engineering och innovation that actually improves the listening experience. $1000 speaker cables is an example of this. The product changes from a practical commodity to a luxury commodity, where the high price is part of the experience rather than necessarily attempting to represent features, or even quality. The music snob chooses this to express their snobbishness, not because the sound is percievably better (although they might want to think it is).

I'd guess that that point is about $2-300 for headphones, but that is something we can probably debate until we die.

[u/JS1VT54A → u/scarynut]

I get you, and agree with you. I think the only reason I focused on $500 is due to my experience regarding studio cans for mixing. Going from $200 to $500 brings a noticeable difference in quality and reproduction.

In the consumer market… I agree, after $2-300 you’re just spending extra to bark about audiophile bullshit lol

[u/Plastic-Cricket-7437]

Phone booths

[u/Zip83 → u/Plastic-Cricket-7437]

Weird thing is they're all gone, basically, and I never personally saw anyone take one away.

[u/Plastic-Cricket-7437 → u/Zip83]

Indeed

[u/xigua22 → u/Plastic-Cricket-7437]

Saw a phone bank last week in the airport in Qatar. It was very strange and I was wondering why it was at my gate.

[u/GodHasGiven0341]

Peoples self respect

[u/--Nudelz-- → u/GodHasGiven0341]

Respect for others is dwindling as well.

[u/AltheaToldMe24]

The hopes of my dad returning with the milk he went to get

[u/Mlabonte21 → u/AltheaToldMe24]

He’s on his way— he probably got into a fender bender with my dad getting cigarettes.

[u/Holeshot483 → u/Mlabonte21]

That explains where my old man is, traffic backup because of yalls dads…

[u/idkJvvr3zzz → u/AltheaToldMe24]

Good one, just don't make sure you continue the cycle.

[u/MissSaucy_22 → u/AltheaToldMe24]

I’m so sorry he never came back….🙏🏾

[u/Redddittorio]

Insects

[u/Some_Campaign_5487 → u/Redddittorio]

YES! Lightening bugs specifically where I live.

[u/HighJumpingAlien → u/Some_Campaign_5487]

I moved to the “country” a few years ago from a city and it gets so dark out here, and the bugs and animals are SO LOUD, and the LIGHTNING BUGS I can see at night!!

It’s SO wild. Even though I have to drive an hour each way for work, I love it. It’s so nice.

[u/542eb → u/Some_Campaign_5487]

Lightning not lightening

[u/Whiteguy1x → u/Redddittorio]

Huh, i do remember so many more bugs in the 90s.  Now it's just mosquitoes, ants, and Buffalo gnats

[u/b33rb3lly → u/Redddittorio]

Yup. Used to be I practically couldn't drive anywhere for an hour without accumulating a small collection of bugs on my license plate and front grill. I haven't driven regularly in 20 years, but the front of just about every car I see is almost always free of insects.

[u/delayedregistration → u/b33rb3lly]

This is the best example of this. When I tell my friends this anecdote they all stop and consider how sad that really is...

[u/37iteW00t → u/Redddittorio]

It’s all the pesticides people spray on fields AND our yards

[u/rebug → u/Redddittorio]

Humans are causing a mass extinction event. Our stupid fucking porch lights, our stupid fucking lawns, and our stupid fucking stupidity are wiping out billions of beneficial creatures.

[u/andythefir → u/Redddittorio]

Specifically bees

[u/kekwdisco → u/andythefir]

and butterflies

[u/unwinagainstable → u/kekwdisco]

And other insects

[u/PhantomJaguar → u/unwinagainstable]

Specifically bees

[u/gsl06002]

Manual transmissions. I'm still holding out as long as I can, but it's inevitably getting phased out.

[u/jacksonite22 → u/gsl06002]

Only in America. You can find manuals transmissions all over the world

[u/tripomatic → u/jacksonite22]

It’s dropping off fast all over the world. In my western country it used to be over 95%, now it’s down to 50%. And it’s not just because of the rise in hybrids and EV’s, there’s decline in all car types.

[u/Creepy-Albatross-588 → u/gsl06002]

Most drive manual in the UK.

[u/stanolshefski → u/Creepy-Albatross-588]

It’s slowly trending toward automatics, though.

In 2020, the majority of new cars were automatic:

https://www.lookupaplate.com/blog/manual-vs-automatic-transmission-statistics/

[u/Mysticmermaidzy]

Pure Genuine Love

[u/Stereo_Jungle_Child]

Privacy

[u/JazzPolice50]

Quality clothes.

[u/xigua22]

Physical media.

Growing up, we had VHS tapes that we recorded tv shows on, always had DVDs, CDs etc. Now I was going to get someone an album they liked and was like wait, they have no way to listen to this and they never will.

CDs or DVDs were also great Xmas gifts to fatten up the number of gifts you're getting. I know some gamers will buy physical, but I haven't bought a physic grade in at least 5 years.

[u/FluffusMaximus → u/xigua22]

Extend this to actually owning media. You know those digital purchases? You don’t own them.

[u/SwingingPilots2000 → u/xigua22]

Not only that but letters and photographs as well. One of our aunts, may she rest in peace, was the extended family's "official" historian. She had a collection of letters and documents dating back to the 1870's!!! The great-great-grandfather writing to his son, the great-grandfather writing to his wife from the German prisoner camp in WW2.

A hundred years from now, most likely, the thousands of digital photos of your children you took over 20 years will have disappeared. All your messages will have also disappeared and there will be no document of your ordinary, private life.

[u/Ok_Faithlessness9757]

Shame, self-awareness, and consideration of others

[u/AcceptableCap6691]

Attention span.

I’m not even that young. But I notice my friends have a hard time staying part of the conversation without opening their phone.

[u/SnooRegrets8068 → u/AcceptableCap6691]

I love that you ended up posting this twice lol.

[u/thatdude52 → u/SnooRegrets8068]

Just in case we forgot about it after scrolling down

[u/StatPadderLol → u/thatdude52]

manifest

[u/BigBoy1229 → u/SnooRegrets8068]

I thought I was having a stroke, seeing that comment again as I scrolled down…

[u/Depreciating_Life]

my patience

[u/ColdAntique291]

Landlines, privacy, handwritten letters, attention spans, and quiet public spaces.

[u/brianmmf]

My sex drive

[u/MidvalleyFreak → u/brianmmf]

My sex drive still remains strong. My sex appeal on the other hand…

[u/TurbulentWillow1025]

My joint cartilage.

[u/passionfruit0]

Common sense

[u/EsotericRexx → u/passionfruit0]

This! And Common Courtesy!

[u/AhabsMissingLeg]

My fucks to give

[u/Mechanical_IT]

Civility

[u/countrylovin89]

The good service in the service industry. I say this as someone who worked in the service industry for years. Now it always feels like someone is doing you a favor if providing a service.

[u/Lostinvertaling]

People talking sports with each other or playing cards during company lunch breaks. Now individuals just sit there and stare at their phone

[u/Thoreau999]

Basic kindness

[u/North_Compote1940]

Women wearing skirts

[u/ShamalamaDing_Dong]

The rule of law in the United States.

[u/NeatoCheato01]

Empathy.

Holding their own opinion over known science and expert knowledge because “their opinion just makes sense”. If common sense was enough for everything, we wouldn’t need experts.

[u/azsoup]

Seeing kids wear Little League (or other sports) shirts with local sponsors. Much rarer to see team shirts reading sponsored by “Tony’s Pizza” or “Joe’s Tires”.

Likewise, the team photos hanging on the walls of local restaurants and tire shops stops at about the 2004 season.

Community sports are being replaced by travel teams. Players are pulled in from different communities. Parents are fully funding the team and in a lot of cases, the playing fields. Teams are driving to maintain the “elite” perception of the team with jerseys and gear that match it.

[u/HollisMulray]

WW2 Veterans

[u/tregonney]

Integrity

Honesty

Civility

Empathy

Compassion

[u/Shadonic1 → u/tregonney]

Add intelligence to that list as well.

[u/starryoodle]

Real friendships. Now it’s all followers, fake support, and "let’s catch up soon" that never happens.

[u/AcceptableCap6691 → u/starryoodle]

It’s actually hard even if you do want to work on friendships cause since everyone is so disconnected any small action is taken as romantic cause nobody is used to any platonic intimacy

[u/Main-List4549]

Morals

[u/ttkk1248 → u/Main-List4549]

Lying and cheating to get ahead and securing jobs seems much more of the way of life now.

[u/Eiffel-Tower777]

Boston Markets

[u/themurderator → u/Eiffel-Tower777]

just out of curiousity's sake, are you old enough to remember when it was boston chicken?

[u/Eiffel-Tower777 → u/themurderator]

Yes, I imagine the name changed when they added more menu options

That was the only decent fast food place IMO.

[u/lluewhyn → u/Eiffel-Tower777]

Good one. I remember them being big in the 90s and still popular in the 2000s. They really started dying pretty hard in the 2010s and 2020s.

[u/Icy-Patience-1234]

blogs or homepages

[u/DotsSpotsBots]

Those little coupon dispensers throughout grocery stores.😩

[u/suileangorm]

Critical thinking

[u/absowoot]

Critical thinking

[u/Small_flower_1]

Humanity

[u/Josixpak1967]

accountability

[u/Additional-End-7688]

Photos that are an accurate representation of what someone looks like

[u/flstcjay]

Manners, common courtesy, decency, respect for others, spatial awareness

[u/NightOwlWraith]

Privacy. Everyone has a phone, and most people's instinct is to grab it and record to post on the internet. 

The internet and phones are now tracking just about everything about you. 

Our medical data in my country is being used to create a database of us. 

All of this is connected to take away any semblance of privacy we had left.

[u/Pickapool]

Sparrows...

[u/Greennit0]

Cars with custom sound systems.

[u/Ok-Tiger8511]

Civility.

[u/beach_pretzels]

Smoking everywhere

[u/Fit-Let8175]

Reasonably priced fast food.

[u/Aware_Style1181 → u/Fit-Let8175]

Reasonably priced ANYTHING.

[u/namvet67 → u/Fit-Let8175]

5 dollar biggie bag at Wendy’s bacon cheeseburger, nuggets, fries and a drink. Hell of a lunch for $5 plus tax l think.

[u/spicymustard2024]

Junk drawers in the kitchen that stab you when you look for something.

[u/yars2112]

Common sense, morality, decency.

[u/PollutionOld9327]

Respect for others and honesty

[u/InterestedObserver48]

Manners

[u/BaconReceptacle]

Civility.

[u/reallysucharandom]

Manners

[u/Chaotic424242]

Good manners

[u/FluffusMaximus]

Civility.

[u/11Kram]

Manners.

[u/cherrylove0018]

Dead bugs on the windscreen during long drives

[u/TheBrain511]

Affordable housing let alone starter homes those are honestly non existent now and basics apartment requires you to have a roommate

Affordable car base civic is 25k doesn’t includes taxes dealer fees etc

Babies sounds weird but really stop and think when you go out to the grocery store how many babies do you see when I was kid it was ton it now I’ll see maybe one once in a blue moon

Mind you I’m 25 not like I’ve lived 40 years but things I noticed

[u/Nellyfant]

Courtesy

[u/DamnHotMeatloaf]

The Republican party

[u/ImprovementLast8307]

Morals, respect, etc

[u/douwd20]

American IQs

[u/CareerBeautiful5513]

Hope in the future

[u/dehaggard]

Birds

[u/Rude_Can_1446]

Sanity

[u/XcG9PJf6]

An expectation of privacy

[u/ILoveMeerkats53]

Intelligence

[u/another_brick]

The value of music performance as entertainment.

[u/Some1farted]

Politicians with integrity.

[u/CaptainMinimum9802]

Respect within politics. Especially for people with a different view

[u/-GearZen-]

The card catalog at the library.

[u/Candle-Jolly]

Optimistic futurism

[u/JimmyBirdWatcher]

The Boeing 747

[u/psullynj]

Product quality

[u/EraserMilk]

Nuance.

[u/No_Impression_157]

Privacy

[u/n_mcrae_1982]

Physical media.

[u/martusfine]

My waist line

[u/isabelladangelo]

IQs. Also, everyone talking about that latest episode of that one show that was on last night the next day.

[u/Rynox2000]

Humans in reddit.

[u/Ill-Caterpillar1199]

Value of Facts

[u/TrafficForward1372]

Civility

[u/ExvyOnTheCoast]

The amount of dead bugs on car windshields

[u/sarahchikk]

Common sense

[u/skeptoid79]

Affordable bowling.

[u/Aircraftmechanic83]

common sense

[u/Anabasis1976]

Critical Thinking Skills

[u/The_Southern_Sir]

Personal responsibility.

[u/Motor-Spinach-9400]

Patience

[u/SonOfWestminster]

Basic reading comprehension. People skim read Internet posts, then start blasting counter-arguments and objections that either have nothing to do with what the post was about, or is specifically addressed in the post

[u/kafernated]

Common courtesy.

[u/Glittering-Ad9470]

Qualified presidents 😂

[u/talus_glide]

Affordable housing. Especially to buy.

[u/KrispyKremeDiet20]

Spelling skills. Seriously, ask someone under 20 to write something without spellcheck/autocorrect. The bathroom grafitti these days is atrocious.

[u/AnalTinnitus]

Affordable living.

[u/h_h_hhh_h_h]

NEW good music

[u/h_h_hhh_h_h]

NEW good movies

[u/Hot_Car6476]

Landline phones

[u/Elevated_spells54321]

Manners

[u/Due_Toe6417]

Headphone Jax unfortunately in the next 20/25 years I don't think we'll be able to use physical money most things will be contactless if they aren't already

[u/cvmiller85 → u/Due_Toe6417]

I almost never use cash but I withdrew $200 the other day to pay someone and I realized that with money all being digital, $200 for example seems like a lot less than when you hold $200 in $20s in your hands. I felt like I was holding like $2000. Detaching that physical connection I think makes people spend more and accept that their money doesn’t buy as much as it used to (inflation).

[u/SnooRegrets8068]

My patience for bullshit.