1994 More like 1988 or 2000?
Jun 1, 2022 16:00:32 GMT 10
Post by astropoug on Jun 1, 2022 16:00:32 GMT 10
I’ve looked over the technology of all three years, and so I’ve decided to post similarities and differences in bullet point form. This won’t decide the victor, but it will at least help me sort things out. Warning, this will be incredibly nerdy.
What 1994 has in common with 1988:
-Computer case design in both years was quite similar, if bland. Beige boxes were the norm. On PCs, turbo buttons and key locks were common. Computer cases of 2000 were more experimental. Curvier, more colorful. The iMac and Power Mac Blue & White model are extreme examples that nevertheless became trendsetters.
-MS-DOS was common to see on PCs from these two years. It was not in 2000 except as the underlying system that Windows 9x ran on top of.
-Floppy disks were the most popular way of distributing data in 1988 and 1994. The floppy drive was omitted from the iMac, and even in PCs that had it, it was either not used at all, or used infrequently by 2000. CD-ROMs had replaced it.
-Computers used serial, parallel, and PS/2 ports to connect to devices whereas by 2000, USB was rapidly catching on.
-Ball mice were the only form of computer mice in 1988 and 1994, whereas in 2000, optical mice were starting to appear.
-The internet was not a common part of people’s lives nor did every company have a website, or begin influencing major aspects of culture and society like it would in 2000.
-As far as optical media for watching movies/the most popular alternative to VHS, Laserdisc dominated in both 1988 and 1994, whereas in 2000, it rapidly lost popularity to DVD, which was rapidly gaining attention, appearing everywhere in commercials, and even threatening the dominant format of VHS.
What 1994 has in common with 2000:
-Non-PC or Mac platforms had no relevance anymore by 1994, particularly with Commodore’s bankruptcy that year. Contrast this with 1988 where the Amiga, Atari ST, and even Commodore 64 platforms were all popular.
-Windows was popular. Sure it existed in 1988 but nobody used it, and very few applications were written for it whereas there were plenty in 1994.
-The Web, though primitive in 1994, at least existed, whereas it did not in 1988.
-CD-ROM drives included in computers in both 1994 and 2000, which was not the case in 1988 (and even if it was, they usually used those stupid-ass caddies).
-CDs are the norm for listening to music. In 1988, cassettes still dominated. CD sales actually peaked in 2000 before losing out to MP3 players.
Also, the Playstation didn't exist for almost all of 1994 and all animated movies were hand drawn. In 2000 CGI animated movies were starting to get big.
Windows 3.0/3.1 was not as popular as Windows 95, but it was still popular. Windows 1 and 2 weren't popular at all though.