"They Just Don't Make Them Like They Used To": People Are Sharing Common Things That, You Gotta Admit, Were Just Better Back In The Day
Listen, it's great to see technology evolve and new inventions pop up. But, sometimes, you gotta wonder if the everyday things we use and consume today are really better than they were in the past. I mean, I have to replace my smartphone every two years, but my old Nokia brick? That thing will outlive us all.
So, when Reddit user u/LastTangoInParis69 posed the question "What's not as good as it used to be?" to the r/AskReddit community, people were quick to jump on the nostalgia train and give their thoughts on the things that seem worse these days. Here were their responses:
1."Appliances, like microwaves. They used to last for decades."
"My dad's fridge from 1970 that's yellow as sh*t still runs perfectly fine. My new one has to be defrosted with a hair dryer every month or else it stops working."
2."Gonna get my old man on and say that popular music sounds worse today due to modern recording and production techniques. It’s all very loud and very compressed."
3."Flying."
"Seems to always be getting more cramped, more expensive, and in general sh*ttier. Really took a nosedive post-COVID, like everyone charges for checked baggage now."
4."Toys. They’re less creative, cheaply made, break easily, and are more expensive than they’ve ever been. The '90s and early 2000s were goated for toys."
5."Cartoons. They just don’t make them like they used to. I remember waking up Saturday mornings to watch them only to have to wait a whole week for the follow-up. Good times."
6."Sugary breakfast cereals."
"Don’t get me wrong, I still love cereal, but I swear it used to taste so much better when I was a kid."
7."Kraft macaroni and cheese. I bought a box a few years ago, and it was bland. It's definitely not the same Kraft I grew up eating."
8."Televisions — the big box ones used to last and work for decades. Now, I've got a few flat screens in my house that I bought in the last two years, and they're all breaking in one way or another."
9."Cars. I mean, they're more reliable and high-tech and all that, but they're just so damn boring. Everything is silver or black. Cars used to be green, yellow, blue, orange — every color of the rainbow and every shade of every color. And even with the fun cars today, because power steering is now electric and manual shifters are connected by cable instead of bolted directly to the transmission, you don't get the same feel of being able to directly control what the car is doing. It's like driving a video game steering wheel."
10."Vacuums. They’re so expensive now and can’t even pick up crumbs."
11."The internet. Social media made the internet less of a community somehow. I miss message boards and people having real usernames I remembered."
12."Pork chops — they were way fattier, richer tasting, and left copious amounts of grease in the pan. It’s great that they’re healthier now, but at what cost?!"
13."Gaming. Five years ago, there were so many games to look forward to. But I can count on two fingers the number of games released in the past year that I've actually been excited for."
14."Olive Garden breadsticks. Used to be yummy. Now they are dry AF and most of the time aren’t buttered up and sprinkled with cheese anymore."
15."The mall — it used to be so cool when I was a kid. Now it’s sketchy and overpriced."
16."Candy. Now they use cheaper ingredients. I bet if you could somehow taste a fresh candy bar from back in the day, it would blow your mind how much better it was."
17."Laptop input/output. Where have all my goddamn ports gone?! I don’t want a single USB-C port that I have to hook multiple dongles to for a usable machine, I want a PORTABLE COMPUTER WITH ACTUAL PORTS SO I CAN DO WORK!"
18."Fruits and vegetables. Somehow, the real flavor I remember from my childhood is gone. They look great, but they taste of nothing."
19."Bookstores. I can’t sit down and read a book to see if I like it or not anymore, and the customer service is usually just so bad."
20."Summer. I really enjoyed this season up until two years ago, but now, it’s too hot — 45/46 degrees Celsius is hell."
21."College. It used to be this intellectual pursuit that would set you up for life. Now, the debt is set for life."
22."Any chain restaurants, fast food, and processed/packaged foods. The quality has just gone to sh*t; everything is so nasty."
23."Fuji apples. I can swear that they don't have the same taste or texture as they did 15–20 years ago. They used to be crunchier, sweeter, and...pinker?"
24."Streaming services. Used to be they’d try to offer every movie they could [for] free, but now, everything is for rent or purchase instead."
Is there anything else that you think was better back in the day? Let us know in the comments!
Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.
