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Redditors Guess What Will Feel Nostalgic In 40 Years And Here Are 30 Of The Most Interesting Answers

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Being a ’90s kid, I often find myself stumbling upon something on the internet that we as kids used to have or do back in our childhood. Many of us look back at our childhood fondly, with a certain sense of nostalgia that fills us with joy (or dread, depending on how much you’re affected by existential factors).

But we never think of the things that we have now that we may end up being nostalgic about 40 years from now. That is why Reddit user u/tandyman234 has recently asked this very same question on r/AskReddit: in 40 years what will people be nostalgic for? And Reddit delivered.

Bored Panda has collected some of the best answers, which you can find below. While you’re down there, why not comment and vote for the ones you’ve enjoyed the most.

This post may include affiliate links.

#1

Redditors Guess What Will Feel Nostalgic In 40 Years And Here Are 30 Of The Most Interesting Answers Privacy

Medleyfish , fmunzert Report

Final score:

71points

Monday 4 years ago

I'm not so sure about this one, comes down to whether you value privacy or security more. Most people want privacy for themselves but not for others. We don't want people watching us, but we want other people to be watched so that they can't harm us.

6points

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#2

Redditors Guess What Will Feel Nostalgic In 40 Years And Here Are 30 Of The Most Interesting Answers Comfortable temperatures.

MarchionessofMayhem , VV NincicFollow Report

Final score:

53points

Eiden D'Elia 4 years ago

Yes I hate heat

10points

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#3

Redditors Guess What Will Feel Nostalgic In 40 Years And Here Are 30 Of The Most Interesting Answers The Internet.

Hell, I'm nostalgic for it now. Not the final form that the internet has taken over the past decade or so, but those wild west days before youtube, facebook, social media, reddit. Finding weird ass sites, geocities pages, looking up cheat codes for GTA, hanging out on forums, seeing something go truly grassroots viral and not just because it's trending on instagram or something. Those days when no company knew what the hell the internet was or how to market on it, it was just left to the nerds and the kids who were making up the rules as they went along.

I miss when the internet felt like a little adventure rather than a timesink or utilitarian tool to get the day to day done.

shawnisboring , Blaise Alleyne Report

Final score:

49points

Owen Purdy 4 years ago

Oof the nostalgia🙄

14points

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While it’s hard to predict the future and to know what things probably feel nostalgic to us, Reddit had no problem coming up with a slew of answers to the question. These varied from funny to interesting to just plain sad.

While some were realistic in their answers, pointing out that things like DVDs, driving manuals, and physical money will probably be something of a blast from the past, others joked that we’ll most likely be nostalgic about the US Postal Service, a hint at the current US postal crisis, and bubble wrap, also pointing at a recent bit of news that bubblewrap will be made in a way that doesn’t pop.

#4

Redditors Guess What Will Feel Nostalgic In 40 Years And Here Are 30 Of The Most Interesting Answers I'm fifty years old, so I can actually be nostalgic for things from 40 years ago. Mostly I miss my grandparents. We take people for granted until they're gone. The people in your life won't always be there.

I'm also nostalgic for a time when it was normal to not be able to contact someone anytime you wanted to. Now if someone calls, texts, or emails you're expected to answer or respond immediately.

HellHathNoFlurry , Wendy Berry Report

Final score:

43points

What's In Your Head? 4 years ago

To be honest I refuse to live that way, personally. My phone is usually out of sight (and out of mind), and if someone calls or texts when I'm busy, I'll respond or call back when I'm good and ready. This may sound terribly arrogant, but I don't mean it that way. I just refuse to be available 24-7, it doesn't feel natural to me, and I like my peace and quiet.

39points

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#5

Redditors Guess What Will Feel Nostalgic In 40 Years And Here Are 30 Of The Most Interesting Answers The night sky.

By that time, Musk, Bezos, and god knows who else, will have hundreds of thousands of satellites in orbit. Our cities will have doubled in size, and urban sprawl will cause further light pollution. Stargazing will be something future generations will only hear stories about...

iron40 , Bryan Alexander Report

Final score:

41points

Wendy Kozeny 4 years ago

Perhaps (That's why I "Liked" the comment). There is new development in street lights that shine down, only, with the express purpose of reducing light pollution. Maybe this might not be our future, after all.

15points

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#6

Redditors Guess What Will Feel Nostalgic In 40 Years And Here Are 30 Of The Most Interesting Answers Hardcover books

cobrakylena , freestocks.org Report

Final score:

39points

Dragonfruit'nrollerskates 4 years ago

Don't you dare get rid of the magical passports to other worlds.

38points

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Yet others drew people’s attention to the fact that we might end up being nostalgic for things like snow and ice, especially in areas that are already getting little snow, privacy in light of all of the surveillance being done via cameras and tech in general, and comfortable temperatures, a subtle hint at climate change.

The Reddit post went viral not only because it strummed everyone the right way—i.e. the nostalgia way—but also because it managed to get over 73,000 upvotes with a total of 18.4k comments. It was also the recipient of over 185 various Reddit awards.

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#7

Redditors Guess What Will Feel Nostalgic In 40 Years And Here Are 30 Of The Most Interesting Answers Poppable bubble wrap

armyofmoose9 , frankieleon Report

Final score:

35points

averageperson 4 years ago

OOOOOOOOHHH NOOO don't stop BUBBLE WRAP

18points

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#8

Redditors Guess What Will Feel Nostalgic In 40 Years And Here Are 30 Of The Most Interesting Answers Being able to say “it must have got lost in the mail” or “I didn’t get your text” as a lie for ignoring someone

level 1 KenComesInABox , Bogdan Suditu Report

Final score:

33points

Darwinist 4 years ago

Notifications are so annoying.

5points

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#9

Redditors Guess What Will Feel Nostalgic In 40 Years And Here Are 30 Of The Most Interesting Answers Polar bears.

dihedral3 , Andrew Report

Final score:

33points

Truth Monster 4 years ago

Polar bear population is rising, fyi.

16points

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What are your thoughts on this? What will you be nostalgic about in 40 years? Let us know in the comment section below!

#10

Redditors Guess What Will Feel Nostalgic In 40 Years And Here Are 30 Of The Most Interesting Answers Clean air

linextinofficial , Toshiyuki IMAI Report

Final score:

32points

M O'Connell 4 years ago

If we continue on the track we are on now the air will probably be cleaner in 40 years. Does anybody remember acid rain? Smog (outside of dense cities)? The only trucks you see belching smoke are idiots who have disabled pollution controls.

16points

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#11

Redditors Guess What Will Feel Nostalgic In 40 Years And Here Are 30 Of The Most Interesting Answers We just spent 5 months with family. Having dinners together, watching TV together, playing games, just being a family. Kids are going to grow up remembering the time they had with their parents and siblings. There will be good memories.

LIJoe86 , Yun Huang Yong Report

Final score:

31points

sosunlight 4 years ago

What wonderful memories for your family to share!

7points

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#12

Redditors Guess What Will Feel Nostalgic In 40 Years And Here Are 30 Of The Most Interesting Answers Driving a car yourself

prc805 , WayTru Report

Final score:

29points

averageperson 4 years ago

Right now the question is "can you drive a stick shift." Soon the question will be "can you drive a car." Shocking, I know.

10points

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#13

Redditors Guess What Will Feel Nostalgic In 40 Years And Here Are 30 Of The Most Interesting Answers I have a running joke that I'm from the future and I'm relieved that I'm back in the glory days of 2020.

personalspaceshow , ElizabethViera Report

Final score:

27points

Dragonfruit'nrollerskates 4 years ago

You're scaring me

22points

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#14

Redditors Guess What Will Feel Nostalgic In 40 Years And Here Are 30 Of The Most Interesting Answers The United States Postal Service

aweiher98 , EraserGirl Report

Final score:

27points

Curry on... 4 years ago

All of us should buy postage and mail a bunch of letters and postcards to boost the post office's profits (the return of letter writing. )

14points

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#15

Redditors Guess What Will Feel Nostalgic In 40 Years And Here Are 30 Of The Most Interesting Answers Cars with a manual gearbox

StridingEdgy , r. nial bradshaw Report

Final score:

26points

Ni Na 4 years ago

not here in Germany. It's so hard to find a automatic car.

15points

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#16

Redditors Guess What Will Feel Nostalgic In 40 Years And Here Are 30 Of The Most Interesting Answers Drinks full of sugar, food full of salt. Oh and antibiotics that still work.

Definitive-pie , Rob Bertholf Report

Final score:

25points

What's In Your Head? 4 years ago

Yeah, they already ruined Fanta Lemon. The sugar variant doesn't exist anymore (since last year or so), and the no sugar variant is disgusting.

4points

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#17

Redditors Guess What Will Feel Nostalgic In 40 Years And Here Are 30 Of The Most Interesting Answers being Rick rolled

TheEpic_1YT , Official Rick Astley Report

Final score:

23points

Dragonfruit'nrollerskates 4 years ago

Never gonna give you up Never gonna let you down Never gonna run around and desert you Never gonna make you cry Never gonna say goodbye Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you Never gonna give you up Never gonna let you down Never gonna run around and desert you Never gonna make you cry Never gonna say goodbye Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you

14points

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#18

Redditors Guess What Will Feel Nostalgic In 40 Years And Here Are 30 Of The Most Interesting Answers "Back in my days we used videogames with controllers!"

AmaterasuWolf21 , Deni Williams Report

Final score:

22points

Darwinist 4 years ago

I use XBox Kinect. Great and no controller needed. Just use your arms

3points

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#19

Redditors Guess What Will Feel Nostalgic In 40 Years And Here Are 30 Of The Most Interesting Answers Seafood. There won't be anything left in 40 years. I get it there will be some sort of sea life clinging on to eat. My point is nobody will be eating halibut and tuna on the regular because we killed 90% of them

qpv , Daniel Morrison Report

Final score:

19points

Monika Soffronow 4 years ago

"Spanish fishing boats are landing only a tenth of their normal summer catch of octopus – an unheard-of drop." https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/aug/26/spanish-fishing-boats-land-only-a-tenth-of-normal-catch-of-octopus

2points

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#20

Redditors Guess What Will Feel Nostalgic In 40 Years And Here Are 30 Of The Most Interesting Answers Movie DVDs. With everything going digital, I think production houses will soon stop making DVDs and just start streaming the movies in either their respective streaming platforms or sell them to other platforms like Netflix.

a_guy_named_gai , Manuel Martín Report

Final score:

18points

Sean Harrison 4 years ago

Physical media will still be around for long-term storage purposes. Companies are still producing blank cassette tapes, VHS/Bets tapes, and floppy discs. You'd be surprised at how many people still use physical media.

7points

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#21

I'm already nostalgic for dramatically flipping a phone closed to end a phone call...

Not_ur_Average_Dog Report

Final score:

16points

Mommyofboth 4 years ago

My 8-year-old says "end the call". I miss hanging up on someone. I would pound that receiver down like they could hear it lol. Now we just angrily touch "end".

15points

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#22

Redditors Guess What Will Feel Nostalgic In 40 Years And Here Are 30 Of The Most Interesting Answers Cash money. Besides the occasions when dealing with cash is just a lot more convenient, it's art--all those paper bills and coins are designed. Some are beautiful.

Gooseberry_Sprig , Steven Depolo Report

Final score:

15points

Boop 4 years ago

Me in the future:That isn't very....cash money of you

6points

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#23

Redditors Guess What Will Feel Nostalgic In 40 Years And Here Are 30 Of The Most Interesting Answers Playing physical games with friends. Going to friends’ houses to play basketball/soccer and a few video games, and then have a sleep over. Socializing to the extend even the youngest here have experienced.

semeon_ , pickpik Report

Final score:

13points

Dragonfruit'nrollerskates 4 years ago

Call me old-fashioned, but I don't think that will ever die.

26points

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#24

Payphones. Imagine trying to explain to your grand children, "back in my day if I needed to be picked up from the park, I called Collect on the payphone to my Mom and when the machine asked who was calling you said 'pickmeupat5:30please' so you didn't have to pay for the call".

IronMermaiden Report

Final score:

13points

Astrid Nineor 4 years ago

I belong to the era where you needed a card (pay as you go style)

8points

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#25

Flipping through cable aimlessly not really sure what will be on any channel and just going til you hit something decent. The place I'm at now has free cable included and sometimes I'll waste hours just flipping through. It feels just like the early 2000s again and is a crazy throwback feeling to watching TV before everything was on apps and on demand.

sushi_and_wrestling Report

Final score:

10points

Eiden D'Elia 4 years ago

I just flip through it. Sometimes I get something good, sometimes i get weird sh*t like robot Elmo burning to death

5points

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#26

Honestly probably malls. I feel like a lot of them are going out of business and getting torn down. Well at least the old mall experience.

BalakayyTheGoat Report

Final score:

10points

JuJu 4 years ago

They went to Germany...we got quite a lot of malls over the last 10 years and I hate it. I prefer to stroll through the city, see the daylight and get a feeling of the weather. Malls never have clocks, you lose track of time, you always have the same temperature und the same light, no matter the weather. And it's crowded and loud.

5points

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#27

Redditors Guess What Will Feel Nostalgic In 40 Years And Here Are 30 Of The Most Interesting Answers Healthy spines and happiness

Ryanmcl19 , Kevin Dooley Report

Final score:

10points

Bob Belcher 4 years ago

These died a long time ago.

9points

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#28

The sound of a V8

lazerguidedmonkey Report

Final score:

10points

Truth Monster 4 years ago

I totally thought you meant the vegetable juice V-8...and I thought, "that's a weird thing to miss." Lol

18points

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#29

Express your opinion anonymously on internet

streamer85 Report

Final score:

10points

Danieletc 4 years ago

You mean trolling? Won't miss that ....

10points

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#30

So many of the amazing movies made in the 2000's. Lord of the rings, The Matrix, many of the Cristopher Nolan movies. I'm convinced these newer classics will be enjoyed for decades to come

Final score:

8points

Cassie 4 years ago

I'll be happier when this fad of remaking everything and remaking animated movies into live-action movies has passed.

18points

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#31

Redditors Guess What Will Feel Nostalgic In 40 Years And Here Are 30 Of The Most Interesting Answers I think YouTube. Like how us 80/90s babies miss early Nickelodeon and Saturday morning cartoons I think future generations will miss the unlimited content.

StonerLB , Manuel Cernuda Report

Final score:

7points

Cassie 4 years ago

I miss the content that we used to get on YouTube but can't anymore. People used to make awesome music videos with shows they loved to songs they loved and it was one of my favorite things. You can still find the Avatar The Last Airbender version of Drop it Like Its Hot, but most of the old magic is gone.

7points

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#32

Redditors Guess What Will Feel Nostalgic In 40 Years And Here Are 30 Of The Most Interesting Answers Top 3 things that came to my mind: going to the movies, being able to flip to a random channel, [and] driving to places (maybe 40 years is too soon for this to be nostalgic but it'll happen soon enough)

Carnatic_enthusiast , Do u remember Report

Final score:

6points

#33

Redditors Guess What Will Feel Nostalgic In 40 Years And Here Are 30 Of The Most Interesting Answers Split Screen Gaming. It's already sorta not a thing anymore

theMasterDerpy , Hahnchen Report

Final score:

6points

averageperson 4 years ago (edited)

Ever thought the other person's screen was yours and then realized it a little too late? I found that very frustrating. I miss it anyways.

8points

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#34

Original movies

ConradFlick Report

Final score:

6points

Andres Tejeda 4 years ago

I disagree, I think that there are still many stories than can be put to screen. Especially when they need to set up franchises and the rise of Indy film makers and lower budget movies.

2points

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#35

Redditors Guess What Will Feel Nostalgic In 40 Years And Here Are 30 Of The Most Interesting Answers High quality nerf blasters

NyeGuyTheBillNye , Marco Hazard Report

Final score:

3points

Dragonfruit'nrollerskates 4 years ago

those HURT. You have evidently ever been chased by your brothers and their friends down the street with one o' those.

5points

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#36

Buttons

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Final score:

2points

Kisses4Katie 4 years ago

OH, You mean machine buttons! I was like, are they all going to be zippers?! Is this the future Tetsuya Nomura dreamed of?

3points

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#37

Redditors Guess What Will Feel Nostalgic In 40 Years And Here Are 30 Of The Most Interesting Answers Handshakes when you meet someone.

Summerie , Travis Wise Report

Final score:

2points

Dragonfruit'nrollerskates 4 years ago

I won't miss this. Clammy hands eugh

10points

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#38

Minecraft

Jonnyboy14242 Report

Final score:

0points

Bobby Flavors 4 years ago

Minecraft will never die!!!

9points

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#39

The 1950s. People are always nostalgic for the ‘50s.

shugerbooger Report

Final score:

-5points

Le Box of Shame 4 years ago

No way jose. I know history and listen to my grandparent's stories. The 60s American social revolution happened for a good reason

7points

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Robertas Lisickis

Some time ago, Robertas used to spend his days watching how deep the imprint in his chair will become as he wrote for Bored Panda. Wrote about pretty much everything under and beyond the sun. Not anymore, though. He's now probably playing Gwent or hosting Dungeons and Dragons adventures for those with an inclination for chaos.

Some time ago, Robertas used to spend his days watching how deep the imprint in his chair will become as he wrote for Bored Panda. Wrote about pretty much everything under and beyond the sun. Not anymore, though. He's now probably playing Gwent or hosting Dungeons and Dragons adventures for those with an inclination for chaos.

Lukas Garnelis

Lukas is a photo editor at Bored Panda. 4th year in Vilnius Gediminas Technical University as a graphic designer. Can do whatever he sets his mind to.

Lukas is a photo editor at Bored Panda. 4th year in Vilnius Gediminas Technical University as a graphic designer. Can do whatever he sets his mind to.

What do you think ?

Ivy Zhang 4 years ago

for me, i'm already nostalgic for shopping outlets. now, they're all being replaced by onlince shopping and malls. i remember when i was a little kid there were little rides along the "streets" and i would always beg my parents

13points

Le Box of Shame 4 years ago

I'd be nostalgic for older architecture before it's replaced with hideous brutalist buildings

5points

Dan H 4 years ago

Keith Richards...... No wait, he will still be alive....

5points

Logan Slaughter 4 years ago

Not gonna lie, this one kinda sucks.

3points

Nevits Yibble 4 years ago

I'll take a world without social media

1point

a worm 2 years ago

Queen Elizabeth......oh wait...

0points

martin734 4 years ago

I love riding my motorcycle, but I have a horrible feeling that this will be banned sometime in the next 40 years.

0points

JustCallMeKat 4 years ago

I'd be nostalgic for how blind we were for climate change, hopefully.

0points

Ivy Zhang 4 years ago

for me, i'm already nostalgic for shopping outlets. now, they're all being replaced by onlince shopping and malls. i remember when i was a little kid there were little rides along the "streets" and i would always beg my parents

13points

Le Box of Shame 4 years ago

I'd be nostalgic for older architecture before it's replaced with hideous brutalist buildings

5points

Dan H 4 years ago

Keith Richards...... No wait, he will still be alive....

5points

Logan Slaughter 4 years ago

Not gonna lie, this one kinda sucks.

3points

Nevits Yibble 4 years ago

I'll take a world without social media

1point

a worm 2 years ago

Queen Elizabeth......oh wait...

0points

martin734 4 years ago

I love riding my motorcycle, but I have a horrible feeling that this will be banned sometime in the next 40 years.

0points

JustCallMeKat 4 years ago

I'd be nostalgic for how blind we were for climate change, hopefully.

0points

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