In early 2004, the world was trembling like a Polaroid, rushing to theaters to see what was to come of The Hobbit and wondering if that man Tom Brady was anything special. . Meanwhile, several people around the world were inventing the web as we know it today. A world-shaking social network was born in a Harvard University dorm room. Google employees dreamed about the future of email in their spare time. The coolest cell phone ever was about to be dropped. The Internet was still a niche activity, but that was rapidly changing.
In so many ways, the digital world we all live in now was created 20 years ago. Google went public and began to establish its dominance over the web. Facebook, Gmail, Firefox, Flickr, and Digg were all born in the year Web 2.0 became the Web. “Blogs” and the “long tail” weren’t on anyone’s radar until 2004, but they’ve become ubiquitous ever since. There was a controversial election in the US, a slew of sequels dominated the box office, and Apple launched new products that looked really cool, only to be overshadowed by better products a year later. I did. Well, some things never change.
Of course, every year is a big year in the technology industry, but 2004 was a particularly big year. and The Verge It didn’t exist yet! So this week, we bring you articles about the best and most important gadgets and platforms released that year, as well as articles about cultural events that still impact our lives. Basically, I’ll be blogging like I did in 2004.
Want to tell us about our story, your memories and your coolest photos from the early ’09s? hang here.
