As we get older, it’s wild to witness how many once-expensive things are now considered “trash.” So, for a trip down memory lane, I thought it would be interesting to share the answers from this Reddit thread, where Reddit user ruykendo_riyal asked: “What is a luxury item from 20 years ago that is basically worthless trash today?” Here’s what some people said below:
1. “12-disc CD changer in the trunk of your car.”
Andreas Von Einsiedel / Getty Images
—brownlawn
“My grandparents were going to donate their old diesel Mercedes with 200k miles to their church. I somehow convinced them to give it to me. I gave my sweet sports car to my younger brother and embraced the leaking, smelly, slow-as-fuck heap. The best thing about that car was that my grandpa left all his CDs in the 10-disc changer in the trunk.
All through college, I listened just to his music in the car. A bunch of CDs he burned featuring Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman, the best of the Everly Brothers, the American Graffiti soundtrack, etc. I felt like he was driving with me every time I got behind the wheel. That soundtrack made that almost worthless car invaluable to me.”
—G0mery
2. “BlackBerry devices.”
Lenscap67 / Getty Images
—AspiringOccultist4
“I miss tactile keyboards. So many fewer typos.”
—GardenerSpyTailorAss
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3. “A little more than 20 years ago (late ’90s), but my dad had a rear-projection 64-inch TV. It cost about 12k, and I ended up selling it about five years ago for 50 bucks.”
Photodisc / Getty Images
—tatsumakisempukyaku
4. “CD players in cars that came out of the dash and popped out, and you would take the face off so it didn’t get stolen. Maybe slightly longer than 20 years ago.”
Anthony Douanne / Getty Images
—Heisman123
“Mine didn’t come out, but if you pushed it a certain way, the face would flip so it looked like a flat panel from the outside. I thought that was the coolest shit ever in my ’98 Ford Contour.”
—everylastlight
5. “Hummel figurines. I am cleaning out my mother’s house, and she has so much worthless crap that she thought was valuable. It has really caused me to reconsider what I am keeping in my home, and I am getting rid of a lot of stuff so my kids don’t have the burden of dumping it.”
Birthofthequeen / Getty Images
—InquiringMind7154d
“My mom collected rare ‘Precious Moments’ figurines. Turns out the only people who value those died along with her.”
—mcrib
6. “Palm Pilot.”
Science & Society Picture Library / Getty Images
—Rachel_Silver
“I forgot all about the Palm Pilot. I loved mine, not sure if I had any real reason to own one.”
—FluffyAssistant7107
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7. “A 1GB thumb drive. I remember we desperately needed a larger thumb drive to transfer a school video project to another computer, and my very wealthy friend’s dad had one that he kept in a locked drawer in his office. My friend was able to ‘pull some strings’ to get permission from his dad to let us use it, and we were incredibly grateful. So weird to think about now.”
Rentdunk Studio / Getty Images
—MrsBakken
“I remember in 5th grade, a flash drive was on our required supplies list, and I got one that was 512mb. A teacher told me that it was more than I would need for the rest of my life.”
—melonseer
8. “Caller ID box. I think many people don’t know how big a deal that was, but now it’s just part and parcel of a phone.”
James Keyser / Getty Images
—ClicheStuff
“And now the feature itself is useless, with every caller being ID’d as Scam Likely.”
—discussatron
9. “Encyclopedia Britannica.”
Star Tribune Via Getty Images / Getty Images
—muffintop
“If you weren’t missing a number, you came from a good family with a nanny and a library.”
—coldcherrysoup
Related: Older Adults Are Recalling The “Luxury Items” From 20 Years Ago That Are Basically Worthless Trash Today
10. “Motorola Razer V3. retailled for like 500 bucks in 2006.”
D. Lentz / Getty Images
—woohooguy
11. “GPS unit.”
Peter Macdiarmid / Getty Images
—Call_Me_Papa_Bill
“Oh, shit. The TomTom.”
—coolchillycold
12. “That papasan chair from Pier 1 Imports.”
Blair_witch / Getty Images
—lolzuwish
“You mean that amazing laundry basket on a stand?”
—ElectronSpiderwort
13. “Dining room china cabinets, and the big wood armoires to hold the giant TV and DVD player, closed caption box, and shelves of DVDs and VHS tapes. People constantly offer them for free on FB groups; nobody wants either of them. TVs are now very thin and light and can go anywhere. Nobody has fancy china sets that need to be displayed and stored.”
Chandlerphoto / Getty Images
—No-Falcon-4996
14. “Anything Ed Hardy.”
Faith Moran / Getty Images
—Portland-to-Vt
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15. “The expensive digital camera I received as a graduation present that had about 250 pixels.”
Peter Parks / Getty Images
—Fizz_ickz
16. “Plasma TV.”
Tim Boyle / Getty Images
—PikachuUserNotTaken
17. “My degree.”
Spencer Platt / Getty Images
—Equivalent_Two_6550
“This one hurts. I feel it, too. I graduated back in 2010, and I just paid it off earlier this year. 🙁
Fun fact: My job doesn’t even require it.”
—Tiggums81
Is there a luxury item from years ago that you would consider worthless trash today? Tell us what it is and why either in the comments or in the anonymous form below:
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