2000s Technology: Gadgets, Computers And Tech Trends

Broadband, the iPod, camera phones and the smartphone at the end of it.

Below: the gadgets in ordinary 2000s homes, what computing looked like at the time, what changed across the decade, and the details anyone who was there will remember.

Useful for a reminiscence session, a quiz round, or working out what someone grew up using.

Years covered in the 2000s

• 2000 - The Millennium Dome, the fuel protests and Big Brother arriving from nowhere. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-2000
• 2001 - Foot-and-mouth, 11 September and the first iPod. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-2001
• 2002 - The Golden Jubilee, the death of the Queen Mother and Pop Idol fever. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-2002
• 2003 - Iraq, a record-breaking heatwave and England winning the Rugby World Cup. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-2003
• 2004 - Strictly and The X Factor both started, and the year ended with the tsunami. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-2004
• 2005 - The Olympic bid, the 7 July bombings and the Ashes coming home. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-2005
• 2006 - Arctic Monkeys, the Wii and another World Cup penalty shoot-out. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-2006
• 2007 - The iPhone, the smoking ban, the floods and the run on Northern Rock. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-2007
• 2008 - The banking crash, a brilliant Olympics and Lewis Hamilton on the last corner. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-2008
• 2009 - Recession, MPs' expenses and a Christmas number one campaign that worked. Full year: /blogs/news/look-back-to-2009
• That is every 2000s year we have written up so far: 2000 to 2009.

Gadgets of the 2000s

• The iPod from 2001 and thousands of songs in a pocket.
• Camera phones becoming standard and killing the compact camera.
• Flat-screen televisions replacing the big glass box.
• DVD, then Blu-ray, and Sky+ recording without a tape.
• The iPhone in 2007 and the first Android phones in 2008.

Computers in the 2000s

• Broadband replacing dial-up and making the internet always on.
• Laptops overtaking desktops in the home.
• Google, Wikipedia, YouTube (2005) and Facebook (opened to all in 2006).
• iTunes and legal downloads after Napster and the file-sharing years.
• Netbooks - small, cheap and briefly everywhere.

Tech trends of the 2000s

• Social networking moving from MySpace and Bebo to Facebook.
• Digital switchover beginning, with Freeview boxes in most homes.
• Wi-fi at home, and the router joining the list of things to reboot.
• Online shopping becoming ordinary rather than risky.

What people remember

• MSN Messenger nudges and a status message aimed at one person.
• Ripping a CD collection to a hard drive over several weekends.
• Predictive text mistakes sent to the wrong person.
• The first time a phone did email and it felt like too much.

How to use this

• Reminiscence: ask what the first one they owned was, and what it cost - the price always gets a reaction.
• Quiz round: read a gadget and ask for the decade.
• Themed party: put the 2000s playlist on and lay a few old gadgets out on a table.
• Present: a print of the machine they learned on lands better than a generic card.

Shop prints and posters

How to write it so it lands

• Prices are the best prompt - work out what a gadget cost in a week's wages and the room goes quiet.
• Ask what broke and how it was fixed; repairs get better stories than purchases.
• Check the dates before using these in a quiz - launch year and the year it reached most homes are rarely the same.

Where to shop next

• Look back to 2000
• Look back to 2001
• Look back to 2002
• Look back to 2003
• Look back to 2004
• Look back to 2005
• Look back to 2006
• Look back to 2007
• Look back to 2008
• Look back to 2009
• 2000s calendar: year by year
• 2000s trivia: fun facts
• 2000s holidays and travel
• 2000s food and recipes
• 2000s music: albums, artists and songs
• 2000s fashion: clothes, hair and accessories
• 2000s books, films and TV
• 2000s party playlist
• The 2000s: the whole decade
• Retro gift guide: the 2000s
• 00s quiz questions
• Dial-up, MSN and MySpace
• Adverts we can still recite
• Decade music round questions
• Decade history: key events, politics and culture by era
• Decade books: best novels, authors and reading trends
• Decade tech: gadgets and computers by era
• Decade travel: destinations and holidays by era
• Decade recipes: dishes and food trends by era
• Music by decade: albums, artists and songs
• Decade fashion: clothes, hair and accessories by era
• Decade guides: books, films and TV by era
• Decade calendar: every year from 1920
• Decade trivia: fun facts by era
• Nostalgia gift shop
• Guess the year quiz
• Milestone birthday cards
• Planning the party? Birthday party ideas
• How to make a balloon arch
• Photo booth prop ideas
• Pin badges
• All guides

Frequently asked questions

What gadgets did people have in the 2000s?

The iPod from 2001 and thousands of songs in a pocket. The full list above covers the equipment found in ordinary homes that decade.

What were computers like in the 2000s?

Broadband replacing dial-up and making the internet always on. The computing section above covers the machines and how they were used.

What were the big tech trends of the 2000s?

Social networking moving from MySpace and Bebo to Facebook. The trends section above lists what changed across the decade.

Do you sell technology or retro gadgets?

No. We make greeting cards, art prints and pin badges in the UK. This page is free to read, print and copy for a quiz or a care-home session.