What’s Changed in 10 Years?Technology: Google had not taken over the planet. People actually listened to CDs. Apple was not that innovative, unveiling its iMac in May 1998. Newspapers did not have their own multimedia Web sites. Television: “Real World” and “Love Connection,” the classic dating show, were the closest to reality that TV viewers got. This all has changed, however, with new reality TV series debuting every season. Britney Spears: What happened? This pop princess entered teen royalty with her immediate hit single “…Baby One More Time” in October 1998. Ten years later, she faces custody battles with K-Fed, mental evaluation and an awful hairdo. |
To most, 1998 may appear as one of the most average of the last 10 years. It preceded the country’s fear of the millennium and was fueled primarily by the President Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky scandal. But when looking at how the last 10 years has transformed the entertainment industry – technology, pop princess Britney Spears and reality television -1998 seems like the Dark Ages.
Compared with today’s tech-driven culture, technology was primitive 10 years ago.
Google was still an idea, with Yahoo! as the primary Internet search engine. Apple’s stock was stagnate without such popular gadgets as the iMac or iPod. People still read newspapers, not Web sites. And society dreamed of the day when someone could roadtrip across the United States with Internet in their hands. Now, consumers can do online banking, check Facebook, grocery shop and buy clothes on their cell phones.
In 1998 people still watched shows where the audience laughed along with the characters. Switch on your television today, and try to find a compelling, tasteful drama series without turning to HBO.
TV viewers adored fictional series 10 years ago. “Sex and the City” and teen drama “Dawson’s Creek” debuted, joining network hits “Mad About You,” “Friends,” “Seinfeld,” “Everybody Loves Raymond” and “Just Shoot Me!” It was an era of comedy programs.
Households wanted to follow the scripted lives of made-up characters and laugh. Now, the increasingly public nature of technology has dramatically transformed our culture’s entertainment desires.
With social networking sites Facebook and MySpace, YouTube and novel ideas for reality shows sprouting every week, it becomes obvious that the consumer 10 years ago is different from those today.
Consumers want to watch L.C. and Heidi fight on “The Hills,” overweight Americans struggle to shed waistline inches on “The Biggest Loser,” and everyone is eager to find out who will be the next “American Idol.” Modern television demands a realistic component, not scripts simply based on real-life scenarios. In 2008, we can be guaranteed to see more reality TV – and game shows – than ever.
And how about Britney? Believe it or not, few über-successful starlets have crashed and burned with such stealth as Spears. “…Baby One More Time” gained its first airplay in October 1998, effortlessly catapulting Spears’ bodacious 16-year-old figure to stardom.
Critics called her debut one of the most successful in pop music history. She paraded across magazine covers, including her risqué photo shoot for “Rolling Stone” that pictured her with then-trendy Teletubbies. Boys and girls drooled at her naughty schoolgirl image in the music video.
She was a legend and remained so for years. But true celebs survive among the trashy, which Spears has so relentlessly proved to be. Just a few nights ago, she was whisked away in an ambulance for mental evaluation, following a string of bizarre incidents.
What pop star will unravel next during the march to 2018? What new tech gadget will transform our lives next? Which reality TV show will push the line too far? We can only wait for the next entertainment woes that 2008 may bring.
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