Work & Technology Correspondent
news2day turns 20 on Friday. To celebrate the milestone, all this week we
will be taking a look back on two decades of the RTÉ News programme in a
world that has changed dramatically since the first show for younger viewers
aired in 2003.
Today, we are looking at what life was like in 2003, exploring how things
have changed in areas such as technology, education, the media and society
in general
Technology in 2003
2003 certainly wasn't the 'dark ages' when it came to technology but a lot
has changed in 20 years.
People had mobile phones but, for the most part, they could not be used to
take photos or access the internet.
Netflix existed but it looked very different to today. And many of the video
games that are big now were also popular back in 2003.
Mobile phones
In 2003, Nokia was king when it came to mobile phones. They were small and
came in different colours and styles, flip-phones were also popular.
At this stage, phones were mainly used for calls and text messages as mobile
internet was just beginning to take off.
Most phones back then did not have built-in cameras. That technology was
still being developed and rolled out on some models from companies like
Nokia, Sharp and Samsung.
In the years that followed, almost every phone sold would have a built-in
camera for photos and video.
20 years ago, the first smartphones started to emerge but they looked very
different to the iPhones and Samsungs of today.
Blackberry
A company called Blackberry was selling handsets that allowed you to check
emails and browse the web.
The graphics were basic by today's standards, and you had to use a keypad on
the phone to type and navigate as touch-screen technology was not yet
available.
It would be four more years before the first iPhone was unveiled.
Music
While Apple was not yet making iPhones in 2003, it was busy making iPods.
These portable music players allowed users to download their favourite
tracks onto a small device and listen on their headphones.
iPod
Prior to this, people had to use a mini-disc player, Discman or Walkman.
In homes and cars, CDs were still popular for music and when it came to
movies, it was all about the DVD.
Movies
There were no internet streaming services in 2003 but Netflix did exist.
It had been founded a few years earlier as a company that sold and rented
DVDs by post. Customers in the US could choose the films and TV shows they
wanted to watch on the Netflix website and the discs would be sent in the
post.
Xtra-vision shop
It would be a few more years before the company started streaming movies
over the internet.
In Ireland, people were using stores like Xtra-vision to rent DVDs.
The internet
The internet may not have been strong enough to stream films back in 2003,
but people could surf the web and send emails in a similar way as they do
today.
This had to be done on desktop computers or laptops as tablets would not be
invented for another few years.
Email
Google had been in existence for a while at this stage but it was around
2003 when it started to become really popular and for the first time the
word 'google' started to appear in dictionaries as a verb that people used
every day.
2003 also saw the launch of Skype, the video call service, which remains
popular to this day.
While search engines and Skype were around in 2003, social media had not yet
taken off.
Social media
In 2003, a website called 'MySpace' was launched. It was the first social
media site to reach a wide audience allowing users to message friends and
share photos and music.
MySpace
It would go on to become the biggest social network site in the world but
would soon be overtaken by more popular rivals.
In 2004, Mark Zuckerberg launched Facebook.
Video games
The graphics and effects were not as advanced as they are now, but many of
the most popular video games today were around back in 2003.
Popular titles included Mario Kart, Star Wars, WWE SmackDown and Pokémon.
Xbox console
The most popular consoles will also sound familiar and included the Sony
PlayStation, Nintendo GameCube and Microsoft Xbox.
The phones were not as sophisticated, the internet wasn't as fast but a lot
of the technology, websites and software we use today first started to
appear 20 years ago and would evolve in the two decades that followed.
RTÉ News.
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