Ten years ago, when Kiwibox first went live, things were different. GPS was an unknown term and cars were just starting to have them built in. We still recorded those shows we were missing on VCRs. After taking photos, we had to plan the time to get them developed. Music was listened to on CD players, and Microsoft had a stanglehold on computer operating systems. In celebration of Kiwibox’s tenth anniversary, let’s take a look back at how technology has changed through the years.


Cameras

If you look back to the Kiwibox archives ten years ago, you’ll see the first article about what sort of camera to buy. It wasn’t nearly has high-tech as the article today. Instead of discussing megapixels and noise, it discusses film size and camera size. Over the past decade, the transition from film to digital was slow but sure. Each year, a higher number of people made the leap. Film labs had to update the same machines they had been using for years to accommodate for easy digital printing. Most importantly, the digital cameras have changed as well. Prices have dropped and quality has increased, so it doesn’t cost thousands of dollars for a few megapixels anymore.



Computers

Remember dial-up Internet? Odds are, if you were logging on to Kiwibox when it first launched, that was how. Your phone line would be busy and everything would move at a snail’s pace. Since then, high-speed Internet has taken over, using either phone or cable lines but freeing up your telephone so you don’t have to miss any calls. Not only has web surfing gotten faster, but computers have as well. Computers can now house several gigs of RAM instead of a mere 256MB, making them more efficient than ever for multitaskers. The cost of computers has dropped as well, making people more connected than ever. Also, Apple users have been steadily growing in numbers since OSX was released about a decade ago, making more options available to those unhappy with Windows.



Movies

Movie-watching has been evolving quickly ever since the first moving camera was made, and the past ten years have been no different. In 1999, people were just beginning to jump from VHS tapes to DVDs, which offered better quality, easier searching and loads of special features. Now, people are beginning to jump from DVD to Blu ray, which offers even better image and sound and ever more extra space for extras. In theatres, there has been a recent push for 3D movies, which is slowly expanding and will soon be available far more often in the comfort of your own home.



Music

1999 was one of the middle years of a musical revolution. People were beginning to swap purchasing CDs for downloading music free online. From 1999 to 2009, the music industry has learned how to deal with the loss of money. People who downloaded free music were accused of stealing, and websites such as Amazon started offering digital music for purchase. With the change in music’s format came a change in the hardware people needed to listen to it. Bulky CD players were replaced with MiniDisk players and eventually MP3 players, which can now be as small as a stick of gum. Digital music players are now aimed at more than just music, and have become digital media players instead.



Television

Television has changed in two ways: what we watch it on, and how we watch it. No longer are bulky television sets are the norm. People have been swapping their old favorites for newer, sleeker LCD and Plasma screens. With the introduction of high-definition television, the pictures are clearer than ever and the sound isn’t too far behind. PVRs have been introduced, making VCRs obsolete. Companies like Tivo have sprung up worldwide, providing up-to-date scheduling and modern digital recording.


With everything that’s changed over the past decade, it’s hard to predict where the next ten years will go. Will digital cameras eventually be so inexpensive they’re disposable? Will computers be so powerful there is no longer much use for people doing manual labor? Will all movies jump off the screen at you, and will that trend start for television as well? Only time will tell, but technology is certainly something to remain excited about.