Most of Gen Z Unfamiliar with 90s Staples Like Dial-Up Internet and Yellow Pages
A new study released today reveals a significant gap in cultural knowledge between Millennials and Generation Z, with three-quarters of young Britons never having experienced dial-up internet and 60 percent unaware of the Yellow Pages.
The research, conducted by Muller Corner, found that 74 percent of Gen Z – those born between 1997 and 2012 – have no recollection of the sounds and process of connecting to the internet via dial-up. Nearly two-thirds were also unfamiliar with the Yellow Pages, the once-ubiquitous phone directory that ceased publication in 2019. Other 90s icons largely unknown to Gen Z include Walkmans (recognized by only 41 percent), teletext (17 percent), and even CD-ROM encyclopedias.
Despite this lack of familiarity with past technologies, the study also revealed a surprising level of nostalgia among younger generations. Nearly half of Gen Z respondents (49 percent) expressed a preference for living in the 1990s, citing a desire for more face-to-face interaction and a perceived simplicity of life before the widespread adoption of smartphones. This sentiment echoes a broader trend of increasing concerns about the impact of technology on social connection. Helen Carswell, Muller marketing manager, stated, “There’s a reason the 90s was such a great time… It was a decade of bold flavours, chunky gadgets, and unforgettable TV and movie characters that are still revered today.”
The findings come as Muller Corner revives its Apple Crumble yogurt flavor, tapping into the growing retro trend. However, the study also highlighted a potential issue with current social skills, with reports of Gen Z service workers exhibiting a lack of engagement with customers – a phenomenon dubbed “the Gen Z stare.” This behavior, characterized by minimal interaction and a lack of small talk, has sparked debate online and raised questions about evolving social norms. You can read more about generational differences here.
Muller plans to continue offering retro flavors, hoping to capitalize on the nostalgia for the 90s, while experts continue to analyze the social implications of generational shifts in communication styles.
Nineties babies will be dismayed to discover three-quarters of Gen Z have never heard of dial-up internet – and 60 per cent do not know about the Yellow Pages.
Some 74 per cent of young Brits were blissfully unaware of every bleep, screech and ding it used to take to get online, new research has shown.
And nearly two-thirds do not know the analogue pleasure of looking up a number in that iconic directory, which went out of print in 2019 after more than five decades.
Their cluelessness comes despite the fact a fair number of Gen Z – those born from 1997 to 2012 – are themselves kids of the nineties.
Another iconic object which defined the decade is a Walkman, which finally allowed music lovers to listen to their favourite Top 40 hits on the go.
But only 41 per cent of youngsters even recognised the cassette player, despite the revival of other older listening methods like vinyl in recent years.
Just 17 per cent, meanwhile, could name teletext – the TV when shown its distinctive coloured fonts.
Also among the top ten nineties staples the youth of today did not know about were cathode-ray tube TVs, with their distinctive chunky shape and thick glass screens.
Nineties babies will be dismayed to discover three-quarters of Gen Z have never heard of dial-up internet – and 60 per cent do not know about the Yellow Pages. Pictured: File photo
Incredibly, they were also none the wiser about paper bus tickets with a magnetic strip or a CD-ROM Encyclopedia with its digital representation of facts and figures.
Gone were the days of printed AA Route Planner directions by the time of their birth, as were the joys of updating your status on MSN Messenger.
And MiniDisc players, games cartridges you had to blow on and Saturday morning children’s TV like SMTV Live or Wacaday were things of the past.
The research produced by Muller Corner comes as the yoghurt brand brings back one of its own nineties icons – the Apple Crumble pot.
It comes after the company has in recent years revived other retro flavours too, like the Mississippi mud pie, to create its Original range.
While for some it might be yoghurt that gives them a taste of the pre-millennium, others across all age groups most associated musical icons like the Spice Girls and Take That with the decade.
Blockbuster Video and the beloved children’s programme Art Attack were also strongly connected to the nineties in the minds of Brits.
And despite seeming not to know much about those years, half of Gen Z still felt a sense of nostalgia for them, as a time without phones.
Some 47 per cent, meanwhile, longed for the face-to-face interaction they felt was more common back then.
In fact, nearly half (49 per cent) of youngsters went as far as to say they would rather live in the nineties than now.
Muller marketing manager Helen Carswell said: ‘There’s a reason the 90s was such a great time.
‘It was a decade of bold flavours, chunky gadgets, and unforgettable TV and movie characters that are still revered today.
‘From the snacks we enjoyed after school to the tech that felt like the future, everything came with a sense of excitement and simplicity that’s hard to replicate today.
‘That’s why we’re pleased to bring a corner of this retro period back with our Apple Crumble Inspired yogurt.
‘One spoonful and you might just bust out the running man or electric slide.’
Despite Gen Z’s nostalgia for the nineties as a time of greater connection, it seems the youth of today are not that great at it themselves.
Nearly two-thirds do not know the analogue pleasure of looking up a number in that iconic directory (pictured, file photo), which went out of print in 2019 after more than five decades
Young service workers are infuriating customers by refusing to greet or make small talk while serving them, instead giving them what has been dubbed ‘the Gen Z stare’.
Members of Generation Z, currently aged 13 to 28, are struggling to make small talk in shops, restaurants and cafes.
Instead, they will ‘stare’ at the person and wait until they speak first, or even outright ignore something that has been said, according to hundreds of infuriated customers.
Those in their teens and twenties have been labelled emotionless by Millennials, Gen X and Baby Boomers, who have banded together to call the younger generation out on their ‘poor social skills’.
Over the past couple of weeks, social media users of all ages have turned to the likes of Instagram, TikTok and X to talk about ‘the Gen Z stare’.
One fed-up person penned on X: ‘[The Gen Z stare is] when I try to make friendly conversation with you and you look at me like you were born yesterday and don’t have language capacity.
‘Just emotionless and nothing going on in your head as far as social skills.’
Another commented: ‘I deal with Gen Z all day and they’re basically socially stunted automatons. You greet them and they say nothing.
‘You ask them a question and they just stare at you. They’re not human.’
And even older Gen Zers in their mid-twenties have noticed the lack of communication skills in their own generation.
One wrote: ‘Why as a Gen Z do younger Gen Z look at me like I killed a puppy if I compliment their jacket. Or when I greet them when they come up to me at my job.’
