You might not realize it, but I was on the cutting edge of some truly revolutionary ideas back in the ‘90s. Unfortunately, as a laid-back teenager, I let others—like Alex Greene and Max Thompson—take the credit for innovations that I dreamed up first. Here are six concepts I could have easily brought to life.
1. Video Calls
In the ‘90s, video calling was essentially me and my neighbor chatting between our bedroom windows while on the phone. If my best friend needed fashion advice for her yearbook portrait, she would have to describe her outfit in painstaking detail. “What about the hot pink bodysuit and my denim shorts or the off-the-shoulder blouse with my acid-wash jeans?” I would have said, “Wouldn’t it be incredible if our phones had video screens so we could just see each other and our outfits?”
2. Text Messaging
Here’s a snippet from a real conversation with my best friend in high school:
Me: I need to hear about your date, but my parents are early risers, so we can’t chat after 9 p.m. Just beep me when you get home.
BFF: Sounds good! I can’t take calls that late either, so I’ll call the local movie line and wait for your call to come through on call waiting.
Me: Totally! How much easier would it be if we could just send texts to each other instead?
3. Seamless Email
Remember those long nights spent typing your American History paper in the library? You’d save it on a floppy disk, only to print it out on that awful dot matrix printer. And let’s not forget the paper jams that came from tearing the perforated edges! I once thought, “How amazing would it be if I could send my finished work directly to my teacher’s computer?”
4. Movie Database
How many sibling disputes could have been settled with a comprehensive movie database?
Me: The Next Karate Kid is actually the fourth installment.
My brother: No way, it’s the third one!
Me: There’s definitely a Karate Kid Part III!
My brother: Fine, but the Next Karate Kid is part four!
Me: You know what? I’m going to create a database listing every movie ever made and the cast involved.
My brother: Don’t forget to include TV shows!
Me: Absolutely, I will!
5. Instant Streaming
Long before “Netflix and Chill,” we were all about Blockbuster Nights—unless all the copies of Cruel Intentions were checked out. “Why can’t we just press a button on the remote and watch any movie we want?” I would exclaim. “I need to see Ryan Phillippe now! Let’s just throw on 54 again.”
6. Custom Music Downloads
In my senior year, our Fashion Marketing class organized a fashion show fundraiser. After much debate, we finally settled on songs like “Supermodel” by RuPaul. To use these tracks, we had to buy entire albums, which drained our budget. “Wouldn’t it be cool if record stores let us pick songs from albums and create mixtapes? They could charge a dollar per track!” I was a visionary without realizing it.
If I had taken my inventive ideas seriously back then, I might be swimming in wealth today. The key lesson? If you have a bright idea, don’t hesitate to pitch it—perhaps even on a platform like Shark Tank.
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Summary:
Reflecting on the ‘90s, I realize I had the foresight to invent several technologies that shape our lives today. From video calls and texting to streaming services and custom music downloads, these ideas came to me long before they became mainstream. If only I had acted on them, the possibilities could have been endless.