‘Custom ringtones, MP3 players, and MSN Messenger ’: 24 Nostalgic Things from the 2000s We Somehow Forgot Existed

Cata Holmes • Writer

Sep 9, 2026 10:00 AM EDT

A whole era quietly vanished while we were busy growing up, and somehow no one thought to say goodbye…

Some things are created one random year and stick forever, while others belong to a generation and get replaced with new things. Some of these changes are more noticeable than others, and those that leave our lives quietly impact us years later when we remember them. Growing up in the early 2000s felt like this, because technology was around for a while, and things got updated quickly.

Suddenly, we all had certain MP3 players, and a couple of years later we all had iPods playing music from a big speaker… And the MP3 player? Is not only in the back of your wardrobe, but also in the back of your mind, and you remember them on a random Tuesday afternoon, 20 years after the last time you used them. And, out of nowhere, that wave of nostalgia hits you, and you don't know how to feel.

Looking back in the past like this comes with a bittersweet feeling. On one side, we are all happy with the lives we have today and how some things have become simpler and easier. But on the other side, we could give anything to go back to one of those days when things were not as complicated, and we had only a few worries: what to wear to school? And if my look had enough patterns on it.

We have to accept that time passes, and we need to embrace it. We all grow up, and now we have different lives, and that's how things work. But, of course, we cannot forget where we come from and the things that were with us during our first years in this world. So, to honour our inner child and remember a bit of our childhood, here are a couple of things we all used to use in the early 2000s that we somehow forgot about.

via Unsplash+ (via Nick Fancher)

Young adults listening to music on a portable CD player.
Scene shown is a visual representation.
via Shango90
via Shango90
via Shango90
via Shango90
via Shango90
via Shango90
via Shango90
via Shango90
via Shango90
via Unsplash+ (via Nick Fancher)

Person placing a CD into a portable CD player.
Representative only.
via Shango90
via Shango90
via Shango90
via Shango90
via Shango90
via Shango90
via Shango90
via Shango90
via Shango90
via Unsplash+ (via Oleg Sergeichik)

Portable MP3 player with wired headphones and a vinyl record.
Stock photo unrelated.
via Shango90
via Shango90
via Shango90
via Shango90
via Shango90
via Shango90
via Shango90
While some things were more memorable than others, we can all agree that every single item mentioned here was part of our daily lives back in time. It's crazy to me that any of these belong to our present…