"Get off the internet, I'm expecting a call"

itt: people thinking 20 years ago was 10 years ago.

"I'm excited for what the future has in store for me."

"Hark, Alfred, the smith's apprentice, was taken by the plague - find your goodfellows and see if any of their sons of the working age would wish gainful employment to a kind master."

Nobody referred to videos as "VHS" unless they were explicitly trying to distinguish the medium from betamax. They just called them "videos" and "tapes" or "videotape."

for example: Hey can I borrow that tape?

That movie just came out on video.

Be kind, rewind your videotape.

"I'll show you the photos once I get them developed."

Try cleaning your mouse ball, see if that helps.

I'm looking forward to Matt Groenig's new show.

"I can't believe you didn't put me in your top 8 on Myspace!!"

Also, "w00t!!"

“Sorry, I got to return this video”

2004 is when the Blockbuster video rental chain was at its peak (cite), and VHS was still in wide use at the time having only been surpassed by DVD rentals a year earlier. Speed dial was also still a thing then, payphones still exist today, and, although complaints were filed against Bill Cosby much earlier the public wasn't widely aware of them until 2014.

How about "John Kerry is the candidate who can prevent a second Bush term" ?

I’ve enjoyed my time talking with you and getting to understand how you see the world and, although I don’t agree with you, I’m glad to have had this exchange of opinions and will now reflect upon what I’ve learned.

"We need to get WMDs out of Saddam's hands"

Have you heard of the Information superhighway?

"Will that be smoking or non smoking?" Asked as a restaurant

"I think you flooded it" in relation to a car not starting. (well unless you work on very old cars)

"I got it off Napster"

"want to listen to my mix tape?"

"I can burn you a CD of that"

Hey, I live down the steeet from the best remaining video rental store (Movie Madness in Portland, OR). Have run down to return videos pretty often this year!

I think a lot of these were still being said 20 years ago. People were using Netflix by mail and Redbox in the last 20 years.

Lots of people still had brick phones by Nokia, etc which had "speed dial". You would hold 1 for voicemail but could program 2-9 for other numbers.

Lost season 1 premiered in 2004 and you better believe people made plans around it's schedule to watch it.

"Dammit, my tape is stuck inside the VCR again!"

"99 cents for a song? Hell yeah. I'm never buying CDs again." (A reference to the iTunes Music Store launch)

"I ran out of free AOL time. Better get another demo disc"

Speaking of AOL, "yo, what's your AIM screenname?" (Replace "AIM" with your favorite messaging service at the time if you used that)

"Mom, can I have a PlayStation 2? -No. -But it plays DVDs."

"Oh, I can't wait to see the wonderful New York Twin Towers, I'm so excited for what's coming!" (I was too young to even remember the concept of different countries existing so I had no idea what "America" even was, let alone being confused about 9/11)

"I got slimed. It was so. Much. Fun."

"I'm so glad the United Kingdom won Eurovision, I can't wait to see how the next year's contest will turn out. Katrina was so amazing" (1997 was the last time the UK won)

"What a wonderful Saturday morning. Time to watch some cartoons."

"My phone has a NiCd battery, and it's almost out of juice so I can't just plug it in because I will ruin the battery. I have to wait until it literally turns off."

"Belgrade is the capital of Yugoslavia"

"Finally got my fresh new copy of Mac OS X. Time to see what's it's like." proceeds to stay on OS 9 for a few more years

That's all I can think of.

"Could you please not use the phone? Gotta dial up to connect to the BBS"

Be kind, rewind.

I'm late for work at the Twin Towers!

It's not working? Try blowing into the cartridge again.

Where did I leave my zip disk?

I’m trying to start x-wing. Can you tell me the third letter of the fourth word of page 57?

Hang on, my pager is making a noise

Let me check the answering machine.

Wassuuuuuuuupppp!

Just blow in the cartridge

What's your AIM screen name?

I vividly remember... I was in the office and one of my coworkers comes up to me with a shit eating grin on his face - like he had something he wanted to share...

He said, "Have you ever heard of Bitcoin?" I said, "No..." He explained (sort of) what he thought it was, but sounded more like an investment opportunity (blah blah blah) less than 10 cents per... I didn't bite.

Lets just say this didn't age well for me, lmao.

My wife and I had to struggle to remember the word "hook" in the context of "the phone is off the hook".

"You think Monica Lewinsky sucks or blows?"

Damn, there's a paper jam in the fax machine again

Why didn't you page me back?

"Disco will never die."

Being a little literal, but I can guarantee someone has said 1, 3, 5, and 7 in the past twenty years. Heck, probably the last year.

Payphones are still a thing in some places and get used - I started doing a thing involving them a yearish ago (it's in my post history if anyone really cares). Literally had someone ask "Hey, are you done with that phone?" as I was jotting down its number, which was shocking. Can confirm where I am they still take coins (it's 50 cents now, unless you're calling a toll-free number).

VHS is making a ... come back isn't really the right word, but there's a small number of folks interested in what's on old tapes they find and some hobbyists swap stuff. And there are still a few video rental places around (though really, really rare - or near places like campsites, catering to folks with cars that still have DVD players or households with spotty internet).

It's all still disappearing, no doubt, but not 100% dead yet.