The Gilmore Girls revival is (finally) just days away. Like so many fans, I've been hard at work preparing for November 25 by binge-watching the original seven seasons on Netflix. Besides immersing myself in Rory and Lorelai's many romantic relationships, town meetings, business ventures, and mountains of schoolwork, I was also reminded just how far technology has come since the show first premiered 16 years ago.
At the beginning of Gilmore Girls ' seven-year run, the characters only communicated via landline. By the end, they had embraced texting. For many of the characters, tech transitions were anything but seamless, and even in the final season, the devices now seem hilariously ancient. As weird as it is to see the citizens of Stars Hollow using clunky cellphones and Wi-Fi for the first time, it would be even stranger to see them with smartphones in their hands. Who knows? The revival could even bring us a scene of Lorelai and Rory enjoying one of their classic movie nights through a couple of VR headsets.
Before that happens, we're taking one last look back at the old-school devices and tech terminology the Gilmore girls were using during the first decade of the millennium.
Boy, has Apple come a long way. Today, we're used to ultra-thin Macbook Airs, but back in 2000, the hottest laptops were the Clamshell iBooks that came in an array of bright colours. Rory was lucky enough to score a blue one on her sweet 16th. As Lorelai notes, it even had a handle, so she could carry it like a purse.
After Rory gets into Chilton, Emily tries to equip her daughter and granddaughter's home with high-speed internet, which Lorelai wants no part of.
Photo: Courtesy of Giphy.Emily is constantly leaving messages on Lorelai's home answering machine (which, for the uninitiated, is how people left messages in the olden days).
In the season 1 episode,"The Deer Hunter," Rory accidentally over-sleeps after cramming all night for a huge test. While rushing to get ready, Lorelai insists Rory take "the cell phone" just in case. The fact that Rory is in high school and has to share a cell phone with her mom is a hard-to-fathom concept nowadays.
With no streaming services, the Gilmore girls had to make frequent visits to their local video store to pick up their weekend entertainment. Ah, the days of going to the Blockbuster Store. Thankfully, now we have Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime to watch whatever we want, whenever we want.
Photo: Courtesy of Giphy.
During the first several seasons, Rory is constantly checking her pager. It's her primary mode of communication with Dean and Lane. I, personally, have never even seen a pager in real life.
Photo: Courtesy of Giphy.Jess' question, "Do you Yahoo?" is the equivalent of asking someone for their Snapcode.
Lorelai is obsessed with her digital camera. At several points in the series, we hear her waxing poetic about all its advanced features. The fact that a camera is even worth mentioning reminds us that there was a time when we didn't have one constantly on us, built into our iPhone.
Photo: Courtesy of Giphy.
It's kind of hard to believe there was life before Caller ID. And a time when last-call return was considered advanced technology.
Photo: Courtesy of Giphy.
Is it supposed to be impressive that Sookie knows the word "streaming?"
Photo: Courtesy of Giphy.In 2004, you were expected to have more than just an email relationship with your mother while you were away at college. And, apparently, emojis weren't cool. How the times have changed.
Luke uses an actual tape to record his voice messages. At least that makes it convenient for his ex-girlfriends to take back their embarrassing calls.
There are a lot of jokes about googling throughout the series. Emily seems especially resistant to the concept. In the season 4 episode, "Die, Jerk," Richard excitedly declares, "Emily, I'm going to google." Annoyed, she responds, "You are most certainly not going to google me!" Get with it, Emily. Googling yourself can be fun.
Photo: Courtesy of Giphy.Today, most of us have a GPS at our fingertips — how would we get anywhere without Google Maps? In this season 6 episode, the Gilmores can't figure out a complicated navigational system, which they purchased for an insane $4,000.
First, can we all take a minute to remember the T-Mobile Sidekick? In 2006, the year this episode aired, it was the hottest phone. Now that we have iPhones and Androids, those chunky mini computers are long forgotten. Also, how is it that Rory doesn't even understand how texting works?
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