5 Experiences Kids Don’t Have Anymore Because of Streaming

This may make us sound old, but kids today are honestly deprived of some of the best experiences older generations had as children. Today, streaming and the internet make things convenient and instantly accessible, but sometimes, waiting for content was a pivotal part of making the experience of watching it great.

Streaming services today offer instant gratification, but they have also taken away significant parts of viewing culture. Those of us who grew up before streaming went mainstream likely didn't realize how much everyday parts of our childhoods meant to us until we realized our children will never experience them. Each of these nostalgic experiences made watching movies and TV in the past very different than in the present, and now kids will never experience them.

1. Commercial Breaks
2. Cliffhangers
3. Shared Culture
4. Video Stores
5. Netflix in the Mail

Commercial Breaks

Kids today will never experience the feeling of running at breakneck speed to the couch when you heard someone yell, "It's back on!" Since there was no way to pause the show we were watching, we had to plan any trips to the bathroom or the kitchen down to the last second during commercial breaks. You didn't know when or if the episode you were watching would be broadcast again, so you made sure you didn't miss it.

The series finale of M*A*S*H had fans glued to their seats on February 28, 1983, even during the commercials. New York City had a surge in water use in the 30 minutes after the final episode aired, due to residents waiting until M*A*S*H was over before running to the restroom. Before pausing became the norm, we often prioritized our shows over bodily needs.

Cliffhangers

In these modern days of streaming, you can jump right to the next episode. Many TV shows air an entire season all at once for convenient viewing. But before streaming, we had to wait a week before we could find out what had happened to our favorite characters. The cliffhanger endings were brutal on fans' poor hearts, but it was the end-of-season cliffhangers that left us devastated for months.

One of the most epic end-of-season cliffhangers of all time came from Star Trek: The Next Generation. On June 18, 1990, "The Best of Both Worlds, Part I" aired and made television history. People had their minds blown when the episode ended with a reveal that Captain Picard (Patrick Stewart) had been assimilated by the Borg, one of the show's most threatening villains. Trekkies were in agony until September, when the next season began.

Cliffhangers between seasons still exist today, of course, and some shows do still air weekly as well. But the process of waiting with bated breath for the next week's episode is becoming more and more obsolete—and with Star Trek available to stream, no one will ever have to know the pain of waiting months to learn the truth about Captain Picard's fate again.

Shared Culture

Unless a movie or show goes viral, it's unlikely that everyone is watching it at the same time. Streaming gives us so many options, people are split into many different watch groups, and the media doesn't shape our culture as prominently as it once did. Of course, some shows still air weekly and spark conversations, but they're relatively few and far between.

When watching a show week after week, everyone saw the same episode at the same time. Popular shows literally transformed our culture because everyone understood the references and quotes, even those not considered die-hard fans. It's why millennials and older generations all recognize "That's what she said" jokes, even when they didn't watch The Office. Michael Scott's (Steve Carrell) line became baked into our culture.

Video Stores

Remember those weekend Blockbuster trips and trying to decide if you wanted a new release or one of the classics? And then getting super excited when your parents said you could get both? Or the thrill of successfully convincing your mom to stop at the RedBox kiosk after doing the grocery shopping? Those were the days that made us feel rich in life.

Streaming services offer the convenience of not needing to leave the house, but the excitement is also diminished. You can't coerce your parents into buying some of the movie theater candy to go with your movie if you don't go to a store, and picking something off of a screen just doesn't feel as special as coming home with a real, tangible item.

Netflix in the Mail

There was a simple delight in ordering a movie rental online and having it arrive in the mail. Before Netflix became the streaming giant it is today, it was a pioneer in the way people rented movies and TV shows. The mail-order system took the world by storm and brought Blockbuster to the brink of bankruptcy, though streaming was the final nail in the coffin for Blockbuster and other brick-and-mortar video stores.

One of the nice things about getting Netflix in the mail was being able to burn a copy of the DVD before sending the original back. Was it piracy? Yes, but it was just what many people did to have access to all the titles they wanted. Then, they had a physical copy that Netflix couldn't take when the licensing agreements ended.