Back in 2004, cell phones were merely an emerging technology. Nowadays, mobile devices completely dominate society; people listen to music, watch TV and movies, and can do pretty much anything on their smartphones, unlike 2004 when they were reserved for texting and calling. Another prevalent difference is the amount of streaming today; in 2004, streaming was never even mentioned (outside of a few YouTube references). But these days it seems as if every single person streams video off of YouTube and Netflix, music off of Spotify or Apple Music (speaking of which, the iPhone has put the iPod into extinction), and every possible form of media seems to be available no matter where we are. The old forms of radio and newspapers are largely irrelevant in this generation; now are news is customized and our radio is commercial free and just how we like it. Nowadays, nobody needs to build their schedules around when their favorite TV shows come on; they either watch them later in the week or simply binge watch whenever the season goes up onto Netflix or Hulu or HBO.

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All of this is happening due to a huge growth in both innovation and technological power. Everything seems to be mobile nowadays; people can hold the entire Internet in the palm of our hands. Data is capable of moving so efficiently that the flexibility and personalization and convenience of wireless devices has allowed us to incorporate technology into literally every potential form of media in our lives.