Things that changed our lives in the aughts

By ASSOCIATED PRESS

December 29, 2009 Last Updated: December 29, 2009 02:14 PM Community

Wendy Cheng blogs from the bar at Singapore's first blogging convention in July 2005. Crocs and blogging are just two of the icons of the last decade.

NEW YORK — Was it only a decade ago that a blackberry was a mere summer fruit? That green was, well, a color, and reality TV was that one show sandwiched between music videos on MTV?

There were, of course, huge political and social upheavals that roiled our world in the past decade. But there were also the gradual lifestyle changes that you don't always notice when they're happening — kind of like watching a child grow older. Here's an alphabetical look at things that changed our lives since the beginning of the millennium:

AirportsRemember when you didn't have to take your shoes off before getting on a plane? Remember when you could bring a bottled drink on board? Terrorism changed all that.

AppsThere's an app for that! The phrase comes from Apple iPhone advertising, but could apply to the entire decade's gadget explosion, from laptops to GPS systems (want your car to give you directions to Mom's house in Chinese, or by a Frenchwoman named Virginie? There's an application for that.)

BlogI blog, you blog, he blogs ... How did we spend our time before blogging? There are more than 100 million of these Web logs out there in cyberspace.

BlackberriesConsidered essential by corporate CEOs and moms planning playdates. Introduced in 2002, the smartphone version is now used by more than 28 million people, according to its maker, Research In Motion Ltd.

CamerasRemember those trips to get film developed? Nope? Even your grandmother has a digital camera, and she's probably e-mailing you photos right now or uploading them to a photo-sharing site.

Cell phonesCell phones are now used by more than 85 percent of the U.S. population and for some have replaced land lines entirely. On the downside, they've made cheating on a spouse more difficult — just ask Tiger Woods.

CrocsThose ubiquitous plastic clogs debuted in 2002 and became the shoes you loved to hate. Kids love 'em, but there are Web groups dedicated to their destruction. Not to be deterred: First lady Michelle Obama wore them on vacation in 2009.

Dancing never went out of style, but this decade saw the huge popularity of dancing contests like "So You Think You Can Dance" and "Dancing With the Stars."DVRsSuddenly, DVR-ing is a verb, and what it means is this: There's no reason to know anymore what channel your program is on, and what time.FacebookCan you believe this social networking site was once limited only to Harvard students? Now it's a time-sucking obsession for more than 300 million users globally and a whole new form of social etiquette: Who to friend on Facebook?Going greenFrom the kind of light bulbs we use to the kind of shopping bags we carry to the cars we drive, "going green" took hold this decade. Now it's not strange to hear a schoolkid tell a parent to use a cloth grocery bag.GoogleThis was the decade that Google became a part of our brain function. You know that guy who was in that movie — when was it? Just Google it.GPSWe can't get lost anymore — or at least it's pretty hard, with the ubiquitous global positioning systems. But you'd better type in your location carefully: One couple made a 400-mile mistake this year by typing "Carpi" rather than "Capri."Helicopter parentingTranslation: helicopters hover, and so do many parents. After years of obsessive attention to safety and achievement of the youngest children, some said a backlash was under way.Instant gratificationOtherwise known as being able to get anything you want within an instant. Often referred to as a theme of the decade.

An icon of the digital age, it's hard to believe this portable media player was first launched in 2001. Six years later the 100 millionth iPod was sold.Life coachesIn the aughts, there's a coach for everything! So why not life itself? Some say life coaches are merely therapists without the license or regulations.OrganicAmericans rushed to fill their grocery carts with organic food, making it big business — now a $21 billion industry, up from $3.6 billion in 1997.Reality TVAs a nation, we became addicted to reality TV, from the feuding Gosselins of "Jon & Kate Plus 8" to "American Idol" to "Project Runway." At decade's end, the Heenes of Balloon Boy fame and the Salahis of gatecrashing fame give reality TV some unwanted attention.StarbucksIt's a cliche that there's one on every block, but sometimes it seemed like it — and millions now consider it normal to spend $4 or so on a coffee drink in the morning, perhaps a venti half-caf half-decaf vanilla latte with an extra shot.TextingR u still rding this sty? Hope u r. This is the decade we start communicating in the shorthand of text messages. Get used to it: E-mail is so '00s. And then there's the texting variation called sexting. Combine texting with a cell phone's camera function and you get this parental nightmare. A survey from Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project found that 15 percent of teens ages 12 to 17 with a cell phone had received sexually suggestive images or videos.Tween cultureTweens, especially girls, became an economic force to be reckoned with, buying everything from clothes to electronic devices to music to concert tickets.TwitterThe new social network introduced tweets, retweets, follows and trending topics — as long as it fit in 140 characters.WiiIn a sea of ever-more-sophisticated video games, this simple console became the decade's breakout hit by appealing to the non-gaming masses. Wiis became a center of family gaming, home fitness and even senior socializing.WikipediaA boon to lazy students everywhere, the open-source encyclopedia used the masses to police its entries and keep them (mostly) (sometimes) accurate.YouTubeLet's end this list and go kill some time by watching ... YouTube videos! The video-sharing site was born in 2005. Political candidates in 2008 even had their own YouTube channels.

In 2006, the Apple iPod Shuffle, right, a Red iPod Nano, center, and a 60GB iPod were the new things. Now the new thing is apps for these types of gadgets.