Millennial is 1984 to 1996. Here's why!

So lately I've been thinking about setting an appropriate date for Millennials. Initially I was thinking 85 to 95 but I think 84 and 96 guys can be included as well. Anything before or after is absurd and I'll explain why in a moment.

As the name implies, what defines the Millennial generation is the Millennium and what was happening around it.

To be more specific, A Millennial is someone who experienced the massive changes between 1998-2003 as a kid or an adolescent but not an adult, otherwise even a Boomer would be a Millennial!

What happened during 98-03?

A lot! It was the most eventful time in human history and life in the developed world changed completely after that period.

Let's go through what happened step by step

Personal computers gained a lot of popularity and after the release of Pentium 4 in 2000 everyone started buying them. This gave rise to modern era PC gaming.

The Internet started gaining popularity and pretty much everyone had access to it at home by 2003.

Two of the best-selling mobile phones of all time, the Nokia 3210 and 3310 were released in 1999 and 2000 and soon after pretty much everyone owned a mobile phone.

PS1 revolutionized the video game industry and by the late 90s it was a strong cultural phenomenon. Then PS2 was released in the year 2000 and to this day it remains the best-selling non-handheld console of all time.

By the late 90s the 2D "gaming" era had died and graphics improved a lot with releases of games like Resident Evil 2 in 1998 and Metal Gear Solid 2 in 2001.

People witnessed the turn of the Century and the Millennium, a once in a 1000 years event. I remember there was a lot of excitement about it at the time and people looked forward to a new era. As a kid back then I felt like the world was advancing very quickly in terms of technology, and it was. There was also some fear (see Y2k scare) and a feeling of uncertainty, but it was mostly positive.

This feeling of positivity took a hit with the dot com bubble bust and was destroyed completely by 9/11. The attacks gave birth to the terrorist era. George Bush launched two wars afterwards and there was a lot of concern about potential terrorist attacks. Laws were passed to counter it, and negative news dominated the media. Bin Laden, Saddam Hussein and Weapons of Mass Destruction were the catchphrases of the day!

Nevertheless, we were cautiously optimistic about the future and as a kid I really enjoyed the technological advancements at the time. Within a couple of years after the Millennium we witnessed the complete end of Analog era.

DVDs replaced Video Tapes, CDs replaced Cassettes, Flat screens replaced CRTs. Broadband replaced Dial up.

Cars started looking a lot more modern and sophisticated.

Clothing changed a lot at the time as well. It became more modern looking compared to mid 90s clothing.

Everything started looking much more futuristic!

Now the people who were affected mostly by this stuff are the guys who were close to puberty around the Millennium. In other words, it's the people born between 1988 and 1992. That's Core Millennial.

The last birthdate where half the people can remember most of these changes is probably 1996. Some people would say it's too late but I'm fine with them classifying as Millennial. I think we can all agree that anything after that is too late though. So the closing date should be 1995 or 1996.

Now as for the older guys, I strongly disagree that we should include people born before 1984. Those guys were 17-18 during the Millennium, so the changes we experienced back then didn't have an effect on their childhood. Unlike Core Millennials the majority (keyword MAJORITY, obviously some people did but generations cannot be based on exceptions) of them did not grow up with a cell phone and a personal computer with the internet at home. And obviously having those things during puberty or before is very different than owning them as a grown up. If you experienced that as a grown up, then you're really not that different from the older generations.

Early 80s born grew up with Analog technology whereas Core Millennials witnessed the shift to Digital tech during puberty or before. Big difference!

I would say 1984-1985 born are the first generation where at least 50% had the stuff associated with Millennials when they were kids, so that's where the generation should start.