So we’ve turned 15, we’re in the middle of our troublesome teenage years and we’ve gotten a bit of a new look. In honour of the occasion, we thought we’d take a little retrospective look on the things that have changed since our birth way back in 1997. For instance, back in ‘97 you probably had to look at our site on dial-up, which meant that while you were checking out what was in the cinema, you were holding up the phone line and someone was probably hopping mad in case they were missing a call (we’re talking to you, Mothers of Ireland).

Not that you’d be on the internet for very long, seeing as there was no Facebook, no Twitter and not even a Myspace to kill your time on. And this is what Google looked like. The horror.

Here’s a few other things that weren’t around in 1997, that we would/wouldn’t miss if they had never happened. Be sure to let us know yours!

The X Factor - and reality tv as we know it. Popstars and Idol wouldn’t exist for another 2 - 4 years, and Cheryl Cole looked like this. Scrunchie alert.

iPhones - and iPads and iPods, believe it or not. Back in 1997, Apple hadn’t even started i-producing yet, with the iMac only making it’s debut in 1998.

Memes & Virals - No keyboard cat, no LOLcats, not even Badger Badger Badger. We barely even had GIFs. Imagine, we had to laugh at real jokes.

Harry Potter - we’re cheating a little here, but Harry only found out he was a wizard back in June of 1997, and the phenomena and riches that would envelop J.K. Rowling’s world were only just beginning to take shape. Daniel Rad-who?

The Euro - depending on your stance on this, it was either a blessing or a curse.

Pay As You Go phones - Eircell vs. Esat Digifone was what was going down back in the day. Long before Vodafone and O2 even existed, both companies were trying to wow you with the latest phone, the Nokia 6110. If it had Snake, it was good in our books.