History Main / CassetteFuturism

* ''Film/StrangeDays'' is set TwentyMinutesInTheFuture, in a dystopian society that was only a few years away from the time of filming. The future aesthetic is mostly conveyed with loud, shiny clothing and punk stylings amongst the hip and degenerate crowd. Information is distributed by hand on discs, without any mention of the internet.

** One sketch is made to look like an ad for "The Internette" (all contained on one CD!) and reeks of this trope. You have to see it to believe how deep into this trope it really is. (season 2 episode 8)

In works created in TheEighties, TheNineties, and ''occasionally'' [[TurnOfTheMillennium The nills,]] the fashion, architechture, and technology will have a certain...aesthetic. Whether it be the loud, bright colors and geometric shapes, the tendency towards [[AsceticAesthetic stark plainness,]] or the [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking the lack of powerful computers and cell phones,]] it is clear that this is neither The RaygunGothic of days past nor the EverythingIsAnIpodInTheFuture aesthetic that would follow, but a bridging point that contains elements of both styles.

** KylieMinogue's video for [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKB9JqLAHNY ''Can't Get You Out Of My Head'']]
** {{NSYNC}}'s [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=is6gtilerPk ''I Want You Back'']]
** The BackstreetBoys had several egregious examples, notably scenes from [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDcCSiakaU4 ''I'll Never Break Your Heart'']] and the entirety of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEb2CecR11I ''Larger Than Life'']]
** WillSmith's hit movie track [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJoBWii2lNM ''Men in Black'']], justified in that its source material was rife with the same aesthetic.

** The video for [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0P4A1K4lXDo ''Scream'']] epitomizes this trope, depicting Michael and Janet Jackson in a monochromatic video of them dancing aboard a [[AsceticAesthetic minimalistic]] spaceship that looks like something out of the {{Fallout}} franchise. In several scenes they are shown playing a futuristic version of {{Pong}}.

** Will Smith's hit movie track [[''Men in Black'' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJoBWii2lNM]], justified in that its source material was rife with the same aesthetic.

** {{NSYNC}}'s [[''I Want You Back'' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=is6gtilerPk]]

* ''Film/JohnnyMnemonic'' has an Internet that resembles [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bL_8Ugp9zI4 this.]] Though the computing technology was updated a bit from the Sprawl verse short story in that Johnny's implant has a capacity of 80 gigabytes rather than the hundreds of megabytes in the original that was written in the '80s (as opposed to the '90s).

* The store in ''Film/BackToTheFuture 2'' is an in-universe example.

* In ''RedDwarf'' series X, Kryten explains that the human race flirted with [=DVDs=] but reverted to VHS cassettes, because unlike a small thin disc, a big boxy cassette is virtually impossible to misplace.

* In ''RedDwarf'' series X, Kryten explains that the human race flirted with DVDs but reverted to VHS cassettes, because unlike a small thin disc, a big boxy cassette is virtually impossible to misplace.

[[AC:Video Games]]
* The ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' franchise uses this aesthetic deliberately, creating an Alternate Timeline where the transistor was never invented and society's development froze in TheFifties (until [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt the Great War]]), with nuclear technology the only thing really advancing. As a result, the cars are powered by nuclear reactors but use Fifties styling, data are stored on magnetic tapes, and all the computers have vacuum tubes, phosphor-dot monitors and no graphical user interface.

* ''WesternAnimation/RegularShow'' has a very '80s feel to it, despite being set in the present day. (One episode had the characters time travel to the actual 1980s.) All video graphics are 8-bit, the music is mostly Hair Metal, and some episodes ape early-MTV music video techniques.
* Several skits on ''TimAndEricAwesomeShowGreatJob'':
** Puppeteer and {{Cloudcuckoolander}} David Lied Hart holds a giant VHS cassette with a "VHS for sale" sign nearby.
** Uncle Muscles show sketches feature 1980s and '90s icon Music/WeirdAlYankovic, and feel like a warped version of a bad '80s cable access show. The "special effects" look like they were ripped right from old Genie analog editing consoles.
** One sketch is made to look like an ad for a Midi file organizer.
** One sketch is made to look like an ad for "The Internette" (all contained on one CD!) and reeks of this trope. You have to see it to believe how deep into this trope it really is. (season 2 episode 8)
** Its SpinOff counts as well.

* ''Series/BabylonFive'' featured lots of curved CRT screens disguised as flatscreens.
* ''Series/SpaceAboveAndBeyond'' also had lots of CRT screens (not disguised) as well as [=CDs=] and other mid-nineties tech.
* ''Anime/CowboyBebop'' has a very 1970s aesthetic, including computer files that look like long-playing records, which is appropriate since it is set in the '70s- the 2070s.
* The ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' franchise uses this aesthetic deliberately, creating an Alternate Timeline where the transistor was never invented and society's development froze in TheFifties (until [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt the Great War]]), with nuclear technology the only thing really advancing. As a result, the cars are powered by nuclear reactors but use Fifties styling, data are stored on magnetic tapes, and all the computers have vacuum tubes, phosphor-dot monitors and no graphical user interface.
* Creator/WilliamGibson's Literature/SprawlTrilogy features things as complex as human memories recorded on tape. Not to mention that three megabytes of hot RAM is apparently valuable enough to kill for.
* ''Series/MaxHeadroom'', the TV movie and subsequent series. Even though it's the Trope Namer for TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture, there's no flat-screen digital HDTV, no internet, computer graphics have a distinctly pre-Windows appearance and TV shows are still recorded on tape.

* ''AClockworkOrange'' uses Brutalist architecture, which features stark, blocky and concrete shapes, to represent the future. Fashions are also very bizarre, with colorful wigs and bodysuits being fairly common. Alex plays music on a microcassette.

* ''SpaceAboveAndBeyond'' also had lots of CRT screens (not disguised) as well as [=CDs=] and other mid-nineties tech.

** Uncle Muscles show sketches feature 1980s and '90s icon WeirdAlYankovic, and feel like a warped version of a bad '80s cable access show. The "special effects" look like they were ripped right from old Genie analog editing consoles.

* Creator/WilliamGibson's Sprawl Trilogy features things as complex as human memories recorded on tape. Not to mention that three megabytes of hot RAM is apparently valuable enough to kill for.

* ''Film/StrangeDays'' is set TwentyMinutesInTheFuture, in a dystopian society that was only a few years away from the time of filming. The future aesthetic is mostly conveyed with loud, shiny clothing and punk stylings amongst the hip and degenerate crowd. The film also does not acknowledge the internet at all, in spite of being made after the internet had started to gain mainstream use.

In works created in TheEighties, TheNineties, and ''occasionally'' [[TurnOfTheMillennium The nills,]] the fashion, architechture, and technology will have a certain...aesthetic. Whether it be the loud, bright colors and geometric shapes, the tendency towards [[AsceticAesthetic stark plainness,]] or the [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking The lack of powerfull computers and cell phones,]] it is clear that this is neither The RaygunGothic of days past nor the EverythingIsAnIpodInTheFuture aesthetic that would later follow, but a bridging point that contains elements of both styles.

Contrast EverythingIsAnIpodInTheFuture, Compare to {{Retraux}}, RetroUniverse and RaygunGothic.

* ''WesternAnimation/RegularShow'' has a very eighties feel to it, despite being set in the present day. (One episode had the characters time travel to the actual 1980s.) All video graphics are 8-bit, the music is mostly Hair Metal, and some episodes ape early-MTV music video techniques.
* Several Skits on ''Tim & Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!''

** Uncle Muscles show sketches feature 80s and 90s icon WeirdAlYankovic, and feel like a warped version of a bad 80s cable access show. The "special effects" look like they were ripped right from old Genie analog editing consoles.

** One sketch is made to look like an ad for "The Internette"(all contained on one CD!) and reeks of this trope. You have to see it to believe how deep into this trope it really is. (season 2 episode 8)

* ''Film/TheFifthElement'' has a distinctive aesthetic that looks like a lot of 90s music videos. It's deliberately futuristic looking but also quite camp.

* ''Anime/CowboyBebop'' has a very 1970's aesthetic, including computer files that look like records, which is appropriate since it is set in the 70's- the 2070's.
* The ''VideoGame/{{Fallout}}'' franchise uses this aesthetic deliberately, creating an Alternate Timeline where the transistor was never invented and society's development froze in TheFifties (until [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt the Great War]]), with nuclear technology the only thing really advancing. As a result, the cars are powered by nuclear reactors but use Fifties styling, data is stored on magnetic tapes, and all the computers have vacuum tubes, phosphor-dot monitors and no graphical user interface.

* ''Series/MaxHeadroom'', the TV movie and subsequent series. Even though it's the Trope Namer for Twenty Minutes Into The Future, there's no flat-screen digital HDTV, no internet, computer graphics have a distinctly pre-Windows appearance and TV shows are still recorded on tape.
* ''Film/JohnnyMnemonic'' has an internet that resembles [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bL_8Ugp9zI4 this.]] Though the computing technology was updated a bit from the Sprawl verse short story in that Johnny's implant has a capacity of 80 gigs rather than the hundreds of megs in the original that was written in the '80s (as opposed to the '90s).

* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqaJf5oBfVw This Adult Swim Gold Commercial.]]
* The store in BackToTheFuture II is an in-universe example.
* RegularShow has a very eighties feel to it, despite being set in the present day. (One episode had the characters time travel to the actual 1980s.) All video graphics are 8-bit, the music is mostly Hair Metal, and some episodes ape early-MTV music video techniques.
* Several Skits on Tim & Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!

* TheFifthElement has a distinctive aesthetic that looks like a lot of 90s music videos. It's deliberately futuristic looking but also quite camp.
* BabylonFive featured lots of curved CRT screens disguised as flatscreens.
* SpaceAboveAndBeyond also had lots of CRT screens (not disguised) as well as C Ds and other mid-nineties tech.
* CowboyBebop has a very 1970's aesthetic, including computer files that look like records, which is appropriate since it is set in the 70's- the 2070's.
* The Fallout franchise uses this aesthetic deliberately, creating an Alternate Timeline where the transistor was never invented and society's development froze in TheFifties (until [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt the Great War]]), with nuclear technology the only thing really advancing. As a result, the cars are powered by nuclear reactors but use Fifties styling, data is stored on magnetic tapes, and all the computers have vacuum tubes, phosphor-dot monitors and no graphical user interface.
* William Gibson's Sprawl Trilogy features things as complex as human memories recorded on tape. Not to mention that three megabytes of hot RAM is apparently valuable enough to kill for.
* Max Headroom, the TV movie and subsequent series. Even though it's the Trope Namer for Twenty Minutes Into The Future, there's no flat-screen digital HDTV, no internet, computer graphics have a distinctly pre-Windows appearance and TV shows are still recorded on tape.
* JohnnyMnemonic has an internet that resembles [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bL_8Ugp9zI4 this.]] Though the computing technology was updated a bit from the Sprawl verse short story in that Johnny's implant has a capacity of 80 gigs rather than the hundreds of megs in the original that was written in the '80s (as opposed to the '90s).