Skip to content
Ethan Goldstein

2005–2008 · rendered at 240p

2006

Age
Age 1Turns 1 in February
Location
Olney, Maryland
Era
Olney

In my words

Olney, age one. Everything cool in the house was already Jeremy's.

The world that year

Wii Sports, Zidane's headbutt, and Big Papi's 54.

The Wii arrived in November with Wii Sports in the box and every living room became a bowling alley. Italy won the World Cup after Zidane's headbutt, Dwyane Wade carried the Heat to a title, David Ortiz hit a Red Sox record 54 home runs, and Ovechkin beat Crosby to Rookie of the Year. Facebook opened to everyone, Twitter launched, and Google bought YouTube.

Dec – Feb · Turns 1 on February 10

Winter

The birthday month. Snow on the street, warm windows, the year still new.

Milestones

  1. A milestone from 2006. Only real ones.

    editcontent/personal/2006.ts

Fragments

from my hard drive

  • A story from when you were one, as your family tells it.

    editcontent/personal/2006.ts

Now Playing

2006

My tracks

A song that was always on in the house in 2006.

editcontent/personal/2006.ts

On the charts that year

  • CrazyGnarls Barkley
  • Hips Don't LieShakira ft. Wyclef Jean
  • SexyBackJustin Timberlake
  • Bad DayDaniel Powter
  • Chasing CarsSnow Patrol
  • PromiscuousNelly Furtado ft. Timbaland

The winter season

cultural context
  • Steelers 21, Seahawks 10Super Bowl XL, February 5. Jerome Bettis retires in his hometown.
  • Torino Winter OlympicsFebruary 10–26. Shaun White, Apolo Ohno, and a US team that won 25 medals.

Camera Roll

from the camera roll

A family photo from 2006. Drop files in public/photos/2006/ and run npm run photos.

edit 2006.ts

Mar – May

Spring

Diamonds drying out, the first catch of the year, the season starting.

Spring ball

cultural context
  • Ovechkin, Rookie of the Year52 goals as a rookie for the Capitals; the Calder over Sidney Crosby.

My Interests

this was everything

What you were into in 2006.

editcontent/personal/2006.ts

Things People Couldn't Stop Playing

cultural context
  • Wii SportsmineNovember 19; in the box, and the best thing on it.
  • Lego Star Wars II: The Original TrilogymineSeptember; Han, Luke and Leia as minifigs.
  • MLB 06: The ShowThe first one, on PS2 and PSP.
  • Madden NFL 07Shaun Alexander on the cover; the Xbox 360 era begins.
  • NBA 2K7Shaq on the cover.
  • New Super Mario Bros.May; the DS everyone had.
  • Gears of WarNovember.
  • Call of Duty 3November; a Wii launch game too.
  • Guitar Hero IINovember.
  • FIFA 07
  • Backyard Baseball '07A PS2 and GBA year for the Backyard kids.

Jun – Aug

Summer

The pool, the basement, long light, nowhere to be.

On My Screen

Mine

What you watched or played on repeat in 2006.

editcontent/personal/2006.ts

Everyone's

  • Super Bowl XL on ABCFebruary 5; Steelers 21, Seahawks 10, the Rolling Stones at halftime.
  • The Torino Olympics on NBCFebruary; Shaun White's first gold.
  • CarsJune.
  • Happy FeetNovember.
  • Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's ChestJuly.
  • Talladega NightsAugust; shake and bake.
  • InvincibleAugust; Mark Wahlberg as Vince Papale, a bartender who made the Eagles.
  • Glory RoadJanuary; Texas Western, 1966.
  • Rocky BalboaDecember.
  • High School MusicalJanuary; a Disney Channel phenomenon.
  • Planet EarthBBC, in high definition.
  • Evolution of DanceApril; six minutes, 70 million views.

The summer season

cultural context
  • Wade carries the HeatNBA Finals, June 20; Miami from 0–2 down to beat the Mavericks.
  • Zidane's headbuttWorld Cup final, July 9; Italy on penalties.
  • Pedroia's first gameCalled up August 22; the second baseman who would stay a decade.
  • Hurricanes win the CupJune 19, Game 7 over Edmonton.

Tech I Remember

In the house

A device or app you used in 2006.

editcontent/personal/2006.ts

Out in the world

  • Nintendo WiiWii Sports in the box; wrist straps mandatory.
  • PlayStation 3Blu-ray, $599, and long lines.
  • Nintendo DS LiteSlimmer, brighter, and everywhere.
  • MacBook and Intel MacsThe white plastic MacBook debuted in May.
  • ZuneMicrosoft's brown answer to the iPod.
  • Windows Vista (to businesses)Consumers got it in January 2007.
  • Blu-ray vs HD DVDThe last physical format war.
  • T-Mobile Sidekick 3The swivel-screen keyboard phone.

Sep – Nov

Fall

New grade, Halloween, leaves on the lawn, the good hoodie weather.

Fragments

1 filed

  • Older siblings

    Jeremy is five years older, Kyra three and a half. I thought my brother was the coolest person alive and wanted to be him.

    #family #jeremy #kyra

The fall season

cultural context
  • Big Papi hits 54A Red Sox single-season record, September 21.
  • Cardinals over TigersWorld Series, October 27.
  • Tiger's five straightPGA Championship in August, then five wins in a row to end the season.

Objects of 2006

6 objects
  • Wii Remote
  • Wii Remote
  • DS Lite
  • White MacBook
  • Sidekick
  • Blu-ray disc

The Internet That Year

cultural context
  • Facebook opens to everyonePlus the News Feed, which people initially hated.
  • Twitter launches140 characters, sent by text message.
  • Google buys YouTube
  • Roblox goes publicVersion 1.0 released in September.
  • MySpace peaksThe biggest site in the US by page views.
  • Wikipedia hits 1 million English articles
  • Digg and del.icio.usSocial bookmarking, the pre-Reddit front page.

Meanwhile

The world that year

Wii Sports, Zidane's headbutt, and Big Papi's 54.

The season that year

cultural context
  • Steelers 21, Seahawks 10Super Bowl XL, February 5. Jerome Bettis retires in his hometown.
  • Torino Winter OlympicsFebruary 10–26. Shaun White, Apolo Ohno, and a US team that won 25 medals.
  • Ovechkin, Rookie of the Year52 goals as a rookie for the Capitals; the Calder over Sidney Crosby.
  • Wade carries the HeatNBA Finals, June 20; Miami from 0–2 down to beat the Mavericks.
  • Zidane's headbuttWorld Cup final, July 9; Italy on penalties.
  • Big Papi hits 54A Red Sox single-season record, September 21.
  • Pedroia's first gameCalled up August 22; the second baseman who would stay a decade.
  • Cardinals over TigersWorld Series, October 27.
  • Tiger's five straightPGA Championship in August, then five wins in a row to end the season.
  • Hurricanes win the CupJune 19, Game 7 over Edmonton.

Culture

trends · memes · products
  • Time's Person of the Year: "You"A mirror on the cover.
  • Chuck Norris facts
  • Snakes on a PlaneInternet hype ahead of the movie.
  • HeelysShoes with wheels, banned in most hallways.
  • Webkinz mania
  • Crazy Frog
  • Sudoku everywhere

How things looked

Still XP on most desks, but Vista's frosted 'Aero' glass was on the way. The Wii's clean white plastic and the DS Lite made tech look friendly.

2006 · xp era · 7 slots still to fill← → to travel