Vid_20180522_174436.3gp -

The world was gearing up for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, and Avengers: Infinity War was still dominating the box office.

Go into your old folders today and look for a file starting with VID_2018 . You might just find a version of yourself you’d forgotten about. VID_20180522_174436.3gp

At first glance, it’s just a string of numbers. But those numbers are a coordinate in time. May 22, 2018. Late afternoon. A moment captured in a format (.3gp) that feels like a lifetime ago in tech years. What Was Life Like in May 2018? The world was gearing up for the 2018

Before we even hit play, let’s set the scene for where the world was during that Tuesday afternoon in May: At first glance, it’s just a string of numbers

In an era of 4K 60fps video, there is something uniquely nostalgic about the . Designed for the third generation (3G) of mobile networks, these files are often grainy, slightly pixelated, and perfectly "low-fi."

You were probably recording this on a phone like the Samsung Galaxy S9 or a Google Pixel 2. The Charm of the .3GP Format

The 2018 Time Capsule: Rediscovering Life Through a .3GP File