[Romantic Old Bird]

As shown on msn today - I think they may be US led views though.

Do you agree?


By Ellen Cresswell
Last updated October 25 2005

Events and issues rather than people or places have topped a poll of icons of the noughties.

The unforgettable images of September 11 and the Asian tsunami have topped a poll of the decade’s icons.

The war on terror, Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings were the other icons found out the top five. Online bank Egg conducted the poll to find the top 50 icons of noughties - the first decade of the new millennium.

Prince William (13) took the top celebrity spot ahead of Jamie Oliver (14). England’s World Cup rugby hero Jonny Wilkinson ranked 19th and Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho flew the flag for football at number 42. David Beckham was noticeably absent from the list and there were three musical entries in the top 50: Coldplay (30), Franz Ferdinand (43 and Joss Stone (50).

Chavs (44), Jimmy Choo shoes (45), Sky Plus(29) and the new Mini all ranked higher than Joss Stone.

The top 20 icons of the noughties

September 11 terrorist attacks
Asian tsunami
War on terror
Harry Potter
Lord of the Rings
Digital camera
DVD players
Organic food
Concorde retiring
London Eye
Hospital superbugs
eBay
Prince William
Jamie Oliver
Low cost airlines / Credit Cards/ Picture phones
iPod
Little Britain
Millennium Stadium
Jonny Wilkinson
The Office
Egg’s report also found that some of the most significant trends of the decade were reality TV, music downloads and hipster trousers.

Children of the noughties were likely to marry six years later than children of the 70s, but that they would be better with their money, the bank found.

Money

With natural disasters and international terrorism high on the list of icons, Egg said the 2000s was a decade characterised by consumer caution.

More people accepted having a student loan to be the norm and they were wary about taking on further debt.

Internet banking allowed consumers to get a clear picture of their current financial position and keep control of their spending, something that was much more time consuming and confusing for previous generations.

Another example of cautiousness in the decade can be found amongst young people who are increasingly living in the parental home. They appear to be putting off fleeing the safety of the nest and can be dubbed the ‘Peter Pan’ generation. On average children of the noughties will marry six years later than their predecessors in the late seventies and many will postpone their final career choice until well into their thirties.

However the children of the noughties did not behave like children. They were seeking greater control over their lives and are little to chance.

They were also worrying about the state of the planet and are sensitive to broader issues in a way that was much less evident in the eighties or nineties.

[Princess]

Those icons are funnyI would argee with most of them!

[James]

I'd add Google, Beckham and p2p file sharing to the list.

In fact Google have a page on their site called Zeitgeist which shows the top search terms on their site. That probably gives a good idea of what the icons of the age are.

http://www.google.com/press/zeitgeist.html

Click on 'Yearly archives' to see the top searches for each year.

[cc100]

Mad cow disease, maybe.

Pop Idol? its a worldwide phenomenon.

[Ruth]

Google, definitely.

I have to agree with the World Trade Centre coming down. It's an iconic image, I guess, but a terribly tragic one.