One major thing I've noticed is the way that you actually obtain anime. I really began getting into anime (when I found out it was anime and not just cartoons) in 2003, and it was right at the start of the early 2000s anime "boom".
I remember back then going to Best Buy, Sam Goody, and Suncoast Video and spending hours looking through the anime DVDs, finding different shows that you might not have heard of from the community at the time and just enjoying "the hunt". Anime DVDs were also pretty different, too. Whole seasons were pretty rare back then, too. Typically, you would see a show sell DVDs with only 3 or 4 episodes on it, but each DVD would have some interesting side content like a commentary with the voice actors, concept art, or some other random stuff. The problem, though, was that each DVD was around $20 to $30, meaning your longer shows, like Fullmetal Alchemist '03, could cost an upward of $300 to $350 for the full series compared to around $50 nowadays. There were pirate sites back then, but I was a dumb teen and didn't really have a computer until about 5 years later, so I didn't partake until much later. Anime took a bit of a nose dive around 2010-2013, and it was reflected in stores's selections around that time. Things got pretty tough to find, and it just wasn't as fun as it used to be.
Turn to today, anime got another big boom around 2020, so things are bigger than ever. However, the way that we access it has changed drastically. Nowadays, you can't go to Best Buy to buy anime DVDs or Blurays anymore, they are more of an internet order type thing or a specialty store. You could buy a little bit of the more famous stuff at Walmart or Target, but its not anywhere near the same as it used to be. Now everyone streams their stuff on places like Crunchyroll, Netflix, or Hidive, and don't actually own anything. While it's more convenient, I feel that you aren't likely to pick out or stuck with any new shows. There is no real commitment, and people wind up missing some possible hidden gems. I will say, though, that the manga section in book stores is absolutely fantastic right now, though!