Music: "Back to Black" by Amy Winehouse plays in episode three of "The Dropout."
Technology: Holmes' business partner, Sunny Balwani (Naveen Andrews), used a Blackberry cellphone. Holmes, alongside thousands of others, waited in line for the first iPhone, and everyone was using a camcorder to document the historic moment. Later, Holmes is at the Apple store to have her phone upgraded and there is a poster of the first iPod Nano. Toward the end of the episode, Holmes' mother Noel (Elizabeth Marvel) brags that her daughter is in Forbes' 30 Under 30 list with Mark Zuckerberg, known for creating Facebook — which was only used as a dating app at that time.
Food fads: Balwani convinces Holmes to drink green juice any time she hasn't eaten. Green juice dominated the food industry in the early 2000s and has slowly made its comeback.