The Huffington Post recently had a slideshow about 20 items that have become obsolete in the past decade. Here is my take on a few of them:
VCRs/VHS tapes – Okay, so I understand they’re not up to today’s technological standards, but I still have one VCR in the house. We mostly use it to watch kids’ tapes we borrow from the library. However, I will admit we still don’t have a DVR, or TiVo (do people still have that?) or whatever other methods are out there to record off of TV. So, if we need to record a show, our trusty ole VCR comes to the rescue. (That said, most shows we miss can be watched later via OnDemand.)
Bookstores – Well, this one hits close to home as I am a bookworm. (Read about my feelings on books versus e-books here.) Bookstores are just wonderful places. Steven’s and my favorite date is to peruse some bookstores – used and new! No, they are not obsolete. I hope they never become obsolete. However, Amazon is killing the local bookstore. It’s even starting to kill the big-name ones, too. I recently unsubscribed to my Borders weekly emails. They asked me to pick a reason, and I picked “I buy my books elsewhere.” I like Borders, but “elsewhere” is Amazon. I use Amazon because it’s prices are low, I get free shipping if I spend $25, they have pretty much any book you’re looking for, and I can find used books if I want also. In theory, this book-lover believes in supporting bookstores, and I do when I can. However, even I’ve been sucked into the Amazon trap.
Watches – Yes. Obsolete. Ask ten people what time it is and nine of them will pull their cell phones out. The problem is that as a teacher I don’t carry my cell phone around at all times, so I need a watch! Seriously. I better go buy one soon.
Paper maps – Sigh. I really like maps. I love looking at cool old maps. But I must agree. Who uses a paper map anymore? We have mapquest and googlemaps and gps. We used to plan trips with our hands. Unfolding the map. Tracing the route. Using a ruler to figure mileage. Writing down exit numbers. It was a tangible, tactile part of the anticipation of a trip. Now we just plan with our fingertips. Sigh.
Calling – This one made me laugh out loud (mostly because of the hilarious picture they have of an old guy talking on a huge 80s-looking mobile phone). I guess texting has become our primary means of phone communication! There are still some old-timers out there who don’t text – like my dad and my grandmother. They like to hear the sound of a loved one’s voice (as do I), and they don’t want to pay for texts! No, calling is not extinct, but much of America’s population is quite skilled at talking with their thumbs!
Encyclopedias – Agreed. Obsolete. Extinct. Collecting dust. I had a beautiful set of Britannicas growing up, which I used for school reports, but also to try to beat our Carmen Sandiego computer game! I don’t miss them too much, but the disadvantage of their un-use is today’s students don’t know how to look something up using alphabetical order, and they don’t know which internet sources are considered appropriate source documents.
Catalogs – Considering the huge amount of junk mail I acquire each year, I can personally attest that catalogs do exist in abundance and somehow find their way to me even when I do not subscribe – even when I move homes and don’t notify them!
Handwritten Letters – A thing of the past, sadly. I think receiving a handwritten letter from someone would be such a delight, a reminder of a time when people actually labored to write something, a time when writing was crisp smell of paper, ink staining the fingertips, and a licked envelope.
My favorite of the list: Forgetting. Really? The argument is that forgetting is impossible because of the wealth of information we have on the web. My argument: I’m pretty sure I lost brain cells with each pregnancy. I tend to forget something about 10 seconds after I’ve remembered it. Not things I can find on the web. Things like, What was I going to take to the office to photocopy? Or, Where did I put my daughter’s tooth after I played tooth fairy? Forgetting most definitely still exists. (Edit: for example, I forgot to title this post initially!)
To see the entire list of items, click here.
Ahhh, the days of the good ol’ Encyclopedia Britannica. I remember them fondly…nostalgically…
Sad that my kids hear me say “Encyclopedia,” and they immediately think I said “Wikipedia.”
Great post! 🙂
Oh Barnes and Noble, you cannot go out of business…despite how much business I give to Amazon. See? I’m guilty too. 🙁
I agree with everything ytou said. Especially bookstores and watches. I’ve even seen people who wear watches check their cell phones for the time!
http://legocityproject.wordpress.com/
I’m wondering if ‘pen and paper’ were on the list? These are harder and harder to find in my house, however computers seem to be multiplying.
They weren’t, but when I read the list, it hit me that a lot of paper-based items were becoming obsolete. We have exchanged paper items for digital ones, and I’m not sure it’s making us or our culture any better.
I’m quite sure that people will still forget where they put the thing that is in charge of doing their remembering for them (along with their car keys, which I suppose will also be obsolete someday soon). Congratulations on being Freshly Pressed!
There are many things I could comment on here, but I will restrict myself to one that happens to be very current to me:
After going without a wrist-watch for roughly two years (never getting around to replacing the battery in the old one), I picked up a new one only last week. (At the very pleasing price of 10 Euros.)
I have, however, not had a cell phone for even longer—and if I buy one again, it will not be for the ability to be pestered by callers everywhere I go, but for access to the Internet, computing resources, or music/movies when I am on the move.
In the mean time, I actually managed fairly well: If I travelled, there were plenty of stationary watches, if at home or at work there was almost always a computer (with a clock) near-by, and in most other cases a bit of planning sufficed to over-come any need for a clock.
I’ve pretty much done the same, but I have gotten tired of asking people for the time. I can’t believe you’ve gone without a cell phone for so long! I have one, but it’s not a smart phone – just use it for talking and texting!
I hope bookstores are never obsolete!! There is no place I would rather be. Maps, either. I love spreading out a big map on the floor to plot out my next road trip.
Thanks for the post!
I have a drawer full of thanks you letters patients wrote to me when I was nursing. I read them all the time and will keep them forever. I can’t have a drawer full of e-mails!! The written word is sacred and can be cherished forever.
Oh PLEASE, forgetting….that’s my middle name! I think that is because of the right at your finger tip information, you do not have to memorize or KNOW anything. That’s not my excuse. I just have a MEMORY problem…CRS (can’t remember shi@ …don’t really know why…age?) whatever…
evelyngarone.com
Enjoyed the post. The “watches” one made me sad because I love to wear a watch, give a watch as a gift, and receive one also.
I always think of these as personal gifts – from or to someone you care about and know well enough to pick something they will like and fits their lifestyle.
Forgetting…all of us moms are with you on this one. 🙂
Congrats on being freshly pressed!
http://workingtechmom.wordpress.com
Great post — congrats on making FP!
As an archaeologist, I have to say paper maps are essential for certain kinds of people. We *love* old paper maps, because they tell us where things were. But I have to say, it’s nice to be able to find some of these old paper maps scanned online, too!
As for handwritten letters, I read a friend’s blog recently who claimed that they are becoming a fad among her teen daughter and her friends — an 8 to 10 page letter wasn’t uncommon! So maybe there is some hope for the antiquated letter after all. *smile*
I would like to add “Patience” to the list. With all the advances in technology, speed and instantaneous forms of communication, we get agitated when we have to wait for anything …
What a fun post! And sadly too true. I have a VCR, watch (well watches), I do go to my local used bookstore (but buy new books online for my reader), write letters, love looking through catalogs and paper maps. When did I become a dinosaur?
I thought life was changing fast in my lifetime – I’m truly scared of what changes are coming. I remember the time before microwaves or VCRs or even (*gasp*) home computers (which are becoming obsolete).
Perhaps it’s time for a cup of tea.
Thanks for the post!
Bookstores can’t just disappear, the same as libraries.
Have they read Pratchett, would they know that both bookstores and libraries are potentially infinite in extent; gateways into literary hyperspace. You can’t simply close something like that! 🙂
hahaha all so true!! it’s so interesting to see what trends come and go through the years.
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xxx
Oh the good old VCR. Sometimes I accidentally call the DVD player the VCR, as in “Kid, will you please shut the VCR off?” Kid always looks at me funny and says “Mom, what is a VCR?”
At 37 I must be an old fogey. We don’t do Twitter or Facebook or anything like that. My blog is the closest I get to social media but it’s not a “personal” blog.
We don’t really text. In fact I’m trying to make sure I have zero texts.
I like watches and bookstores and we still use our vcr. And there is nothing better than a handwritten letter or a personal phone call.
I love this post. It’s funny and sad at the same time. We still have a VCR, too. The paper maps hit home with me. I was always the navigator on any road trip, and I loved getting out the maps and plotting the course. I recently tried to show my kids how you do this when on a trip. And I keep saying I am going to shock my friends and just sit down and write them hand-written letters. I’m totally with you on the bookstore thing. We just went yesterday and bought books and magazines. So, we did our part to save the bookstores!
Wow, that’s a great list! I have to admit, I don’t know how to use an encycloprdia. But forgetting is totally not obsolete! I forget things ALL the time. Very nice post! Congrats on FP! 🙂
-Tia
http://www.tiallarising.wordpress.com
I’m with you: “forgetting” will never go out of style!
I also think physical books will stick around, though they may become less available (more of a special order) at some point.
I am more worried about cds.
CDs were on the list, too!
I never want bookstores to go obsolete. I do not even own a kindle or nook or any of those reader thingys. Love the smell of a book.
I miss receiving hand-written letters. I used to be so good about this during college, but these little notes have fallen to the wayside. Nowadays, I just use texts or emails or Facebook messages…which…still often don’t get answered.
I still have my VCR too! I own a few VHS tapes, and until I can convert them, I have no intentions of relinquishing my VCR!
Kudos on FP!
http://miracleon32ndstreet.wordpress.com
bookstores are still my favorite places in the world…but actually picking up the phone and calling someone is so passe.
http://dearexgirlfriend.com/
So…out with the old and in with? What are the 20 items that will be must-haves in the coming years? Did the Huffington Post venture any guesses?
Crystal
http://www.crystalspins.com
No, but that might be an interesting blog post! 😉
I hand-wrote someone a Christmas letter this year, and I realized that it had been twenty years since the last time I had written out a letter in pen. Nuts!
I actually know someone who read all the way through a huge encyclopedia set; I’d love to do the same. I wonder if I could find a cheap set at a garage sale?
Hey, there’s nothing wrong with a VCR and VHS tapes lol I have them too.. some really classic movies. I did get rid of the paper maps though.. Well, I actually used my phone and would get lost until I finally invested in a gps… saved my life and time 🙂 Cool article
Interesting article. You also could add no digital camera, listening to the radio, mobiles without the net, pyramid kettle, matches and many, many other things:). By the way, I love to read handwritten letters:)
My husband has a large wall map in his study. It is beautiful and a reminder that geography has far more value than being mere directions from Point A to Point B. Watches? Most of the people I know wear them. Calling obsolete? I don’t think so. Maybe chatty calls are disappearing, but calls in general aren’t. Catalogs? Gosh, I get so many of them (unsolicited). I keep calling to tell companies to stop, but there are about six companies I do order from.
Great post!
I too love maps, but find I still use them since I travel a lot in the developing world, where other options are often not available.
However, I have found my Kindle to be priceless in these places where English language books are hard to come by and books in general are too heavy to carry.
Congrats on being freshly pressed!
Happy New Year,
Kathy
Really loved your post, which made for thought-provoking reading.
What about ‘chip and pin’ technology – surely yesterdays’ news too? That said, as major vulnerabilities are exposed with its successor i.e. ‘contactless’ or RFID credit cards – I’m starting to wonder why we moved away from good old fashioned cash and cheques in the first place?
It’s something that I’ve been looking at on my blog: http://www.contactless.wordpress.org.uk
Great post – again, really got me thinking.
Schools are probably the biggest users of VCR/Videotapes – isn’t that sad?
Also, I still have audio books on CASSETTE tapes, and my students can never figure out how to work the walkmans! 🙂
Watches: I own 6 of them. I wear none of them, but somehow I can’t part with them. They sit on top of my dresser with the rest of my “jewelry”. Sigh…
http://humanitarikim.wordpress.com/
thanks! very good article!
Love this! And I agree with you on almost everything here — looks like I have to come back more regularly!
Ahh – I too used our trusty set of Britannica’s for reports – and I worked in a library back when there were actual card catalogs! (Of course this was my high school job so you shouldn’t be shocked that I’m on a computer now…)
I too miss a handwritten note. My grandmother used to send me letters when I moved away, but as her handwriting deteriorated, she began to type them. I make an effort to send one a month (thank you notes count). 🙂
What I don’t want to disappear: 1. watches 2. handwritten letters 3. maps 4. bookstores 5. calling
I’m 20 years old, but I guess I’m just one p old fashioned girl.
This is great! About VHS: yep, still have ours, and no, don’t use TiVo or DVR. About BOOKSTORES: agreed. What better place to wander around with your loved ones, with that smell you can’t get on Amazon? Though, I admit: I sadly use Amazon for their steals on deals. About WATCHES: don’t own one, however admit to gesturing the aged-old sign by tapping on my wrist to ask a stranger “what time is it?” About CALLING: texts are great to make quick plans, but you just can’t beat a good ‘ol fashioned chat with a loved one. About HANDWRITTEN LETTERS: I’ve intentionally plotted with my cousin to be my “pen pal” to spark things up in the mail. Why does Christmas have to be the only time you get letters from friends and family? All in all: awesome post!
1: letters. I have a couple of postcards sent to me by friends around my room. Not the holiday kinds which are obligatory and have the hallmark phrase, but the ones that are blank and are filled in. There was a purpose for each one.
2: Calls are great in social bonding. but for information sharing I prefer texting. I just want the location and time. No chit chat. Which leads me to 3
3: Maps. I love the GPS functions on my iPhone. I also have a Garmin GPS that I can plug into my computer and track my routes on a big 3d map. Having said that, I go hiking in mountains and forests where GPS is unreliable. Added to this, not knowing basics of land navigation and terrain association and using a GPS can make your situation worse by far. I do a GPS activity called Geocaching and I set out a geocache purposively to show off this point. I get as many angry gripes about my cache from some as I get happy letters from others. The angry ones are people who have no clue about terrain association and just pick an azimuth and go (through creeks, down steep hills, through thick brush, etc…) where a simple area map and 5 minutes they can pick a trail.
I also teach a class on land navigation for the national guard (I’m an infantry instructor) and while the U.S. military is HEAVILY reliant upon its satellites, the basic grunt in the forest, late at night, in the rain, needs to know how to plan a route weaving through a muddy swamp, past a patrol, to a specific area in a specific time. GPS wont do it. Paper, pencil and practice practice practice.
GPS are not substitutions for thinking. People blindly follow their GPS as though it could see the ground’s reality. Perusing news stories will turn up the occasional one of someone getting lost. One family in Southern Oregon was following their MapQuest directions. Maps are no where near obsolete. The people who think so have no business being in the wilderness.
It kills me that book stores are a thing of the past. I love love love used book stores..i can go in one and sit for hours browsing. Doesn’t matter if i am looking for anything in particular or just looking… its so wonderful. Then you get the new book stores like barnes and noble…LOVE… nothing like sitting down with a fresh book that no one has owned… books are wonderful. I will never ever buy an electronic device because i need the hard copy. I’m a book hoarder i admit it lol.
-Minka
oh..and i work for the cable company…i wish vcr’s were more of a thing of the past…such a giant pain! lol.. but surprisingly a lot of people still have them…which is good.. just not compatible with todays technology
Not completely OUT yet…..well not all of them.
One of my favourite past times is spending time in the “exclusive books store”. Actually dangerous, because i always end up spending money.
There is another one- cash in your purse…. how many of us still carry cash? I almost buy everything with a card.
I miss the hand written letters….. everything else on the list is actually a good bye, we have evolved.
Enjoyed your post.
xx
great take on these topics. really enjoyed your insight on these obsolete things.
http://enjoibeing.wordpress.com/
Simply excellent… well written and a very sweet blog. Happy new Year!!
I really remember how and When I use a type to listen music and radio ..
My father invested in beta tapes, so we still have those along with our vhs relics. He still won’t get rid of them. I don’t know how to break the news to him.. 🙂
Interesting list and all true. Cutting out catalogs and phone books will probably save a lot of trees, but I don’t see us becoming better people with all this technology, more like getting further removed from reality with each generation and that might not be a good thing. Other than that all I can say is Happy New Year! 🙂
I think that using new technology instead of old technology has made us more advanced. Take for example the internet, without it we would have never been able to create such a big database of world wide data. It’s amazing how much data passes through the internet every day, it’s hard to believe the internet still has space to grow. If the internet is mind blowing today, imagine tomorrow.
Your lists are funny, yet sad. I agree that some of these things are obsolete, however, I don’t agree they should be.
Texting is for example a very impersonal way to communicate I agree with your grandma that hearing someones voice is much better! Reading the first chapter of a novel in the corner of the bookstore becaus eyou just can’t put it down it has you so captivated, is a great feeling. Ebooks may be convienent, but still not the same.
I fear our society is becoming so based on the instant gratification that all of these technologies promote, that we are not instilling the value of good old fashioned patientce and go look it up to our kids!
When I insisted on taking paper maps to our last year drive-through-the Pyrenees holiday, my older son fought it for month. The day we got lost (and ended up in a beautiful village we might have never found if not off the beaten path) he was soooo unhappy “I told you to take the GPS!”
Hope after our month travelling he understood a bit better.
Here’s my experience with everything on the list:
I still own a VHS player, and still have loads of videos. And, like you, I don’t have a DCR.
Bookstores?! I love bookstores. I often meet friends there because if they’re late I’m never short of something to read. They’re great places, and it’s wonderful to surrounded by shelves and shelves of books. I hope that bookstores never die–if they did, that would be utterly tragic.
Watches are dying out, although I still love them. I keep my cell phone on me all the time, nowadays, and whenever a friend asks for the time–yep, I pull out my phone.
Paper maps. Hmmm. I think they’re great. But GPS and Google Maps are taking over the world. Whenever I have to go on a long excursion, I use Google Maps to print out directions, for I don’t own a GPS. I can’t stand their voices (LOL).
Calling. For me, it’s obsolete. For my mom and my grandma, it’s far from it. They talk every week for hours a time. Our phone plan’s minutes are mostly taken up by those weekly family calls. But me? I hate talking on the phone. Texting has taken control of me….
Encyclopedias are beautiful, but Wikipedia is so easy to use. I spend my life on Wikipedia, practically. LOL.
Catalogs. I don’t know…. I still get sooo many in the mail. But it is very likely that in a few more years, catalogues will get scarce. In a way I’m fine with that, because it means we’ll be saving trees!
Handwritten letters are a treat to get. Or even thank you cards. I used to have penpals–until my friends resorted to e-mail. I miss getting letters….
Okay, forgetting–really? I kinda scoffed at that. I forget things all the time! I’ll go into the kitchen to find something, and by the time I get there I’ve completely forgotten what it is. Or I forget about special TV programs I want to watch, and by the time I remember it’s usually too late. Forgetting–obsolete? I don’t think so!
All right, so that’s my run down of the list. This comment is very long, and I apologize. Sometimes I get carried away–and this was one time. So I’ll wrap it up now. Happy New Year!
Hi,
I enjoyed reading your take on this list. I whole heartedly agree with you about bookstores. Browsing an online bookstore simply isn’t the same is it? Myself I love finding a gem in a used bookstore! I think these might become a thing of the past sooner rather then later and I find that so sad. When times were tough you could often still afford a book that was pre-loved!
Forgetting? Ha..I somehow think that this is wishfull thinking on the part of Huffington Post’s writer!
Happy New Year! 🙂
Letters, not bills are great when you receive them. It’s so personal. Started a snail mail subscription for some children and they love it. They wait patiently for the next letter to arrive. We have been at it for almost 2 years now. : )
I used a VCR just this week – spurning the new all singing all dancing digital recorder, because I didn’t trust it to record Doctor Who on Christmas Day!
I’m clearly not as 21st century as someone of my age & profession should be – I’m lost without my watch, I love bookshops (can’t get to grips with the idea of a digi version, I’d miss that smell of an old book) & I still use paper maps very frequently (Sat Nav and I have come to an amicable understanding that we despise each other equally).
Still I suppose the exception proves the rule. 🙂
I for one am glad that VCR’s are obsolete. I was always having to re-set the time and I could never figure out how to record a different channel than the one I was watching.
I love collecting hand written letters and recipes, http://jeannecterrill.wordpress.com/2010/12/29/handwritten-recipes-are-a-treasure/, from family and friends. And our family still sends invitations to parties the old fashioned way. I think I will make it a point to send cards, letters and postcards to friends and family this coming year, for no other reason than to keep hand written letter from becoming obsolete.
As for the bookstore becoming obsolete, I refuse to buy an e-reader. I am a book buyer and bookstore manager so I will not give in to the demise of my beloved bookstores or “real” books.
Thanks for the post and congratualtiions on being freshly pressed.
I refuse to buy an e-reader, too! 🙂
Some of these I am sad to see on their way out. Like Bookstores. I love them. There is nothing better than browsing through the shelves. You come across things you wouldn’t have if you were just buying online. Things you wouldn’t have even considered searching for.
Watches…I will not give mine up. When my husband and I go out it bugs the crap out of me to look around and see everyone glued to their cell phones. Good lord half of people don’t even bother to put them in their pockets they just run around with them in their hands all the time. I stuff my cell phone in my black hole of a purse and just use my watch…and plus its prettier than my cell. Calling goes along with this too. I hate text….No one understands me in text and it takes too long. Usually I get frustrated halfway through the texct and just call the person back.
Good riddance to catalogs.
Paper maps will stay with me. Every time I use gps or google maps they try to send me out of my way to use a toll road even when its not the most efficient route. I will stick with my mapsco!
Andrea
http://luminousbeing.wordpress.com/
http://www.cowgirlblingthings.com/
I already forgot the first item in your posting… 🙂 J/K But seriously, I do have some issues with this list! I cherish handwritten letters and long talks on the phone…. and if it were possible to stop forgetting, well trust me it would’ve saved me a lot of time and energy over the past decade… Thanks for the post. Enjoyed it!
Wow, this list really dates me.
Bookstores — I still go to them. But sadly, I do a lot more ordering on Amazon. I still love to look through books and discount shelves are a magnet, but I think it’s probably true that bookstores are on the way out. Too bad.
I always hated watches. That said, I hate taking my phone out to tell the time. I used to carry a little clock in my purse. But I recently read that “everyone” uses their phone, and I’ve begun to do that, too.
Paper maps. Love them. Charted many a journey via the big book maps of the U.S. Bought a Tom-Tom last year and have not regretted it for one instant. Cut down on so much fighting between my and my husband! Brilliant invention.
Phone calling. Still chat with people on the phone. Love it. Have never texted (don’t have kids). Will have to someday, I guess, but just haven’t felt the urge.
I used to write long, long letters. I still write long emails. A beautiful handwritten letter on beautiful paper in a beautiful envelope with decorative stamps on the back — I took a lot of pride in making my letters pretty. But that bit the dust years ago because no one writes back any more. 🙁
I still use maps, I am 28 and I have found GPS to not be as reilable as a trusty ole paper map. Plus they just look so cool. I have a map of every city in europe I have been to as well. Most of those cities are not GPS friendly and not the best when walking everywhere
Hi,
My name is Vidya and I am from India. I have been thinking a lot of creating my own blog and was going through different blog sites. I found yours and I liked this blog that you have written.
I agree with your view completely. And though I am not a teacher, I have a fetish for watches and love to wear them.
Also I hate it when bookstores close down. I am from Mumbai and we had a book culture that was killed by the local govenrment. We had an entire area called Flora Fountain where you can get any books that you are looking for from second hand to pirated to new.. All for a good bargain because they used to have book stalls on the streets. And some of the book sellers had their shops for 30 years or more. So I understand what Amazon has done to the shops.
I hope that it is ok if I read your blog and comment on it. If not please do tell me so and I won’t comment on it anymore.
Watches may be obsolete for the most part as a fashion statement, but my basic training in the army taught me that you must always have a good stop-watch handy.
Things always change sometimes technology speeds up so fast that the thing becomes obsolete while it already is in use.
Dvd and blueray standards come to mind.
But lately if you look at sciencedaily and other similar outlets you notice how fast knowledge is ramping up in speed and fecundity of producing results that are remarkable and yet seemed so far away just a few years ago.
http://lushfun.com
After reading one of your items being, texting versus actual phone calls, I knew immediatedly that I fell into the grandpop catergory as to my preferences in the grand scheme of things in the internet world. As a forty-five year old mind in a soon to be 69 year old body, those who prefer texting rather than old fashion phone calls are to my way of thinking, individuals who lack class and intelligence of any degree, It represents the ever widening gap of human communcation that is ever present in our younger generation.
I agree. The gap is growing bigger, and in many ways technology is to blame.
I beg to differ! At first I was adamant about not buying into the whole “cell phone” craze and actually refrained from buying one until receiving it as a birthday gift from an ex-boyfriend (this was in 2003). It was ok. Nothing too spectacular. However, as the years passed and cell phone plans changed and lifestyles evolved, I realized that it’s only natural for us to evolve into technologically minded beings. Ultimately, we have to be savvy and knowledgeable in today’s world … which, interestingly enough, technology dominates this group entirely! I agree, however, where there are some people who abuse texting: this is unfortunate, seeing as it stereotypes the supposed “pro-texter” as being this “text-crazed-moron”. I love the text capabilities: it get’s to the point quickly without having to make a lengthy phone call. I work at the local university and find that students converse with one another better than they ever had re: essays, exams, study groups, etc. It’s pretty incredible. As we grow older, we just have to keep growing with the young generation around us.
I agree with watches. The cell phone method of telling time is de rigueur with me.
Land-lines and fax machines were on it!
I love maps AND handwritten letters–also postcards (which are almost impossible to find!). Thanks for the post.
I think it’s funny that watches are now considered “uncool”. I always wear one and feel lost without it. There are some places my cell phone just doesn’t go with me, so I always have a watch on (plus I think some watches are beautiful). I was told recently that wearing a watch is a sign of “old age” ’cause only older folks wear them….? wow
I agree with watches. The cell phone method of telling time is de rigueur with me.
I find lists predicting items’ obsoleteness often to be class-tinged – not everyone in America has 3G and Kindles and DVRs, and while they seem extra important to those that do have them, really time will ultimately determine what hangs out the longest…..though I’d say VCRs are definitely going to become arcane!
~~~~
http://popmorsels.wordpress.com
Great post!
I ended up ditching all my VHS tapes after someone told me that holding on to old tapes was akin to keeping horseshoes in the trunk of your car.
I agreed.
When I rocked up to the charity shop with over a hundred I’m not sure if volunteer knew whether to laugh or cry.
ทัวร์จีน ทัวร์สิงคโปร์ ทัวร์ฮ่องกง ดิสนีย์แลนด์
Great post!
I ended up ditching all my VHS tapes after someone told me that holding on to old tapes was akin to keeping horseshoes in the trunk of your car.