Saturday, January 8, 2011

Am I getting old or is technology making me a dinosaur?

Several of my friends posted the link to this article, Things Babies Born in 2011 Will Never Know. At the beginning of the article, it referenced another article from the Huffington Post, You're Out: 20 Things that Became Obsolete This Decade. So here's the things that are obsolete or will be by the time kids today grow up:
  • VCRs/video tape- when I moved to Bastrop, I sold all of my VHS (what was left, I had maybe 20-30 tapes that I hadn't watched in at least 3-4 years) to Half Price books - I don't even own a VCR anymore
  • Travel agents - I remember when we went to Vegas in '93, we used a travel agent. And I've never used another one since. You can schedule tour companies, hotel, airfare, everything on the computer.
  • The Separation Between Work Life and Personal Life - isn't that truth? So many people can work from home (I wish I could!) and with iPhones, we are never far from work. I'm always checking work e-mail, texts and voice mails and dealing with work issues.
  • Forgetting - With the Internet recording our every move, you can't really "forget" anything. People can find out and learn a lot about you by googling you!!
  • Bookstores - I have a Kindle and I love my Kindle. I have many books stored on my Kindle. But I still love buying books - there is something about holding a new book, ready to read. I love going to the bookstore and reading book jackets and selecting my next great read. But I still do subscribe to several magazines still (5), not sure about giving up on those
  • Watches - the article says that people use their computers or cell phones to find the time. That may be true, but I like wearing a watch and I can't imagine not having one. I'm not sure that this is going away as quick as they think - watches have been here FOREVER!!!
  • 1-900 Phone Sex Lines - gee, can't say that I'll even notice it's disappearing since it was never anything that I used!!
  • Maps - I have an travel atlas in my car, but I usually use my phone to help find places and get directions to them
  • Phone calling - people are using texting and Facebook more than just calling people and talking. Depending on who I'm talking to and what we are talking, at times I do prefer texting to talking. I often e-mail instead of calling as well. And now there really isn't any long distance either with digital phones and cell phones.
  • Newspaper Classified Ads - people use Craiglist and other avenue to sell and buy things. Plus newspapers are becoming obsolete themselves. I've quit subscribing and find most of my content online or on my iPhone instead.
  • Dial-Up Internet - I remember when I got my first computer with a modem in 1995. It took forever to connect to the Internet and it was soooo slow!! Less than 10% of people use dial up Internet anymore. Another dinosaur!!
  • Encyclopedias - Some schools don't even use encyclopedias anymore. With so much content online and with Wikipedia, there really is no need for encyclopedias. I loved our set of World Books that we had at our house - I will keep them when my Mom tosses them because I can remember the hours I spent reading and researching with them.
  • CDs - Many CD stores have closed and most people do their music digitally. I still have many CD's, but I've also sold a ton of them and keep most of my music managed on my iTunes. It's hard to think CDs are gone, because they don't seem like they've been here that long in the first place.
  • Landline phones - Most people just use a cell phone as their major form of communication. For the last two years before I moved to Bastrop, I only used a cell phone. The only reason I have a landline know is because I could get my bundle (cable, Internet, phone) cheaper if I did all three. And it does help when my phone is a little spotty. But I rarely use it and I don't have any kind of voicemail on it.
  • Film and film cameras - Again, digital has taken over. But I think there will still be a segment of society that will use film cameras for photography as art.
  • Yellow Pages and Address Books - I've got a yellow pages, but they also send a CD that I could load the yellow pages on my computer, but I usually just google a place on my computer or my phone if I need to find out something. And I store all of my addresses in my phone rather than trying to keep up with a paper address book.
  • Catalogs - I still get my fair share, but definitely fewer than I used to receive. You can go online and see everything you need to see.
  • Fax Machines - there really is no reason why we still have these, but we do... it make take a little more time for these to die out.
  • Wires - With everything going wireless, do we really need wires? I think not. They are a pain. But I still have wires on my TV and cable box. I think some wires may be a necessary evil!
  • Handwritten Letters - When was the last time I wrote a letter? My XMas letter is typed, my cards are ordered online and my b-day greetings are usually sent by text or on Facebook

So what do you think? What else may become obsolete?

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