Those of you who regularly read my columns know that I enjoy writing about new gadgets, gizmos and tech tools but this week, in honor of the new year, I thought we’d pay homage to a few of the many things we’ve lost during the past decade. So before you read any further, please stop and try to think of at least three “things” or activities that have become obsolete during the past 10 years. A pretty easy assignment and no, you don’t need to write them down.
Okay, if you thought of any of the following you’re on the right track: rotary phones, typewriters, payphones, shorthand, carbon paper, library card catalogs, rabbit ears, UHF channels, “be kind-rewind”, or opening your beer with a church key. Sadly, future generations will never know the joy of smelling a freshly run mimeographed test paper or the satisfaction derived from successfully adjusting the horizontal and vertical hold on a TV set. Time does march on.
Here are 10 items that most of us still regularly use but are quickly headed towards obsolesce. At the turn of the next decade these items will probably be as irrelevant as that box of 5.25” floppy discs that I still stash in my desk.
1. Film Cameras and Film: Point-and-shoots digital cameras and phones capture memories instantly and cheaply. Gone are the days of paying $15 to develop a roll of 24 prints that were all overexposed.
2. Yellow Pages and Encyclopedias – The Internet is easier to navigate, weighs less, and is rapidly replacing these old repositories of data.
3. Fax Machines - Paperless e-faxes sent from your computer eliminate those annoying paper jams.
4. Printed Maps – My 82 year old mother-in-law loves her “Gremlin” (Garmin). She may not be great at remembering proper nouns, but she know how to use this new technology.
5. The Landline – Do you know anyone under the age or 25 that has a landline? With wireless penetration in the U.S. currently at 89%, the lonely Maytag repairman will be joined shortly by the forlorn telephone repairman.
6. Paying for Long Distance Calls – See landline above. Cell phone plans have all but eliminated long distance charges.
7. Newspaper Classifieds - Thanks to a guy name Craig Newman, founder of Craigslist, the Internet has become the place to go to find a job or sell your old truck.
8. Checking Accounts – For a number of very good reasons, debit cards are rapidly replacing the paper check.
9. Dial-up Internet - Yes, it’s still available, but only for folks who like to torment themselves.
10. Incandescent Light Bulb - Already banned in Europe, they’ll be phased out in the U.S. beginning in 2012.
Finally, please visit our new Community Gardens of Havana website http://www.havanacg.org for all the latest news and information regarding the Havana community garden site.
