Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Gone The Way Of The Dinosaurs

Found a new telephone book on our front porch this week and promptly put it into the trash, no recycling here in the wilds of Georgia, it's either trash or burn.  But I digress, my subject is obsolescence, and to me the phonebook as a printed book is obsolete, I never use them, if I need a number I look it up online.  I disliked phone books even when I had to use it, the printing was so small and my eyes are so bad.
But that got me to thinking about all the other things that have gone the way of the dinosaurs since I was a child.
And I guess that list would include:  Black and White T.V.S
Record Players, 33, 45 and 78 rpm records, video cassette players, tape cassette players, reel-to-reel tape recorders, transistor radios, white out, typewriters, carbon paper, bobby pins, expensive calculators (they were really expensive when they first came out), push mowers (though a few linger on), polaroid cameras, sets of encyclopedias, home visits by doctors, bread and milk delivery to your house, handwritten letters, small pox vaccinations,  and unfortunately common courtesy

And before I'm gone I expect to see the demise of paper checks, pennies, landline telephones, most mail service,  print newspapers, regular light bulbs (I hate those energy saving ones), cameras that use film,  and they're even saying credit cards,  we'll pay with our cell phones instead.

The times they are a changing.

2 comments:

  1. We are a bit behind you as we still have milk delivery if we want it, my doctor at least will do home visits if necessary (though a great many won't) and I still write and receive quite a lot of letters. I was surprised when I read your list to see just how much that used to be familiar has disappeared!

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  2. Just today I tried to look something up in the phone book and couldn't find it. Two seconds on the Internet and THERE was the number. And Yes, I agree that we will probably do EVERYTHING with our cell phones. My teenage daughter keeps hers in her hand at all times.

    Thanks for the tip about the moth balls/Irish spring. I think that I will definitely try some slivers of soap all around the tulips. I do wonder if the soap will melt, though, as it has rained all day!

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