- Joined
- Jan 3, 2009
- Messages
- 2,605
- Points
- 0
Death in a decade
Thursday January 13, 2011 02:31 am PST
By Wendy Ferrer, Yahoo! Singapore
2011 – the start to a new decade. But before we look forward to the decade ahead of us, let us take one last look at the decade past, and say our last goodbyes to the things that were.
In just a span of ten years, here are a few things that are practically obsolete:
Encyclopedias. Gone are the days of door-to-door salesmen trying to sell a set of two dozen books for a "very special price" only because they "like" you – but isn't it a bit of a relief you don't have to come up with all sorts of excuses to get out of this sale? And be honest: those things never really got opened unless it was for homework.
Maps. In the tradition of making all things paperless, maps have now found a new home in the modern GPS and Smartphone. Not to mention there are now options of getting satellite and street views. Just that now, there's a pesky voice that keeps telling us how to get there.
CDs. LPs, 45s, midis and cassettes all got killed off as a new format came in. Yes, some of us still have CDs now, but all its contents have been ripped and transferred to our portable music players. It does gets some good use as coasters though – all 567 of our collection.
Video rental shops. "So you mean to tell me you used to drive all the way to a video shop to rent a movie?!"
Hand-written letters. Stamps, envelopes, ink and cursive writing are now but a faint memory to most of us. Remember the days you used to rush over to open the letterbox or anticipate the arrival of the postman with that old Carpenters song playing in your head? No? Uhmm… me neither. (And no, don't ask us: "Who are the Carpenters?")
Film/Film cameras. Only purists really look back fondly at the days of shooting blindly at a subject and waiting to see the results. The dark room already made its exit before the turn of the century as machines that processed film in a fraction of the original time it takes became cheaper alternatives for photographers.
Gone are the days of having several canisters of 35mm film in your camera bag or vest pocket, and children of the next generation of photography will no longer know how a curtain will have anything to do with the art that involved drawing with light.
Dial-up Internet. As ancient as the film "You've Got Mail", the dial-up connection is old news. If in order to connect to the Internet, you still have to hear that virtual dialing noise – you may have to rethink your subscriber options.
Long-distance phone calls. These days, long-distance is only limited to folks who have to get on company conference calls and folks who don't know how to operate a computer. Dial "I" for Internet.
Landlines. I had one. It was great. Then my bill shrank down to 20 cents for three months of service while my cellphone bill shot up to what my landline bill used to be.
CRTs (TV and computer monitors). If you haven't heard of CRTs, I don't blame you. We just know them as those chunky old things that used to occupy half of the living room space where the LCD now sits. It was 8 feet wide and 8 feet deep, and weighed a ton. You don't miss it but you didn't realize just how big your TV stand was until now.
Newspaper reporters. If no one wants to call it – I will. Pronounced dead in 2011. Ok maybe it's not really dead yet… but it's getting there. If this career were a person, it would on life support at the Intensive Care unit.
The last chance for aspiring Lois Lane's and Clark Kent's of the world to see a career in this field of media ended in the last decade. Thanks to the Internet and the almost unlimited exchange of information in real time, the decade has seen the closure of several small newspapers and has shaken the foundations of even the most well-established publications in the world.
Thursday January 13, 2011 02:31 am PST
By Wendy Ferrer, Yahoo! Singapore
2011 – the start to a new decade. But before we look forward to the decade ahead of us, let us take one last look at the decade past, and say our last goodbyes to the things that were.
In just a span of ten years, here are a few things that are practically obsolete:
Encyclopedias. Gone are the days of door-to-door salesmen trying to sell a set of two dozen books for a "very special price" only because they "like" you – but isn't it a bit of a relief you don't have to come up with all sorts of excuses to get out of this sale? And be honest: those things never really got opened unless it was for homework.
Maps. In the tradition of making all things paperless, maps have now found a new home in the modern GPS and Smartphone. Not to mention there are now options of getting satellite and street views. Just that now, there's a pesky voice that keeps telling us how to get there.
CDs. LPs, 45s, midis and cassettes all got killed off as a new format came in. Yes, some of us still have CDs now, but all its contents have been ripped and transferred to our portable music players. It does gets some good use as coasters though – all 567 of our collection.
Video rental shops. "So you mean to tell me you used to drive all the way to a video shop to rent a movie?!"
Hand-written letters. Stamps, envelopes, ink and cursive writing are now but a faint memory to most of us. Remember the days you used to rush over to open the letterbox or anticipate the arrival of the postman with that old Carpenters song playing in your head? No? Uhmm… me neither. (And no, don't ask us: "Who are the Carpenters?")
Film/Film cameras. Only purists really look back fondly at the days of shooting blindly at a subject and waiting to see the results. The dark room already made its exit before the turn of the century as machines that processed film in a fraction of the original time it takes became cheaper alternatives for photographers.
Gone are the days of having several canisters of 35mm film in your camera bag or vest pocket, and children of the next generation of photography will no longer know how a curtain will have anything to do with the art that involved drawing with light.
Dial-up Internet. As ancient as the film "You've Got Mail", the dial-up connection is old news. If in order to connect to the Internet, you still have to hear that virtual dialing noise – you may have to rethink your subscriber options.
Long-distance phone calls. These days, long-distance is only limited to folks who have to get on company conference calls and folks who don't know how to operate a computer. Dial "I" for Internet.
Landlines. I had one. It was great. Then my bill shrank down to 20 cents for three months of service while my cellphone bill shot up to what my landline bill used to be.
CRTs (TV and computer monitors). If you haven't heard of CRTs, I don't blame you. We just know them as those chunky old things that used to occupy half of the living room space where the LCD now sits. It was 8 feet wide and 8 feet deep, and weighed a ton. You don't miss it but you didn't realize just how big your TV stand was until now.
Newspaper reporters. If no one wants to call it – I will. Pronounced dead in 2011. Ok maybe it's not really dead yet… but it's getting there. If this career were a person, it would on life support at the Intensive Care unit.
The last chance for aspiring Lois Lane's and Clark Kent's of the world to see a career in this field of media ended in the last decade. Thanks to the Internet and the almost unlimited exchange of information in real time, the decade has seen the closure of several small newspapers and has shaken the foundations of even the most well-established publications in the world.
