Nine Things That Will Disappear In Our Lifetime...

Dobie Gillis

Well-Known Member
Forwarded by a friend; my comments in red.

It may take 20 years so it may not be my life time but it is coming fast.

Whether these changes are good or bad depends in part on how we adapt to them. But, ready or not, here they come.

1. The Post Office. Get ready to imagine a world without the post office. They are so deeply in financial trouble that there is probably no way to sustain it long term. Email, Fed Ex, and UPS have just about wiped out the minimum revenue needed to keep the post office alive. Most of your mail every day is junk mail and bills.

2. The Check. Britain is already laying the groundwork to do away with checks by 2018. It costs the financial system billions of dollars a year to process checks. Plastic cards and online transactions will lead to the eventual demise of the check. This plays right into the death of the post office. If you never paid your bills by mail and never received them by mail, the post office would absolutely go out of business.

Say goodbye to cash, too. If you don’t have a card you will be able to neither buy nor sell. Sounds like something from the Book of Revelation, doesn’t it?

3. The Newspaper. The younger generation simply doesn't read the newspaper. They certainly don't subscribe to a daily delivered print edition. That may go the way of the milkman and the laundry man. As for reading the paper online, get ready to pay for it. The rise in mobile Internet devices and e-readers has caused all the newspaper and magazine publishers to form an alliance. They have met with Apple, Amazon, and the major cell phone companies to develop a model for paid subscription services.

I haven’t read a paper in eons, and while I don’t feel old I’m certainly not a member of the younger generation. Why should I pay for today’s news delivered tomorrow and with a political bent with which I disagree? I will miss the paper because it makes a good birdcage liner or a place to housebreak puppies…

4. The Book. You say you will never give up the physical book that you hold in your hand and turn the literal pages. I said the same thing about downloading music from iTunes. I wanted my hard copy CD. But I quickly changed my mind when I discovered that I could get albums for half the price without ever leaving home to get the latest music. The same thing will happen with books. You can browse a bookstore online and even read a preview chapter before you buy. And the price is less than half that of a real book. And think of the convenience! Once you start flicking your fingers on the screen instead of the book, you find that you are lost in the story, can't wait to see what happens next, and you forget that you're holding a gadget instead of a book.

Which means that no print copies of anything will exist anymore. That makes the truth even more malleable than it is now. George Orwell was right. He was just a few years ahead of his time.

5. The Land Line Telephone. Unless you have a large family and make a lot of local calls, you don't need it anymore. Most people keep it simply because they've always had it. But you are paying double charges for that extra service. All the cell phone companies will let you call customers using the same cell provider for no charge against your minutes

6. Music. This is one of the saddest parts of the change story. The music industry is dying a slow death. Not just because of illegal downloading. It's the lack of innovative new music being given a chance to get to the people who would like to hear it. Greed and corruption is the problem. The record labels and the radio conglomerates are simply self-destructing. Over 40% of the music purchased today is "catalog items," meaning traditional music that the public is familiar with. Older established artists. This is also true on the live concert circuit. To explore this fascinating and disturbing topic further, check out the book, "Appetite for Self-Destruction" by Steve Knopper, and the video documentary, "Before the Music Dies."

“Over 40% of the music purchased today is "catalog items."
You’d think they’d get a clue…


7. Television. Revenues to the networks are down dramatically. Not just because of the economy. People are watching TV and movies streamed from their computers. And they're playing games and doing lots of other things that take up the time that used to be spent watching TV. Prime time shows have degenerated down to lower than the lowest common denominator. Cable rates are skyrocketing and commercials run about every 4 minutes and 30 seconds. I say good riddance to most of it. It's time for the cable companies to be put out of our misery. Let the people choose what they want to watch online and through Netflix.

The prophet Newton Minow predicted this nearly 50 years ago when he call TV a “vast wasteland”. It hasn’t gotten better in the intervening years.

8. "Things" That You Own. Many of the very possessions that we used to own are still in our lives, but we may not actually own them in the future. They may simply reside in "the cloud." Today your computer has a hard drive and you store your pictures, music, movies, and documents. Your software is on a CD or DVD, and you can always re-install it if need be. But all of that is changing. Apple, Microsoft, and Google are all finishing up their latest "cloud services." That means that when you turn on a computer, the Internet will be built into the operating system. So, Windows, Google, and the Mac OS will be tied straight into the Internet. If you click an icon, it will open something in the Internet cloud. If you save something, it will be saved to the cloud. And you may pay a monthly subscription fee to the cloud provider. In this virtual world, you can access your music or your books, or your whatever from any laptop or handheld device. That's the good news. But, will you actually own any of this "stuff" or will it all be able to disappear at any moment in a big "Poof?" Will most of the things in our lives be disposable and whimsical? It makes you want to run to the closet and pull out that photo album, grab a book from the shelf, or open up a CD case and pull out the insert.

See #4.

9. Privacy. If there ever was a concept that we can look back on nostalgically, it would be privacy. That's gone. It's been gone for a long time anyway. There are cameras on the street, in most of the buildings, and even built into your computer and cell phone. But you can be sure that 24/7, "They" know who you are and where you are, right down to the GPS coordinates, and the Google Street View. If you buy something, your habit is put into a zillion profiles, and your ads will change to reflect those habits. And "They" will try to get you to buy something else. Again and again.

See #4 one more time.

All we will have that can't be changed are Memories.
 
1. It annoys me everytime I get pressured into "going paperless". And going paperless with our billing systems is what will kill the postal service, for sure.

2. But, but, banks are starting to try and reel in customers by offering "free checking" again. Which causes me to think that banks should be part of this list. When I was a child and started earning an "allowance" my parents, in an effort to help me learn the fundamentals of the financial world, took me to the bank and opened up my first savings account. Back then they actually paid you to put your money in their financial institution.

Then came along interest bearing checking.

Because they were in business to serve their customers.

Then they got greedy. And started adding fees. A fee for this. A fee for that. Here a fee. There a fee. Everywhere a fee fee.

*******!

I have been banking at a credit union for over thirty years, and they pay me to put my money in accounts at their coffers.

3. I haven't read a newspaper in over thirty years. Kinda coincides with the credit union. Hmmmm . . . . . . . . . .

4. I have a whole library of books.

Fiction.

Science fiction.

Novels.

Biographies.

Autobiographies.

Books with pictures.

Books with car pictures.

Books with tractor pictures.

Books with truck pictures.

Books about how to take pictures.

How to books about "how to" all kinds of things.

Books from when I went to college and decided that they would make great reference volumes for when I would forget some formula or another.

Books from when I was serving my apprenticeship, and like the books from college, I kept them too.

Books with knowledge in them, called encyclopaedias and dictionaries.

Reference books, called factory service manuals for cars, motorcycles and trucks. Lots of those types of books.

The Good Book.

Books may go away, but I will always have my books and my library. It even smells like a library. You know the smell, dry paper and binding materials and the glue that holds the books together.

5. I still have a land line partly because I cannot get an ADSL internet connection without it, and partly because I get almost zero cell service at my house.

I live way out in the sticks.

Which brings us to number 9, but I will comment there.

6. There are still people making new, original music, that I like to listen too, just not as many as there was thirty years ago.

Wow. The thirty years ago thing keeps popping up here. Hmmmm . . . . . .

7. Yeah, television does really suck anymore. About all it is good for is to get live coverage of racing (very important, in fact more important than eating, well, almost), and the daily slanted news coverage.

I would say "kill your television" but sometimes it is needed for the noise in the background it provides.

8. I own a lot of things.

I will never, ever let go of most of those things.

Things are my stuff.

George Carlin did a really cool thing about stuff.

Look it up. It is really funny.

9. Ahh. Finally we get to number nine. Number nine. Number nine. Number nine. Number nine. Number nine. Number nine. Number nine. Number nine. Number nine. Number nine. Number nine. Number nine. Number nine. Number nine. Number nine. Number nine. Number nine. Number nine. Number nine. Number nine. Number nine. Number nine. Number nine. Number nine. Number nine. Number nine. Number nine.

Oops! Had an acid flashback there and fell into a Beatles song.

Sorry.

OK. Lesse. Where was I? Oh yeah, privacy. I mentioned earlier that I live way out in the sticks. And it is going to be a year or two before the metropolis swallows me up way out there on the fringes of society. And by then the bushes and trees will have grown up enough to pretty much completely seal me from the outside world, and I will still have my privacy.

I will just have to remember to turn off the cell phone which doesn't get service way out there, and unplug that damn computer when I am not using it.

I just hope George Orwell wasn't right.

Care for some Victory Gin, my friend?
 
I disagree with number nine. We are all entitled to privacy I believe. If I'm in the public, then monitor me. When I'm at home, then everything that I do behind closed doors that are legal and moral is no one's business.
 
i hope the internet dies a horrible death...
throwed away the cell phone and t/v years ago.. zero phones.
when this computer dies,, thats it. never buy another one again.
ha... i dont even open the mail. i throw it all away. unless its pre-paid return.. then i putt my trash in it,, and mail it back to em.

do all my personal stuff in person.
i run on cash.

peabody

lol.... i dont even run a CB radio....
 
1. It annoys me everytime I get pressured into "going paperless". And going paperless with our billing systems is what will kill the postal service, for sure.

It looks to me that the "paperless" society has actually generated more paper, not less. When businesses began the widespread use of computers back in the late Jurassic everyone said it would reduce paperwork. I haven't seen that. All it did was free up time for less people to do more things, creating more paperwork.

2. But, but, banks are starting to try and reel in customers by offering "free checking" again. Which causes me to think that banks should be part of this list. When I was a child and started earning an "allowance" my parents, in an effort to help me learn the fundamentals of the financial world, took me to the bank and opened up my first savings account. Back then they actually paid you to put your money in their financial institution.

Then came along interest bearing checking.

Yeah, now at a fraction of a % where I bank...

Because they were in business to serve their customers.

Then they got greedy. And started adding fees. A fee for this. A fee for that. Here a fee. There a fee. Everywhere a fee fee.

*******!

I have been banking at a credit union for over thirty years, and they pay me to put my money in accounts at their coffers.

3. I haven't read a newspaper in over thirty years. Kinda coincides with the credit union. Hmmmm . . . . . . . . . .

4. I have a whole library of books.

Fiction.

Science fiction.

Novels.

Biographies.

Autobiographies.

Books with pictures.

Books with car pictures.

Books with tractor pictures.

Books with truck pictures.

Books about how to take pictures.

How to books about "how to" all kinds of things.

Books from when I went to college and decided that they would make great reference volumes for when I would forget some formula or another.

Books from when I was serving my apprenticeship, and like the books from college, I kept them too.

Books with knowledge in them, called encyclopaedias and dictionaries.

Reference books, called factory service manuals for cars, motorcycles and trucks. Lots of those types of books.

The Good Book.

Books may go away, but I will always have my books and my library. It even smells like a library. You know the smell, dry paper and binding materials and the glue that holds the books together.

5. I still have a land line partly because I cannot get an ADSL internet connection without it, and partly because I get almost zero cell service at my house.

Same here; it's either the cable or use the phone company's rotary dial ISP system.

I live way out in the sticks.

Which brings us to number 9, but I will comment there.

6. There are still people making new, original music, that I like to listen too, just not as many as there was thirty years ago.

Wow. The thirty years ago thing keeps popping up here. Hmmmm . . . . . .

7. Yeah, television does really suck anymore. About all it is good for is to get live coverage of racing (very important, in fact more important than eating, well, almost), and the daily slanted news coverage.

I would say "kill your television" but sometimes it is needed for the noise in the background it provides.

8. I own a lot of things.

I will never, ever let go of most of those things.

Things are my stuff.

George Carlin did a really cool thing about stuff.

Look it up. It is really funny.

9. Ahh. Finally we get to number nine. Number nine. Number nine. Number nine. Number nine. Number nine. Number nine. Number nine. Number nine. Number nine. Number nine. Number nine. Number nine. Number nine. Number nine. Number nine. Number nine. Number nine. Number nine. Number nine. Number nine. Number nine. Number nine. Number nine. Number nine. Number nine. Number nine. Number nine.

Oops! Had an acid flashback there and fell into a Beatles song.

Sorry.

OK. Lesse. Where was I? Oh yeah, privacy. I mentioned earlier that I live way out in the sticks. And it is going to be a year or two before the metropolis swallows me up way out there on the fringes of society. And by then the bushes and trees will have grown up enough to pretty much completely seal me from the outside world, and I will still have my privacy.

I will just have to remember to turn off the cell phone which doesn't get service way out there, and unplug that damn computer when I am not using it.

I just hope George Orwell wasn't right.

Care for some Victory Gin, my friend?

It's double plus good, Brother!
 
I disagree with number nine. We are all entitled to privacy I believe. If I'm in the public, then monitor me. When I'm at home, then everything that I do behind closed doors that are legal and moral is no one's business.

We're only entitled to the privacy and freedom we secure for ourselves. Don't expect anyone else to safeguard them for you.
 
I don't think television or music will be taking a long vacation anytime soon, and I'll always have my books no matter what. I have hard copy photos that are over fifty years old. Heck I even save birthday and Christmas cards, and I have my son's report cards from school, and little pictures he drew for me over the years. I have many memories stored electronically but I will also have my hard copies until they pry them from my cold dead hands, lol. It sometimes makes me sad that, more than likely, these things will not be passed on for future generations.

I do believe postal service, newspapers, checks, and landline phones are at serious risk.

As far as privacy, we lost that a long time ago. Something snuck in like a thief in the night, and I don't think we will ever get it back again.
 
I don't think television or music will be taking a long vacation anytime soon, and I'll always have my books no matter what. I have hard copy photos that are over fifty years old. Heck I even save birthday and Christmas cards, and I have my son's report cards from school, and little pictures he drew for me over the years. I have many memories stored electronically but I will also have my hard copies until they pry them from my cold dead hands, lol. It sometimes makes me sad that, more than likely, these things will not be passed on for future generations.

I do believe postal service, newspapers, checks, and landline phones are at serious risk.

As far as privacy, we lost that a long time ago. Something snuck in like a thief in the night, and I don't think we will ever get it back again.

Id be willing to bet the Omish still have their privacy.

TruckingBiker
 
A bit more about #6.

I think one reason that new music and groups are not getting around is poor marketing. With terrestrial radio stations firing all the warm, living, breathing human disk jockeys and setting up robotic machines that play the same playlists over and over, less people are tuning in. And the satellite radio thing is neat, it is nice to run coast to coast and not have to search for stations, or listen to nothing but the whine of the tires, but there is little, if any, promotion of new music on pay radio.

And iTunes is not for everyone, as many artists, new and old still refuse to allow Apple to tell them what to do or how to present their music.

As an example, I have learned about some new(er) groups recently by catching performances on the late night talk shows, and a show on PBS, Austin City Limits.
 
Id be willing to bet the Omish still have their privacy.

TruckingBiker
You would think so, but I kinda doubt it. There are several Amish communities outside of Springfield, MO, where I used to live. While they are off-grid, that doesn't necessarily guarantee privacy. For one thing, they are different and anything different stands out. Also, they have their own little tight knit communities where I'm sure everyone makes it their business to keep everyone in check.
 

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