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Tuesday, April 18, 2017

O is for OBSOLETE


"Compassion has become an 
obsolete madness in the modern world."
 - DayStar

Has This Become A Culture
of Obsolescence? 

I am ancient enough to remember being taught how to use the slide rule in grade school.

I kept my old school one on my writing desk until my home burned down to remind me how quickly life changes.

Can you recall the Palm Pilot?

Dial-Up Internet?

Getting Film Developed?

Movie Rental Stores?

Road Maps?

The Land Line?

Public Pay Phones?

VCR's?

Dictionaries, Encyclopedias, Phone Books?

CD's?

Record Stores?

Mailed Letters?

All of the above have become obsolete in the past decade.

What Do You Think Will Become Obsolete in the Next Decade?

13 comments:

  1. I thunk in today's world. face-to-face interaction has become obsolete and its a sad state to be in

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    Replies
    1. Too true. When people no longer how to relate face-to-face, the world will become even more fragmented and isolated emotionally. :-(

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  2. Yes, face to face interactions are becoming more obsolete. Common sense obsolete. Compassion and goodwill to all men, becoming obsolete, in this decadent society. Using cross walks becoming obsolete, as many step off of curbs right in front of cars going the speed limit down busy highways, expecting cars to yield for the law breaking people who think their life has been given the right away. As I said common sense, obsolete, replaced with lawlessness in these bustling southern cal streets. Brotherhood almost obsolete. Friendship across cultures becoming obsolete, in so cal. Odd how different our time in Louisiana was a showcase in cultural integration, where out here such hasn't existed in decades.

    The slide rule, replaced by other tools. What once was read to the 100th thousandth, is now digital. Today's students use digital tools, and couldn't read a slide rule or an old veneer micrometer by the measurement lines. Great post Roland.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Great seeing you here, Robert! Yes, I see so many people so full of themselves that they step out in traffic just knowing the oncoming car will stop. One fatal day, they will be wrong sadly.

      Like you, I feel that compassion and other-mindedness are fast becoming extinct.

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  3. It's incredible how fast things are moving. Mind you, I still listen to CDs, love record shops, and use road maps and dictionaries. On that last one, I grab for it if my internet is being too sluggish. I really hope old-fashioned books, full stop, don't become obsolete - there's something special about them and they're not at the whim of some electronic failure or meltdown. Better to drop one book in the bath than your entire library on a Kindle!

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    Replies
    1. Having your life in the "Cloud" is only as secure as your access to it, right?

      I like the feel and smell of leather-bound books. Having a hardback in my hands brings back my childhood thrill of discovering new worlds in the library. :-)

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  4. Hi Roland - slide rules aren't redundant - perhaps not often used, but available for the quick calculation. Books definitely won't be redundant for a while ... I remember the term 'planned obsolescence' ... when things were built with an artificially limited useful life ... at the time it struck me as very strange ... we were still 20 years+ post war - yet we kept everything and made it last.

    Today - a new one today, another tomorrow and so it goes ... cheers Hilary

    http://positiveletters.blogspot.co.uk/2017/04/o-is-for-orkney-islands-adapted-breeds.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Build to last was once thought of as a way to build success in your business as you say. Now, they want a fast turn over rate for more sales in the future!

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  5. Record stores might be obsolete, but ironically vinyl has made a small comeback.
    I'm old enough to remember 8-tracks and Pong.

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    Replies
    1. I'm that old, too. Music stores may be gone, but you can still find vinyl records at our struggling bookstore, BooksAMillion.

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  6. I still have my B&W darkroom equipment. Doubt I'll ever have time to develop and print again, but I hate to get rid of it. I started my pro photographer career with that ancient enlarger. (I think it's older than I am.)

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    Replies
    1. It is a part of dream's early days so I understand why you will not get rid of us. Besides, like Alex wrote: everything old is new again. :-)

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  7. My sister used to have a store, and she saw how little kids were absolutely fascinated with typewriters -- the more old-fashioned (non-electric, real antiques), the better. And one of the hottest shops here in Denver is a vinyl and cd store. So perhaps compassion will come back into fashion too.

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