Ten Things That Will Disappear In Our Lifetime
Ten Things That Will Disappear In Our Lifetime
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 check 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.
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.
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.
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 "catalogue 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."
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.
8. The "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.
9. Joined Handwriting (Cursive Writing)
Already gone in some schools who no longer teach "joined handwriting" because nearly everything is done now on computers or keyboards of some type (pun not intended)
10. 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.. "They" will try to get you to buy something else. Again and again and again.
All we will have left that which can't be changed.......are our "Memories".
Logic is dead.
Excellence is punished.
Mediocrity is rewarded.
And dependency is to be revered..
This is present-day North America .
When crooks rob banks they go to prison.
When they rob the taxpayer they get re-elected
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I don't think I agree with everything here, but I do believe a lot of it is happening.
I'm not sure I can disagree with any of it myself.
The Post Office is untenable in it's present form. Every year volume falls. Basically the two things that keep it afloat are bills and junk mail. Right now I receive about 10 pieces of junk mail for every bill I receive and probably 20 bills for every "letter" (Doctor's report, Christmas card, reminder, etc.) I receive. Volume drops and prices of postage goes up. After some point it will tip and people won't use mail anymore. I guess the only think you can expect at that point is for the government to take over the postal service and support it out of taxes. Then it will cost US tax payers about 2 bucks per piece of mail.
I know governments would love to do away with all non-digital forms of currency. When that happen in my life time, probably not. I'm getting old. But it will happen. The say will come in the not to distant future when they will pry up every pebble looking for tax money which means they are going to want to keep people from using methods of payment that may go untracked.
I think printed newspapers are on their way out. Readership is way down. Why bother paying for a printed newspaper when you can get your news online for free? not to mention most people have a choice of one or two newspaper deliveries and almost endless sources of news online. Frankly, I think the quality of newspapers is dropping too. I won't by my local newspaper. It's just complete trash. It's used more wield power than to inform the public. Sadly, I think the quality of pretty much all news organizations has dropped to nearly non-existent. Most all news organizations have reached the paparazzi stage. It's like watching children slap fight.
I haven't bought a printed book in several years. I own over a thousand e-books. Sure it's nice to hold and smell the paper and ink. I get that. But it's so convenient to be able to carry my whole library on my phone or pad. E-books are cheaper and they don't wear out or get ruined. E-books link directly to dictionaries, Wikipedia, Google, etc so if I read something I'm not familiar with I can highlight it and get a definition or other useful information. I can alter how what I'm reading looks with e-books. Sometimes paperback books are printed in a too small of font for me to read comfortably. That's not a problem with e-books. The only downside to e-books I see is what would happen if Amazon or B&N or whoever you use collapses? What would happen to your library?
The landline is going the way of the dodo bird. I still have mine but I seem to be in the minority. Cell phones has completely taken over.
Music - <sigh> I haven't liked most all new music since the 80's. Most of it could disappear and I wouldn't notice. Nearly all the music I buy was first published in a past time. In fact, the last song I purchased was a version of "Unchained Melody" which was first released in 1955.
TV is another medium where they now throw out mediocrity and call it art. Growing up the family sat around the TV in the evenings after dinner and watched great shows on a few stations. Now we have 250 channels and there's nothing good to watch. I don't even see that changing. TV will continue to produce crap, with the odd jewel appearing from time to time. As long as TV continues to produce crap, their revenues will be crap.
OK, I expect to keep owning "things" It's very difficult to place a chair on the cloud. Now what I can see happening is that the time will come in the not too distant future where every home will have a fabricator. Something that through the use of 3D printing or whatever will make you what you need, so what you will do is buy a license to make whatever you want. Instead of buying a new chair and bringing it home, you'll buy the plans to a new chair and have your fabricator print it for you.
Other than my signature, I haven't use cursive writing for more than 40 years. Do they still even teach it in school? In fact, I don't print out lower case letters either unless I'm writing out program code where an "A" is different than an "a". BTW for those of you who never realized, this "&" is a capital 7...
Privacy is all but gone. It's just an illusion now. Today's youngsters don't even miss it. This is sad. This was one of those great pearls that society just tossed away not understanding it's worth.
You were hitting on all 8 cylinders...Right up until here.
All we will have left that which can't be changed.......are our "Memories".
Logic is dead.
Excellence is punished.
Mediocrity is rewarded.
And dependency is to be revered..
This is present-day North America .
When crooks rob banks they go to prison.
When they rob the taxpayer they get re-elected
Not single thing. Not one. Not even close. None of those things are true. Those things are naked, un-provabale, un-shown cynicism! There is not a damn thing happening in the world today to show that any of those things are happening or if they were, could not be easily stopped with just an expression of simple will of the American people. And I have no doubt whatsoever, that as little as they are showing it now, the American people will make that expression of will in the end, minus the bigoted and ignorant who do not count anyway. Fuck 'em! I trust the real Americans to step forward as they have in the past, such as when this nation was formed and after a war against each other and then another with of friends, against the world. We have overcome so much that I have no doubt that the American people have it in them to make this happen.
I don't think I agree with everything here, but I do believe a lot of it is happening.
If you do, then you do not or have never known the American people. Because you are simply and completely wrong!
As I said, I don't think I agree with everything here, but I do believe a lot of it is happening. I truly believe that numbers 1 to 5, and 9 are well on their way out, but don't know about the rest. The point here is that everyone can have their own opinion about what may or may not be accurate.
We do have our own opinion. In my opinion there is a certain, indescribable American spirit that has made us the envy of the world and the world's only superpower, in spite of the weakness and whipped dog like subservience to Putin that Trump and his small potatoes amateur crime family has shown. I honestly believe that this spirit does not only exist in our political system and that, when we need it the most, a true leader or spirit steps forward and shows the world why we are and will remain the pre-emanate power in the world. It may be arrogance, but there is a line in the old film " A Face in the Crowed" that is spoken by Walter Matthau;
"We got wise to him, that’s our strength."
Well that is our strength. In the end, though it may take awhile, we get wise to them and then they become has been's and meaningless. The American spirit is more powerful then the slickest criminal con man and we are about to prove it with Donald J. Trump!
You're a patriot. As I was reading your comment I could hear the music of the Battle Hymn of the Republic biuilding up to a climax. "Glory, glory hallelujah". Oh, wait a sec - that isn't right. You're an atheist so you're not going to see "the coming of the glory of the Lord". Better stick to The Star Spangled Banner. Oh shit!!! The anthem contains the words: "And this be our motto: “In God is our trust.”" Well I guess we have to go with America, the Beautiful. Oh no. The lyrics contain "America! America! God shed His grace on thee," Randy. I think you're stuck with Yankee Doodle.
"And this be our motto: “In God is our trust.”
And I would have those words removed or have The Star Spangled Banner be removed as our official national anthem. I believe the only reason it's not is that no one sings that far down into it. If they did, I would sue and the ACLU would help.
There is no link to the seeded article so we could see if there is some sort of context.
I think the listing of the ten things that will disappear is fine and there is no doubt some obvious truth there.
The last part, which seems to be a conservative anthem of some sort, was not necessary and isnt even relatable to what preceded it.
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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 "catalogue 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."
People have always played and sung old music, for one simple reason. Music itself exists outside time, it is timeless. If there were some sort of recency requirement for music to be viable, there would be no such thing as "classics".
It is for young people to be concerned with the music of the day, and everyone else to listen to and patronize whatever the hell they want.
I don't expect to live forever and this was perhaps written by someone younger and perhaps several years ago as well.
1. The Post Office
I doubt this, as Fedex, UPS, etc. use the USPS extensively. I get numerous packages that started out with such carriers and are hand delivered by USPS. Even on Sundays.
Likely the USPS reduce days for home delivery... other than packages.
3. The Newspaper
They’ve taken a hit, but advertising circulars and coupons come with a lot of regional papers. This would require non Amazon types to go even farther away.
4. The Book
Oddly, I would have agreed with this statement, but books seem to be making a comeback. Bookstores are another matter.
6. Music
I would have thought for the sake of consistency, we would be asked to check out the E-book, rather than book.
9. Joined Handwriting (Cursive Writing)
That is making a comeback in school systems across the land. Why? I don’t know. Keep reading about schools reintroducing Cursive.
10. Privacy
This was always a perception. Certainly technology has become more intrusive and with developments in wifi, even our homes are no longer secure. . That was from 5 years ago. Imagine what it can do in another 5 years.