Posted on 04/22/2018 6:13:57 AM PDT by sodpoodle
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
[6. Music
Rap is crap. And whatever isn’t rap is overproduced pablum where each song is designed to sound exactly the same as the next. I don’t know why the folks who produce this stuff are so afraid of a melody. Maybe they just don’t know how to craft one. ]
Its dumbed down like everything else.
I was referring to your comment about not having a way to move back and forth in an electronic book.
I was hoping he was going to list the snail darter.
“For example, Sun Tzu’s The Art of War is best read by opening a page at random and reading it.”
Easily done with an electronic book.
I would love to get rid of my land-line.
I dare them to provide reliable cell phone service out here in the sticks—in a state where every company claims they have “100% coverage”.
The only thing we have 100% of in this (New England) state is total bulls____!
Ok. And?
I tried to drag and drop a file in my One Drive into a folder on my One Drive and the entire One Drive disappeared. After a few moments of near-death experience, it just as suddenly reappeared. I backed it up into a physical drive, then bought an SD card and backed it up again. I will never trust the “cloud” again.
I sure hope not, and the same goes for newspapers. I don't want to have to read everything on a screen. After a while, screens hurt my eyes.
“Progress” doesn’t necessarily mean that things get better.
It is a strong step, and we are not there yet, but you may want to consider one of those devices that allows you identify _only_ the numbers you will receive.
It requires caller ID, but is great for senior citizens who could be vulnerable to the robo-call scammers.
I always find these “our lifetime” articles annoying-——is every single human the same age?
It makes no sense.
.
I don’t know. I sent a birthday card with a gift card to Danville, PA. It arrived in Danville, was determined it was 1 oz over postage and sent back to me for 21 cents. How much did it coast to transport it to Danville and then deliver it back to my hone? Was it over 21 cents? If so, how does the Post Office manage to survive when it cannot manage its business properly?
The only thing they are correct about is privacy, which hasn’t really existed for decades.
Just glad I won’t likely live long enough to see a lot of this happen. I’ve already seen more of it happen than i wanted to.
“I always find these “our lifetime” articles annoying”
If it annoys you why did you click on it?
“This is one of those articles that are fun to read but full of overblown speculations.”
Yes, it reminds me of all the predictions about the “paperless office”. Things will change no doubt, but it’s tough killing off things. Hell, even vinyl records are making a comeback! I’m awaiting the return of 8 track tapes.
As with a lot things, online retailing has pretty much destroyed the paradigm of your local over overpriced bookseller. New and used books can be delivered to your door within days at a substantial savings over the conventional brick and mortar stores.
Personally, I find reading actual books to be easier and more relaxing than electronic versions. Plus, if I sit on a book I forgot was in my pocket, it doesn’t destroy it.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.