Neko-chan
Lovin' The Homestead
...
Nine items that will probably disappear in our lifetime.
- Thread starter Boogity
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Beekissed
Mountain Sage
Not really~doesn't make me the least bit sad! 
I'm not a big fan of newfangled techno crap...sure it's very convenient at times, but in this area? Not worth a dime. A lady found that out just last night during a big rain storm half way up a mountain. I stopped to see if she needed help and found that she had a flat tire and couldn't get anyone on her cell phone....of course she couldn't! I helped her get the lugs loosened but then we found she had a flat spare as well....I did have some Fix a Flat, my old standby, and had her going in no time. I give her kudos for at least knowing how to place a jack and use a tire tool....most of the women I know haven't got a clue.
I'm 4 miles out of town and I can't get cell service...and it suits me just fine. My landline was down the other day and my kids were all worried about it~what if you need to call someone and you can't???? I explained I spent the better part of my life without any phone and my needs haven't changed much since then. Poor people! So dependent.
I'm not a big fan of newfangled techno crap...sure it's very convenient at times, but in this area? Not worth a dime. A lady found that out just last night during a big rain storm half way up a mountain. I stopped to see if she needed help and found that she had a flat tire and couldn't get anyone on her cell phone....of course she couldn't! I helped her get the lugs loosened but then we found she had a flat spare as well....I did have some Fix a Flat, my old standby, and had her going in no time. I give her kudos for at least knowing how to place a jack and use a tire tool....most of the women I know haven't got a clue. I'm 4 miles out of town and I can't get cell service...and it suits me just fine. My landline was down the other day and my kids were all worried about it~what if you need to call someone and you can't???? I explained I spent the better part of my life without any phone and my needs haven't changed much since then. Poor people! So dependent.
THEFAN
Lovin' The Homestead
Love the post. Most of these 9 will effect me I guess.
I always use checks to pay my bills I like to control my own money flow and when people get payed if I want to pay them or not.
Telephone land-line. I have dial-up. If that goes so does my internet.
Books HEY RIGHT!! You can pry them from my cold dead hands.
Just some
I always use checks to pay my bills I like to control my own money flow and when people get payed if I want to pay them or not.
Telephone land-line. I have dial-up. If that goes so does my internet.
Books HEY RIGHT!! You can pry them from my cold dead hands.
Just some
Denim Deb
More Precious than Rubies
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They've been saying books are going to disappear for quite some time, still hasn't happened. And, when they came out w/VHS tapes, etc, they predicted that movie theaters would close. I'm still waiting for both of those to happen.
Leta
Lovin' The Homestead
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I am not holding my breath on the death of the Post Office. It's mandatory per the Constitution that we have a national postal service.
We have a home phone, but not a landline. We use a NetTalk, and pay $30 per year for it. This has enabled us to get by with el cheapo cell phones. We pay $80 per year, or less, on cell phone minutes. The home phone and cell phones are routed through Google Voice, which is free, so one number (which we never have to change, no matter how many times we change phones) rings all three phones. We do have DSL, which is $15/mo. And we have subs to Netflix and Hulu+ that we watch on our TV via our Roku box. So to break it all down, we spend about $40/mo on version of the "quadruple play [breathless announcer voice]: wireless, home phone, high speed internet, and television for only $159.99!!" It is this type of thing that makes me love technology, because we are paying for all this what my parents were paying for just a home phone 15-20 years ago.
It cracks me up to read anything in the WSJ that bashes an industry for "greed and corruption." Not very self aware, are they? I discover new music all the time via Pandora (free). I think the music industry and the RIAA are dying, and to them I say good riddance. But music dying? Balderdash. Music predates instruments, for pity's sake. Some silly tech shift in recording ability isn't going to squelch a musician's drive. (I am a non-musician, born into a family full of musicians- you can't pay 'em to quit.)
I cannot remember the last time I wrote a check. Or, for that matter, mailed a bill...
I held out against e-readers for a good while. I love books- I love the smell of new books, the smell of old books, how a book feels in my hands, how you can rub your fingertips over the title page and have a good idea of when it was published, I love giving books as gifts, and receiving them, too, I love bookshops and bookshelves and the library is my single favorite place on Earth. It has been my dream since I was old enough to dream anything to have a room, a whole room in my house that was just floor to ceiling bookshelves, with a rolling ladder and big chair in the middle of it. So I was very, very cynical about the Kindle.
Then, I got to play with my uncle's Kindle, and I was hooked. It's not like a computer screen at all, it's like a page. It doesn't glow, you can't read it in the dark. It isn't shiny, so you can read it outside. And you can pick out something and have it to read- BOOM- right away.
So I bought one. I fricking love the thing. Is it as good as a book? Nope. But when I travel now, my luggage isn't overweight. The Kindle itself cost less than the last bookshelf that I bought, and muchmuchMUCH less than adding a room onto my house to hold 1500 books. I have spent a very tiny amount of money on Kindle books- there is a metric ton of good stuff for free or 99c, and with Swagbucks I earn free Amazon gift cards, which I then spend on Kindle books. I love books, still, and I know I'll always have some. But the service is great, it's very cheap, Whispernet works the way iTunes should, and between the Kindle, the iPod, Pandora and Netflix, I have decluttered boxes upon boxes of CDs, DVDs, and books, and my house feels so.much.bigger. now.
We have a home phone, but not a landline. We use a NetTalk, and pay $30 per year for it. This has enabled us to get by with el cheapo cell phones. We pay $80 per year, or less, on cell phone minutes. The home phone and cell phones are routed through Google Voice, which is free, so one number (which we never have to change, no matter how many times we change phones) rings all three phones. We do have DSL, which is $15/mo. And we have subs to Netflix and Hulu+ that we watch on our TV via our Roku box. So to break it all down, we spend about $40/mo on version of the "quadruple play [breathless announcer voice]: wireless, home phone, high speed internet, and television for only $159.99!!" It is this type of thing that makes me love technology, because we are paying for all this what my parents were paying for just a home phone 15-20 years ago.
It cracks me up to read anything in the WSJ that bashes an industry for "greed and corruption." Not very self aware, are they? I discover new music all the time via Pandora (free). I think the music industry and the RIAA are dying, and to them I say good riddance. But music dying? Balderdash. Music predates instruments, for pity's sake. Some silly tech shift in recording ability isn't going to squelch a musician's drive. (I am a non-musician, born into a family full of musicians- you can't pay 'em to quit.)
I cannot remember the last time I wrote a check. Or, for that matter, mailed a bill...
I held out against e-readers for a good while. I love books- I love the smell of new books, the smell of old books, how a book feels in my hands, how you can rub your fingertips over the title page and have a good idea of when it was published, I love giving books as gifts, and receiving them, too, I love bookshops and bookshelves and the library is my single favorite place on Earth. It has been my dream since I was old enough to dream anything to have a room, a whole room in my house that was just floor to ceiling bookshelves, with a rolling ladder and big chair in the middle of it. So I was very, very cynical about the Kindle.
Then, I got to play with my uncle's Kindle, and I was hooked. It's not like a computer screen at all, it's like a page. It doesn't glow, you can't read it in the dark. It isn't shiny, so you can read it outside. And you can pick out something and have it to read- BOOM- right away.
So I bought one. I fricking love the thing. Is it as good as a book? Nope. But when I travel now, my luggage isn't overweight. The Kindle itself cost less than the last bookshelf that I bought, and muchmuchMUCH less than adding a room onto my house to hold 1500 books. I have spent a very tiny amount of money on Kindle books- there is a metric ton of good stuff for free or 99c, and with Swagbucks I earn free Amazon gift cards, which I then spend on Kindle books. I love books, still, and I know I'll always have some. But the service is great, it's very cheap, Whispernet works the way iTunes should, and between the Kindle, the iPod, Pandora and Netflix, I have decluttered boxes upon boxes of CDs, DVDs, and books, and my house feels so.much.bigger. now.
savingdogs
Queen Filksinger
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1. The Post Office - In my case, I have to say good riddance. I've had horrific mail service ever since we moved to WA. Almost every day we get the wrong person's mail. And the system seems to only be about junk mail now. I don't believe small businesses will go out of business if the mail-outs end. They will just have to come up with different promotional ideas and gimicks to get people to notice them. People who refuse to try new things will go out of business, but there are new ways to advertise all the time as well. Aren't there ADS running on Backyard chicken? 
2. The Check - We use very few checks these days. But I think you will still be able to write them for a certain fee, the idea that you can give someone a piece of paper worth money in their bank account is pretty basic, there will probably be LESS need but not none, IMHO.
3. The Newspaper - How will we start our fires in our woodstoves?
But seriously, I read all my news online, free. Would I pay for news online? Probably not.
4. The Book - I love reading and have a huge book collection I will never get rid of. But I also have a Kindle and it is my Best Friend. I love, love, love the thing. It is so much nicer to read on, not ever too heavy, you never lose your place, so easy to turn pages, and the font is always the right size. It seems so practical to have so many books in such a small package (the current Kindle holds 3500 books!). It has also offered new authors a way to self publish and e-books are changing the way people become authors. I still think people will want "real" books however, not as many of them. Kindles will not replace things such as beautiful table books. Reading a book on a computer and reading a Kindle are not similar at all.
5. The Land Line Telephone - We still have a land line, not a cell phone. But cells don't work here.
6. Music - I think the way music is bought and sold will change but music will never die *SD hears strains of Bye Bye Miss American Pie in the background*. There are new ways these days that talent is found, shows like American Idol and X Factor "make" the stars these days, but at least they ask for audience imput for a change! Many of the winners of those shows have been very wholesome role models such as Carrie Underwood. I don't think that it is such a bad thing. Music is very compartmentalized these days and there are so many genres people classify themselves into. I find that trend disturbing, but don't believe in a second that people will stop listening to and creating music and distributing it. I'm just sorry I'm deaf and won't be able to hear it.
7. Television - I think regular TV will be around a good while, but more for older folks. Our family does watch a lot of shows on the computer. However, I often cannot find closed captioning so I personally watch more public television.
8. The "Things" That You Own - I've personally lost a lot of very special stuff (like five years of family photos and a BOOK I was writing) when my computer went down, so if more of my "stuff" was online and saved, I wouldn't cry too hard. That is somewhat how a Kindle works.
9. Privacy - I have to agree that there is less privacy now. Pretty soon they will have a camera of the whole world that they can observe every time someone picks their nose or passes gas. Big brother will really be watching us soon, if he isn't already.
2. The Check - We use very few checks these days. But I think you will still be able to write them for a certain fee, the idea that you can give someone a piece of paper worth money in their bank account is pretty basic, there will probably be LESS need but not none, IMHO.
3. The Newspaper - How will we start our fires in our woodstoves?
But seriously, I read all my news online, free. Would I pay for news online? Probably not. 4. The Book - I love reading and have a huge book collection I will never get rid of. But I also have a Kindle and it is my Best Friend. I love, love, love the thing. It is so much nicer to read on, not ever too heavy, you never lose your place, so easy to turn pages, and the font is always the right size. It seems so practical to have so many books in such a small package (the current Kindle holds 3500 books!). It has also offered new authors a way to self publish and e-books are changing the way people become authors. I still think people will want "real" books however, not as many of them. Kindles will not replace things such as beautiful table books. Reading a book on a computer and reading a Kindle are not similar at all.
5. The Land Line Telephone - We still have a land line, not a cell phone. But cells don't work here.
6. Music - I think the way music is bought and sold will change but music will never die *SD hears strains of Bye Bye Miss American Pie in the background*. There are new ways these days that talent is found, shows like American Idol and X Factor "make" the stars these days, but at least they ask for audience imput for a change! Many of the winners of those shows have been very wholesome role models such as Carrie Underwood. I don't think that it is such a bad thing. Music is very compartmentalized these days and there are so many genres people classify themselves into. I find that trend disturbing, but don't believe in a second that people will stop listening to and creating music and distributing it. I'm just sorry I'm deaf and won't be able to hear it.
7. Television - I think regular TV will be around a good while, but more for older folks. Our family does watch a lot of shows on the computer. However, I often cannot find closed captioning so I personally watch more public television.
8. The "Things" That You Own - I've personally lost a lot of very special stuff (like five years of family photos and a BOOK I was writing) when my computer went down, so if more of my "stuff" was online and saved, I wouldn't cry too hard. That is somewhat how a Kindle works.
9. Privacy - I have to agree that there is less privacy now. Pretty soon they will have a camera of the whole world that they can observe every time someone picks their nose or passes gas. Big brother will really be watching us soon, if he isn't already.
savingdogs
Queen Filksinger
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Sorry for the double post, I don't know why that happened.....
(edited because ya already read it!)
(edited because ya already read it!)
Wifezilla
Low-Carb Queen - RIP: 1963-2021
I was in line at Hellmart the other day (it's literally 2 minutes from my house), and got stuck behind a lady stocking the cupboards. All the lines were long so I grabbed a magazine and chilled. Finally the checker was almost done, i put back the magazine (couldn't concentrate to read it because it was screaming kid day apparently) and then nearly came unglued. The lady in front of me with 2 full baskets waited until everything was rung up and she got a total before she started digging in her purse for her checkbook. 
Then she started SSLLLOOWWWWLLLLLYYYY filling out the check as steam started to come out my ears. Why in the world didn't she fill out everything but the total as she was standing there for 10 minutes as the checker scanned her food? It wasn't like she was busy putting bags in the cart. Her daughter did that for her! 
Then, because the check was for a high amount, the manager had to come over. And with the new system, it was scanned in anyway, then she had to sign the electronic pad and they gave her the stupid check back!!! 
It wouldn't have bothered me so much if we weren't surrounded by screaming brats but
It was bad enough being in a Walmart. Getting stuck behind a slow check writer just about sent me over the edge.
Then she started SSLLLOOWWWWLLLLLYYYY filling out the check as steam started to come out my ears. Why in the world didn't she fill out everything but the total as she was standing there for 10 minutes as the checker scanned her food? It wasn't like she was busy putting bags in the cart. Her daughter did that for her! Then, because the check was for a high amount, the manager had to come over. And with the new system, it was scanned in anyway, then she had to sign the electronic pad and they gave her the stupid check back!!! It wouldn't have bothered me so much if we weren't surrounded by screaming brats but
It was bad enough being in a Walmart. Getting stuck behind a slow check writer just about sent me over the edge.
cabinchick
Lovin' The Homestead
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Wifezilla said:
I have never heard Walmart called Hellmart ...I don't shop there at all but somehow it always comes up in conversations with others. Now I have a new nickname for it. Thank you Wifezilla 
GaFarmGirl
Power Conserver
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I hope as all of you are saying your goodbyes to these goods and services that you will keep in mind that that is someone's job. That is what is making it possible for someone (ME) to put food on the table for their family. It is not just a big federal company it is people. People that need their job as much as you need yours.savingdogs said:1. The Post Office - In my case, I have to say good riddance. I've had horrific mail service ever since we moved to WA. Almost every day we get the wrong person's mail. And the system seems to only be about junk mail now. I don't believe small businesses will go out of business if the mail-outs end. They will just have to come up with different promotional ideas and gimicks to get people to notice them. People who refuse to try new things will go out of business, but there are new ways to advertise all the time as well. Aren't there ADS running on Backyard chicken?
Do you realize that the post office is the ONLY self supporting mandated federal agency? We never take tax dollars to keep going it is all from the sale of goods and services. We are also the ONLY federal agency that is required to PREfund retirees benefits - a gem of a clause that was slipped in by congress. If we (like all of the other federal agencies) were able to fund as go we would not be in this financial mess that we are in. Everyone says that the PO needs to change in order to survive in the global market place but every change that needs to be made must go through CONGRESS first and you know their record of getting things done. I would love to see how other companies would stack up if they had to run every decision through congress.
