21 Things That Became Obsolete This Decade

http://www.businessinsider.com/21-things-that-became-obsolete-this-decade-2009-12#pdas-1

by ciscoriordan • 17 years ago

15 16 17 years ago

Arubis• 17 years ago

#21 on the list: Paper.

"Probably the biggest casualty of the decade. With most communication now conducted online, magazines and newspapers crumbling, and e-readers increasing in popularity, paper is now on serious life support.

It's likely we'll look back and say that, after a 2,000 year reign, paper was killed by the noughties."

I absolutely disagree.

The way we use paper is shifting, yes: Paper's domain over long-term data storage is, obviously, shaken and falling, and that's a good thing — it's bulky, wasteful, and slow to search. So, too, are the news and the paper further in sunder, as scaled communication moves further into the digital domain.

But as a means and medium for thinking and creation, pen and paper are still orders of magnitude more effective than computerized tools except in very specific instances.

It's possible that I'm being a luddite here, and that the generation being born now will find using a computer for the initial stages in the creative process to be more natural than pen and paper. My suspicion, though, is that this simple medium persists because we've had a lot more time to refine it — far longer than the modern computer has existed.

As an aside, does anyone have a better term for this decade than "noughties?" I've heard it a few times and can't shake the feeling that it's awful.

wglb• 17 years ago

I have heard "the naughts" which I like better than "noughties".

silentbicycle• 17 years ago

Agreed. Anytime I hear people go on about how paper is obsolete, I think about how useful whiteboards are for brainstorming. I've never heard people claim whiteboards are obsolete, and paper often gets used for the same things. Sometimes new inventions give you more options, rather than just replacing something else.

aaronblohowiak2• 17 years ago

Have you ever used a Cintiq?

xtho• 17 years ago

Build auch a device in A3 format powered by solar energy and come back again when you're done.

InclinedPlane• 17 years ago

#6 Maps

Sorry, no. There may be alternatives to maps now, but maps will still be around for quite some time. There isn't cell service everywhere, and a GPS is not the end-all-be-all of navigation. I can take a map and a compass out into the boondocks through rivers and rain and ice and mud and brush and still find my way (which in some circumstances can be a life or death thing). Electronics are a good complement to maps, but they are not a 100% replacement yet.

Also, I'm surprised they missed CRTs. That's a pretty big change that's affected huge numbers of people.

gamble• 17 years ago

"Also, I'm surprised they missed CRTs. That's a pretty big change that's affected huge numbers of people."

Amen. It always amazed me how many people ran their CRT at 60 Hz. Even today's cheapest LCD is an ergonomic achievement compared to what most people used ten years ago.

tjr2• 17 years ago

Email accounts you have to pay for? I don't remember ever paying for an email account, per se. They show a picture of an American Online graphic; I never used American Online, but weren't you paying for the whole service, not just email? I've had multiple email accounts that were tied to ISPs, but felt I was more paying for the overall internet service.

CDs? Maybe to a large degree, but one high-end jazz group I know of just released a new album strictly on CD, because they don't feel that digital distribution options offer enough sound quality.

Getting film developed? Definitely fading, but as I look at photographs that I've taken over the past few years, I like the overall appearance of the photos taken on Fuji NPH-400 film over those taken with a $3000 digital SLR camera.

dlsspy• 17 years ago

> CDs? Maybe to a large degree, but one high-end jazz group I know of just released a new album strictly on CD, because they don't feel that digital distribution options offer enough sound quality.

CD is digital distribution. I grab the CD, copy the bits onto my computer, and place my drink on it and listen to the music.

(idea stolen entirely from the NOFX Coaster album (Music included!): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DhOY7z2FY3U )

    Coasters and Frisbees
    Fish lures for deep seas
    Mobiles for infants
    They make great Christmas tree ornaments

    Bring the whole family,
    parking is free
    You're going to love
    our selection
    of 8-track tapes,
    Blank floppy discs,
    mobile car phones,
    Atari 2600 consoles

    Guard rail reflectors
    Hold 'em hand protectors
    Halloween handouts
    We got a ten-thousand foot warehouse
    Full of cassette tapes,
    Persimmon woods,
    Ink jet printers,
    telephone booths,
    Sony Walkman's,
    Kodak 110's,
    Analog TV's,
    Betamax's

And 10 million CD's

billybob• 17 years ago

I still buy CDs, even though I rip them immediately. Why?

1) I like getting booklets with lyrics 2) I can re-rip anytime with higher quality or a different format 3) The CD gets stored safely as a backup

If all digital music were sold in a lossless, DRM-free format, and included excellent digital booklets, and I had an easy and good backup strategy, I guess I'd stop buying CDs. But that day hasn't quite arrived for me.

stcredzero• 17 years ago

And 10 million CD's

Sigh. Add "proper punctuation" to that obsolete list. (The article is guilty as well.)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eats,_Shoots_&_Leaves

thingie• 17 years ago

My primary email account is a part of paid web hosting service, so, in some sense, I do pay for my email account, even nowadays. I also don't remember email account as a separate service.

DannoHung• 17 years ago

Is it SuperAudio CD or something? Do they realize that there is such a thing as FLAC?

I mean, I'd figure if they were real snobs they'd do a vinyl only pressing.

tjr2• 17 years ago

http://openhandsmusic.net/sample_music

liquidben• 17 years ago

I think they should also credit RedBox for the decrease in rental stores. There are a lot of people out there who use it, either because they aren't internet-savvy or for other reasons.

As for faxing, I sadly encounter way too many occasions where it is still used.

Here's hoping that in the next decade, we'll see a drastic improvement of local governments posting things online. I just received a letter stating that unspecified changes were being made to a the zoning codes of a district only referred to as a number, specifically in regards to areas zoned as one of two different two-letter abbreviations. For full text, I have to go to city hall. They might as well have printed it on Vogon letterhead

21 Things That Became Obsolete This Decade

Related Stories