12 Things That Became Obsolete This Decade (PHOTOS)

So let's count down what Huffington Post things are the 12 most obsolete things of the decade.

#1--Calling

#2--Classifieds In Newspapers

#3--Dial Up Internet

#4--Encyclopedias

#5--CD's

#6--Landline Phones

#7--Film (And Film Cameras)

#8--Yellow Pages And Address Books

#9--Catalogs

#10--Fax Machines

#11--Wires

#12--Hand-Written Letters

Source (Descriptions of each list item found at source).

Well other than the questionable tag lines from #10 and #6, I pretty much agree that these things are obsolete although I think some of them should not be. I think hand written letters to be a very important thing, along with Encyclopedias. It's too easy for revisionist historians to mess everything up online.

Thoughts?

Any other things that have become obsolete?

~Keeper



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[edit on 12/27/2009 by AshleyD]

Pay Phones

I remember using them, but now it is almost impossible to find one.

I'm not sure if they are even being made anymore.

Semper

reply to post by semperfortis


Yes it's pretty sad they're gone. I read the article earlier on huffington post and I think "landlines" covers that base.

The interesting thing about a lot of these items is their connection. If one did want to fear an nwo that could ata minute cut off almost all information and social connections, I'd say we're well on our way to allowing that to happen.

Call me paranoid, but that's what the article made me think of.

We always have a land line, push-button phone plugged in and keep a yellow pages directory around. During electrical outages, we usually still have phone service. During a bad storm last summer, electricity was off 3 days and cell phone batteries were low, but we still had the old land line. Also, still keep stationery, greeting cards, envelopes and stamps.

Dial-up...

Who says change is a bad thing...

There's also a massive loss to the dvd/movie market and traditional hight street retail in general.

Men in their late 30s with hair. Sorry but where are they all going? Or should I say 'it'.

[edit on 27-12-2009 by unicorn1]

Common sense, I swear there is way less than there was a decade ago.

Then again, common sence was never very common....

reply to post by tothetenthpower


Landlines are useful during hurricane season when cell towers are blasted. And, some older folks don't even have computers, so they use phone books.

The same could be said for a lot of the other things on this list...if it's still around, someone is using it.

I'd say typewriters are obsolete.

Originally posted by unicorn1
Men in their late 30s with hair. Sorry but where are they all going? Or should I say 'it'.

[edit on 27-12-2009 by unicorn1]

I still have my full head of hair. Not going anywhere.

reply to post by Seiko


I don't know about #5. I still like CD's. Online, overly-compressed music is no substitute unless lossless compression like FLAC is offered that is identical to the CD tracks, but that seems exceedingly rare. I do like having the whole artwork package as well, which online music doesn't adequately replace.

I'd say everything but #3, #4, #7 are rather questionable.

I agree with semperfortis on the payphones. Pretty much everywhere there used to be one there's now a gutted box or it has been removed alltogether. But hey, we're moving towards a society where everything you require in order to function within it also has a monthly bill attached.

Perhaps "paying for things only when you require them" should be on the list. Add to that "not needing so much crap just for the basics or else you are effectively ostracized". Maybe "paying cash" should be there too. Oh, and "staying within your means"-- the first two might interfere with one's ability to do that without additional income earners.

Just forget it! My horseless carriage has a flat tire.

Originally posted by tothetenthpower
So let's count down what Huffington Post things are the 12 most obsolete things of the decade.

#1--Calling

Text messaging, BlackBerry Messaging, Instant Messaging, Tweeting, Google Wave-ing, and emailing have taken over communication. The popularity of text messaging is gradually edging out calling. The AP reports that Americans sent more than 110 billion text messages in December 2008, double the number in the last month of 2007.

#2--Classifieds In Newspapers

Not only have ad dollars followed audiences online, but the expansion of Craigslist -- from one city, San Francisco, to over 500 -- has sent chills down the spines of newspaper publishers everywhere, thinning newspapers and reducing ad sales.

#3--Dial Up Internet

Noisy, slow, erratic, and wired. Nostalgic? Listen to its beeps, fuzz, and hums on YouTube.

#4--Encyclopedias

Users have traded Britannicas on the bookshelf for the collaboratively-built, online-only Wikipedia.

#5--CD's

CDs, and the stores that sold them, have all but been replaced by digital music that can be downloaded online, one track at a time.

#6--Landline Phones

They've been unplugged.

#7--Film (And Film Cameras)

Digital cameras--on phones, point-and-shoots, or computers--are capturing memories, instantly and cheaply, in place of film cameras.

#8--Yellow Pages And Address Books

There was a time when "let your fingers do the walking" meant opening a phone book -- not typing in a search query. Phone books, address books, and the Yellow Pages have been made obsolete, their information transferred from paper onto smartphones, and the web.

#9--Catalogs

Earlier this decade, "spam" came through the mail slot, not into your inbox. Times have changed.

#10--Fax Machines

Before, hot. Now? Not.

#11--Wires

Wireless internet, wireless updating, wireless downloads, wireless charging, wireless headphones: Although wires are still around (for now!), they're well on their way to being a thing of the past.

#12--Hand-Written Letters

Wireless internet, wireless updating, wireless downloads, wireless charging, wireless headphones: Although wires are still around (for now!), they're well on their way to being a thing of the past.

Source

Well other than the questionable tag lines from #10 and #6, I pretty much agree that these things are obsolete although I think some of them should not be. I think hand written letters to be a very important thing, along with Encyclopedias. It's too easy for revisionist historians to mess everything up online.

Thoughts?

Any other things that have become obsolete?

~Keeper

i prefer calling to texting. also how fax machines are obsolete? many businesses around use them heavily. and i heard inmates upon having been released need to be in contact to half way house and the only accepted line is land line phone. how many inmates are there in America now? how many to be released? i dont know what country you are in, but hand written letters are well and alive in America. the same old businesses still use them heavily. also it`s safer to use them instead emails for confidential info. well, nowadays nominally anyway.

Originally posted by divinetragedy79

Originally posted by unicorn1
Men in their late 30s with hair. Sorry but where are they all going? Or should I say 'it'.

[edit on 27-12-2009 by unicorn1]

I still have my full head of hair. Not going anywhere.

Yeah, I still have the same as when I left high school and enough to go around too. It's long and girly like some hippy peacemonger. I feel blessed.

reply to post by unicorn1


I'm in my late 30's and still have a full head of hair .

And I agree that faxes are still in use, my businesses have one on every floor, hell I have one in my office I used 20 mins ago.

As for Payphones, I agree, even here in Canada I have a hard time finding them.

The handwritten letter is alive and well, but not with any sort of youth, it's mostly still held on by the older generations or in the case of the Army, when soldiers are overseas, that sort of thing.

~Keeper

Originally posted by ADVISOR
Common sense, I swear there is way less than there was a decade ago.

Then again, common sence was never very common....

This comes with the dumbing down of society, over zealous health and safety laws and general do what your are told orders from the world governments.

Thinking for yourself is dangerous.

#13 or...wait semper did that one.

Ok.
#14. Pagers - No one seems to know what happened to these cool little vibrators lately. About the year 2003, they all but vanished. You might find one in a hospital from Birgdteeteville, Kentucky, but I doubt it.

#15. ARCADES! - Since the mass implementation of home-console entertainment systems in the 90's. Arcades have vanished too!


---oh I love arcades. Well, I used to when they were in my mall. Now, you have to goto Dave & Busters to pay $5 a game. Sweet. [/sarcasm]

Back in the 90's arcades were the place to be. All the newest games were there and the competition between players was fierce!

Good thread.
*S&F*

[edit on 27-12-2009 by havok]

#16

People without attitudes. Ties in with Advisors "common sense" one. Everyone seems to have a 'tude these days, and it sucks. Its destroying conversations and the ability to learn.

I have to say I agree with the majority of your list, tothetenthpower.

A few other things that are obsolete, as far as I see, or almost.

1) An Honest politician - Almost extinct, unless you've found a Do-Do lately.

2) Common sense - Basic human thought of how things work.

3) Real intelligence - Based on unbiased thoughts, without looking something up online, lack of knowledge of history falls into that category as well.

My use of Wikipedia for references on ATS, is for everyone else, not me, I'm accessing my brain to remember everything I studied throughout my life, so everyone else can look into the reference links below the original article.

4) Person to person connections - Real connections, like going to a friends house, and spending quality time, instead of the false connectivity of electronics.

5) Real service - Food service, Service Stations, almost any other part of the service industry.

6) Maps - Everyone is now relying on Tom-Tom or some other generic G.P.S. device.

7) Real communication skills - Slang, E-Talk (LOL, OMG, WTF), lack of content, context, and intent within language, and Ebonics have taken over.

8) Common courtesy - Rarely do I see a man hold a door for a woman anymore, it happens, but it is not common as it once used to be.

9) Opening doors - At almost any corporate chain, the electronic eye has separated you from opening their door, and the Wal-Mart greeter is a senior there to make you feel welcome.

The hotel doorman is almost extinct as well.

10) Actual street skills - People have become so "connected" via the online world, they have lost street skills, unless they are an idiot thug, gang banger, or drug-using punk.

Don't know anyone here on ATS who has street skills, but I do, so if you, great, teach it to someone so the skills are not lost on a "connectivity" world.

11) Actual and real pay - The generic paycheck, with a 5 cent, or 10 cent raise, lack of corporate loyalty to you when you're loyal to them.

12) The Family Unit - Nowadays, the family unit is dieing not because of a lack of effort, but because of the false electronic "connectivty", the downfall of the family unit through lack of real leadership, ethics, morals, and real beliefs are slowly following as well.

13) Cook books - So much more people are not breaking out Betty Crocker cook books, but instead the ready-made cake-in-a-box, Hamburger Helper, Tuna Helper, or some other generic food.

The art of cooking is being lost, and instead watching it on televsion on "Reality TV".

The are actually cooking a meal through growing your own vegetable, and making a meal from the from scratch recipe.

14) Living life - American Idol, "Reality TV", "Big Brother", "The Real World", and sit-coms instead of breaking out a board game of Monolopy, Sorry, or Life.

Long dieing are hiking, mountain climbing, exploring the world for yourself.

[edit on 27-12-2009 by SpartanKingLeonidas]

reply to post by SpartanKingLeonidas


I have to admit Spartan those are all good examples. The one about opening doors as well.

It's funny I was Christmas shopping on the 23rd for some last minute things (ok for all the things, yes I am a procrastinator) and I opened a door for an elderly lady at the mall.

The funny thing is that she wouln't step through it, she gave me this look like she didn't trust what I was doing and waited until I walked through the door that I opened for her.

Ohh I have another.

Genuine Trust In Another Human Being.

~Keeper

#1--Calling
I hate talking on the phone, but I have to do it sometimes. Texting is not an option, considering I don't have a cell-phone.

#2--Classifieds In Newspapers
Here in Portugal we have at least two free daily newspapers, with adds.

#3--Dial Up Internet
The best way to have internet when cable fails.

#4--Encyclopedias
Never had one, they are too bulky. But I still use dictionaries, almost daily.

#5--CD's
Maybe, but not in Portugal.

#6--Landline Phones
Still in use here in 3rd World Portugal.

#7--Film (And Film Cameras)
If they are talking about photo cameras, yes; if they are talking about movie cameras, they were replaced a long time ago by video.

#8--Yellow Pages And Address Books
Real people still use them, they don't need a charged battery to work.

#9--Catalogs
Not in Portugal, they should see the amount of paper we get in our (physical) mail box every week.

#10--Fax Machines
They must live in a different world...

#11--Wires
Wireless communications have been part of our world for around 100 years and we still have the wires.

#12--Hand-Written Letters
This year the Portuguese postal service had more written cards than last year, I guess it's easy to create a list of things when we don't know how the rest of world is working.

Cash. I never have cash on me. Never. I never go anywhere where cash is needed. I havent even used an ATM in a very very long time.

Even the Salvation Army volunteers outside of stores during the Holiday takes cards now. The tollroad, does not take cash anymore. You have to have a card attached to your windowshield. Went to a local carnival not too long ago and everything there took cards.

I love it. I love that I dont have to carry physical cash and all that change with me. I love to swipe and go.

I will say, I do keep a bit of cash/change at home because the tooth fairy needed it a couple of times for my daughter - and well, I like her to be able to go to the store and pick something out and pay with her own money (teaching purposes).