In my lifetime a lot of things have disappeared from usage in America. Makes me feel old quite frankly, so I'll make this quick.
WHAT'S DISAPPEARED................WHAT'S REPLACED IT
1. 78 and 45 rpm records...................Digital CDs/Mp3s 2. Slide Rules.....................................Calculators
3. Massive Mainframe Computers.....Personal computers
4. The Rolodex...................................The Internet
5. Car phones......................................Cell phones
6. Walkie-talkies.................................CB radios
7. Refundable glass pop bottles..........Plastic and aluminum soda cans
8. Microfilm........................................E-books & data bases
9. Ticker Tape Machines.....................Fax machines
10. Full service gas stations.................Self-serve gas stations
11. Bruce Willis’ hair...........................Bruce Willis' bald head
12. Burma Shave Road Signs...............Pop up interactive ads
13. Olympic softball.............................Olympic synchronized swimming
14. Kodachrome slide film...................Digital cameras
15. Flash bulbs/flash cubes...................Electronic flash
16. Typewriters.....................................Word processor software
17. Freight Train Cabooses...................End-of-train-device
18. The Single Screen Movie Theater...The Multiplex
19. Folding paper maps.........................GPS/computer map software
20. Cathode Ray Picture tube TVs.........LED flat screen TVs
21. Analog NTSC television stations.....HD Digital television stations
22. Pagers...............................................Smartphones
23. Dot-matrix printers...........................Inkjet, laser and 3d Printers
24. Film movie cameras..........................Digital video cameras
25. Wire recorders/8-track tapes.............Digital audio recorders
If you read a lot of science fiction, you'll recognize a few things on the obsolete list that sci-fi authors of just a few decades ago missed the call on. The futurists could be forgiven for missing the rapid obsolescence of wire recorders, computer memory stored on tape and film cameras. Occasionally, they catch it. Star Trek got the look and feel of the cell phone right and even the bluetooth. Portable data storage, although they went for cubes instead of cards, was one of the things they got right. One wonders what will come and go in the next 50 years. You will probably be surprised.
© 2016 by Tom King
