will your kids remember when...

http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/lounge/244416-while-waiting-announcement.html

That thread made me think of the annual list of things today's 20 year olds never were exposed to. So, instead of inserting that related thought, I started my own thread. Today, I was surprised to realize that one of these days, the telephone book will be on that list.

The back story: I was off work on a recent Friday, and a co-worker was wanting to get ahold of me to share some breaking news. I'm famously stingy with my cell phone number, but she was hitting up everyone to ask if they had it. No one did. Talking to her today, I said, "I have a land line too. I'm in the phone book!" The wide-eyed look on her face told it all. That had never crossed her mind.

Someday, you'll have to go to a museum to see one. Anyone else have a similar story to relate, or just a prediction?

Going down to the local pharmacy and ordering a malted.

Ehh, I won't miss the phonebook, just think, millions are made every year, if you want to waste so much paper, waste it on something that can change people, classic novels, etc. The phone book is a bad idea today.

...when people drank water from the tap and no one even thought of putting it in a bottle.

bobtomay said:

Going down to the local pharmacy and ordering a malted.

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Shoot! I don't even remember that! You're showing your age!

I suppose cassette audio tapes are destined to join that list. Now neither of our cars has a tape player. We are in the process of slowly recording our tapes and putting them in iTunes to burn CDs so we can listen on the road.

I still have floppy/Zip discs, SCSI computer cables/parts, vinyl records, cassette tapes and VHS tapes.
When my nieces (10 & 12) come over to visit us,they want to listen to my Big CD's (vinyl records). I just laugh.

toMACsh said:

Shoot! I don't even remember that! You're showing your age!

I suppose cassette audio tapes are destined to join that list. Now neither of our cars has a tape player. We are in the process of slowly recording our tapes and putting them in iTunes to burn CDs so we can listen on the road.

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I still have some 8-tracks floating around somewhere.

How about making a phone call at a phone booth. And was only a dime.

Cruising around aimlessly and getting into trouble all weekend long with 4 friends in a boat-sized, 4500 pound, V8-powered, all steel, Detroit-built, American full-sized car for less than $10 in gas.

Smoking was seen as hip and cool :-( and people didnt think any worse of you bc you did . . . .

I love these threads - they make me feel so young. Thanks everyone!

Going hunting in the morning before high school, then coming straight in to school and comparing shotguns and deer rifles in the parking lot with the Dean of Young Men. Try that one today! (Actually don't try it - it's illegal!)

I suppose typewriters aren't the kind of thing that today's generation have spent a lot of time with. I think I remember the very last paper I ever wrote with one -- it was a report I had to do for English class in the 9th grade (that was late 1986).

Ok folks, try a little harder! My thought was to predict which things still widely used today will end up on the obsolete list. But, also keep the dinosaurs coming, those are interesting too, especially with a story attached.

CRT displays? Many kids today won't know why TVs were so fat! I showed my iMac G3 to my younger sister, who didn't understand why the screen was slightly convex.

toMACsh said:

Ok folks, try a little harder! My thought was to predict which things still widely used today will end up on the obsolete list. But, also keep the dinosaurs coming, those are interesting too, especially with a story attached.

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OK, the 4th Amendment to the United States Constitution.

"The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized."

Are CDs considered obsolete yet, or will they be soon? I mean, if the trend is to go 100% digital with downloadable MP3s, the iTunes store, etc., then I suppose someday the physical media will vanish. Personally I haven't reached that point yet -- I still buy a lot of my music on CDs.

CarpathiaMan said:

Are CDs considered obsolete yet, or will they be soon? I mean, if the trend is to go 100% digital with downloadable MP3s, the iTunes store, etc., then I suppose someday the physical media will vanish. Personally I haven't reached that point yet -- I still buy a lot of my music on CDs.

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same here.

CDs Will be obsolete soon. It will take a while but hard drives will be also.

Whose kids will remember cameras that actually used film? Or land line phones for that matter?

Slydude said:

Whose kids will remember cameras that actually used film?

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I shoulda thought of that one!

Another one: fax machines
They hardly get used anymore. I have one at home that I use to make copies. (Nope, don't have a scanner.)

It's a little too soon to pinpoint the death of gasoline powered automobiles...