7 Common Things That Have Gone Obsolete In Today's Times

I wrote about the advancement of technology that has transformed our every day life. But with the coming of the new, the old stuff has also phased out. New apps and new technology has taken the place of the old that we were used to. Even our habits and the way we think has changed. 

Today, let's look at a few things that have become obsolete. Since I started with Google yesterday, lets start with that:

1. Paper maps

With google map being at the tip of our hands, there are no paper maps anymore. In fact, without the app pointing the right direction to go in, I wouldn't even know how to use a physical map. How do I figure out where I am and which way do I need to go in. The live power of google maps has outdated physical maps. One doesn't need one in a new city. You carry your map with you in your own phone - to any city in the world. 

2. Landlines

Phones attached to the wall should seem so odd to entire generations that were born in this century. You had to leave your phones at home when you go out? Well! that was the reality. In fact I have also seen a time when there was no landline at home at all. There was no way to talk to friends or give them information of any kind in between school days. I remember not getting info about sudden holidays that the school had declared. 

This is a huge difference from the present time when we literally have Whatsapp groups that we are a part of everyday and every single piece of information is broadcast and accessed on a minute to minute basis. There are not just messages and information, but you can ask questions, initiate discussions. We live in a world of hyper connectivity. We aren't connected only a a time that we need information. But we are inundated by information at all hours of the day! 

It's a far away cry from a time when landline was the only option, our calls monitored based on the monthly bill that arrived. 

3. Bank visits

Internet banking is the blessing that has made visiting the bank obsolete. You can do most of your functions from the site online. There is really no need to visit the bank for all the basic things we need from our account. 

There was a time when going to the bank personally was the only way to get anything done. However, I still make physical visits to a particular national bank. But that can be solves if I make the effort to activate internet banking for that account. But personal visits to the bank are largely not required in today's times. And thank God for that! 

4. Dictionary

Although I have a dictionary and 2 different thesaurus, I don't remember the last time I looked up a word in them. They are so big, fat and heavy that it'd be a chore to use them now. Whenever there is a need to look up a word, one just reaches for the very convenient google search at the end of our thumbs on our phones. Like I mentioned yesterday, Google is the blessing that has answers to every thing - even words and meanings that we do not know of. Usages, synonyms, antonyms - you got it! 

Online dictionary is such an easy way to build one's language as opposed to hauling the big fat thing in olden days because that is the only thing that could give you meanings of words. 

How convenient and fun! 

5. Film and even digital Cameras 

This one is ironic because one form of it is obsolete but another is so ubiquitous that whole generations cannot live without it. Cameras used to be a big innovation at one point. The ability to capture moments for posterity? Bring it on. It used to be such a special thing. We were willing to wait for days so that the film on the camera could be developed just for the happiness of seeing the moments captures on our cameras.

There used to be photo studios for families like ours that did not own a camera. We could go there and get special moments captured. The families that owned a camera were definitely more sophisticated that the ones that did not have one. 

Thanks to cell phones, every one with a phone has a camera -  which is actually pretty much every one. It wouldn't be wrong to say that the camera on a phone is one of the innovations that transformed so many aspects of our culture. Platforms like Instagram exist solely for the photos that our cameras take as we go through life. Everything is "instagrammable", every thing needs to be documented. And thats a whole social, cultural phenomenon that has transformed the way we perceive life around us. 

6. CDs

This is something that became obsolete as I was using them. I actually had a CD slot in my laptop till recently. I thought CDs were a great way to store things that I do not wish to lose. But apparently not. CDs go bad and then obsolete, apparently. I am glad that I did not store all my old photos on them or where would I play it now when my laptop has no CD player at all. 

If floppy disks seem old generation, so are CDs now. Needless to mention, so are discman devices (Remember there used to be a walkman for cassette players? What's a cassette you ask? Never mind darling! That's alright!)

7. Phone books 

Yeah! Physical books that one had to manually write every one's contact details in - and addresses. Because snail mail was the only way to send physical information like invitations and letters to people. That was cheaper and the only means to fit in more information than an expensive phone call. There were alphabetised pages so it wasn't a total mayhem in there. One could easily locate contacts by the first alphabet of the person you are looking for. 

There are a few still lying around in my house. I don't have any though. I guess I had a cell phone fairly early - late by today's standards - but a few years into have a job was early enough for me. So all the contacts went into the cell phone and then was transferred cell to cell.

What are some other things that come to your mind? 

7 Technical Innovations We Cannot Live Without

The advancement in technology has been so rapid in the last decade of so that adult life seems impossible without so many things. I am a millennial from the landline era, for crying out loud. But still I cannot think of life without a few technological innovations. They are not so new, yet life unimaginable without them. Now, I wonder how did I even live my life without these virtual contraptions. 

1. Google maps

Life before Google maps was not knowing the route to the airport despite having gone there so frequently. A new city and my GPS challenged mind ensured that I hardly had any idea how to get to the airport. If the taxi guy did not know, I was as good as screwed. I only vaguely knew the turns. 

But now, the first thing that comes to mind is Google maps. the first thing I do now when I come across something new is to look it up on Google maps. The traffic, the route, the distance can be mapped in a matter of seconds. How did I even travel without availability of my co-ordinates at the tip of my fingers!!

2. Google Search

I have lost count of the number of times in a day, yeah! a day, I open google to look up something. This is a magical genie that knows about every thing. There is no information that is not at the tip of my fingers. All questions can be answered and doubts cleared using this one service. Books, places, people, restaurants are my most common searches - in that order. And it never disappoints! 

If I had this during my college, studying would have been so much easier. All the info right there to be read and saved, No endless photocopying and saving all that physical material to study for the exams. What a revolution! Although my college time missed this innovation, the rest of my life is not too late to Google about. Another thing I cannot imagine my life without. 

3. Taxi services

Standing in the rain for hours trying to get an auto is my memory before Olas and Ubers became an ubiquitous part of our lives. In fact, when I was training for a leading bank, travel was my biggest challenge. It seems anachronistic to say this was a time when Ola and Uber were not invented. 

And now, I know that long distance travel can be comfortably done in a cab using Google maps so I stick to the right route! What a luxury. At least the availability of this option assures that I never will have to struggle for a ride. Except when one needs a cab to the airport and is short of time!! 

4. Google Pay

This is the most recent entry into my life. I resisted this one for the longest time since I did not want to leave online trails of my bank account. And I wish I had let it stay that way so I wouldn't get duped online through my own Gpay! *Eye roll* But this is an easier way to pay online without having to use credit cards. I have come to be comfortable with this method with passing time. It's at least one of the easier ways to make payments straight from the bank account. 

5. Online grocery shopping

Gone are the days when we carried cloth bags to the vegetable market - ironically I carried one to the market just last week to buy fruits - but then this is not the only way to but vegetables and groceries. Thanks to the pandemic, online grocery shopping has become common place in every household. This is one thing that I am thankful for instead og having to lug bags into a rickshaw and lugging hem up to the house. I have hated that kind of grocery shopping forever. 

Online shopping is so much easier and convenient. I just need to click things into the cart. No stepping out or lugging things up and about. And this method of shopping has only gotten better with time. Earlier one had to wait an hour. But with multiple services promising 10-minute services, there is hardly any wait between ordering and the stuff being delivered. I think the marvel that technology is is finally here at our door steps. 

6. Zoom/video conferencing 

Another thing that the pandemic has made ubiquitous in our lives. I am always surprised to think that I do not have to step out to work. There are no geographical boundaries for my clients. 

Earlier, no one wanted to work together unless it was the same city. The idea of virtual meetings was alien and people were not open to them. But now, despite the world having opened, we pass around virtual meeting links to get our work done. Fast and effective, this is one gift of technology which has truly revolutionised the work world for good. 

For an entrepreneur like me, I can sit at home and work with anyone in the world. The sky is literally the limit while looking for clients. 

I do miss the physical interaction the int higher frequency of offline events. But real work does get dome through Zoom and equivalent platforms. And that's a great thing. 

7. AI/ChatGPT 

The power of AI is unveiling right before our eyes. I no longer need to google things and look for links that night give me the info I need. ChatGPT is the new genie that just spouts the info I need. This takes Seek and you shall find" to a whole literal level. From 200 calorie meal plan to the content for your landing page, there is no command that AI cannot carry out. Although humans will be required to write the prompts, the power of AI to do enormous amount of work for us in no time is a true testimony to what all technology can do for us. It's a new milestone in how many can manipulate the machine to do our bidding.  

Where AI will take us and where its limit is, only time can tell. But write now we can ride the power wave of this new fangled innovation at our finger tips that can do anything for us. 

What else comes to your mind when you think of technology you cannot live without? 

How to keep your new year resolutions

1st of December! Exactly a month to go for the new year. I stopped believing in resolutions years ago. And Jan seems like a precarious time to start something new. Too much at stake in terms of expectations. And we do falter no matter what. I think if i just continue with the quiet and happy life I have right now, I'll be good. 

If you are looking at doing certain things differently, here are a few tips

Make a list of things you'd like to do/change/start: Trust me! This is going to be a long list. While we are at it, we want to turn into a new leaf and then some. So many things make it to that list. don't hold back. go ahead and jot down everything that comes to mind. Carry the list around for a day or two, if you wish. 

Once you have that list, pare it down. Try really hard to choose 3 things. The most important 3 things. It could be health and fitness (the most common one), upskilling, more work life balance. Stuff that you really need to work on but it never gets done. 

Pare it further down to one. Just one. One that you'll begin the new year with. The one you'll work on for the rest of the month. As the saying goes - Well begun is half done. And you will need planning for that. 

Well! What will you do the rest of the month? Say, your goal is health and fitness - since that's the most common one. There are so many decisions to go through. Even if you already have a gym membership - figuring the way you'll work out will be no. 1, if you don't - what's the kind of fitness routine will you follow. Start with cardio and build strength into it? Do you have the resources to do that? What kind of dietary changes can you easily make? What time suits you the best? Notice your everyday routine in the light of the plan that you have made. Can you sustain the plan you have in mind? How should you tweak it to increase the success rate of your plans? 

Similarly, if you wish to learn a new skill, it's not a goal until you nail down the specifics. There are so may courses out there. Even if you have a few in mind, which one will you be doing? What part of the day will be set for your course work. What are some of the things that you can do to ensure the maximum success of your endeavour? 

Your goals may not be as big as losing weight or upskilling. Altering habits can be goals that may not require a lot of planning but they need conscious change in the way we live. 

One technique that comes to mind is habit stacking. One can benefit from this even when you set out to achieve bigger goals. You may want to be a more organised person instead of someone who spends all weekend clearing out the weekly clutter. Taking a page from Marie Kondo's book - cz the book is too impractical - learn to put things in their place as you go along. Shoes and bags, keys and receipts, jackets and books. It'll take you some will power initially until it becomes a habit. 

You may want to start making healthy choices to aid your goal of weight loss. Start by changing your shopping list. Ensure you have good choices in your fridge in order to make them. Stack soy milk instead of high sugar fruit juice. Stop buying cookies and stock fruits instead. Carry nuts and dry fruits to make healthy snacking easier. When those hunger pangs hit, you don't want to be stuck with nothing but stale sandwich from your canteen. Plan ahead. These simple things can actually help you achieve your larger goals. 

Goals are not achieved not by fluke. There is a lot of planning that happens. By deferring all the planning to the end of this month, we are setting ourselves up for failure. The good thing about this wake up call is that you will be a lot more prepared to be gun for success in your goals. 

What are some of the goals you'd like to plan for in 2025?