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 The live power of google maps has outdated physical maps.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?
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