Grandpa, what’s a video rental store?
Last week I wrote a blog post asking readers if the busy signal has become obsolete. I received a lot of great comments to that blog post including one from Michelle Hartz of Bloomington, Indiana, who sent me a link to an article on the Internet that took my blog post a step further by mentioning 10 things your great grandchildren won't remember.
I'm not going to include a link to the original article because the web site containing the article is NSFW (click that link if you don't know this means). In order for me to still give proper credit to the author, you can Google the article yourself by searching for the article title, 10 things your great grandchildren won't remember, or the I Heart Chaos (IHC) web site.
The list
I won't rehash the article but I will list the ten things here for the sake of convenience:
1. Printed daily newspapers
2. Smokers
3. Getting lost
4. Desktop computers
5. HIV / AIDS
6. Video rental stores / record stores
7. The era of the white male presidential hegemony
8. Landline telephones
9. Being taught cursive
10. Plugging in electronic devices
While I don't necessarily agree with this entire list, I was struck by a couple of them in particular. The first, of course, was #8, landline telephones. This takes my busy signal prediction even further by predicting that landline telephones will also go the way of the busy signal.
As for #s 1, 3 and 6 I couldn't agree more. Printed daily newspapers will be replaced with all digital content. Getting lost will be impossible with miniature GPS receivers in just about everything. And video rental stores and record stores, like their newspaper counterparts, will be completely replaced with all digital content.
Lastly, the one I hope comes to fruition is #10, plugging in electronic devices. Anyone who has ever taken a look at the tangled knot of wires behind their computer will most likely agree with me on this one.
What do you think?
So how about you? Do you agree with everything on the list? Which ones don't you agree with? What is the list missing? Leave a comment below and let me know.
3 comments for this blog post so far...
February 04, 2009 at 12:48 pm
asudduth
I am similar to you as I don’t necessarily agree with this entire list, however some of them of course ring very true.
But I want to go back to the topic of the phone again… The article you mentioned says “For a while, I went from a normal landline phone to a Skype phone, but after a while, even the $3 / month was just too much for something I never, ever used and no one ever called me on”
Personally I have Vonage, and the main reason is so someone can call us. You know sometime people want to call whoever is home, not just me personally. So its one number, and not multiple. (You know, someone needs to call to see if someone is home to bring by an item. or you’re going to have a repair person out and don’t know who will be home at that time)
thats kind of the deal breaker I guess… other complaints I have are that I can hear better on a normal phone, and I don’t feel quite right after holding a cell phone to my ear for a long time. There are solutions to both of these issues (blue-tooth home phone systems that tap into multiple cell phones, and hands-free devices)
So, with all of that said… I guess I want the option to get an additional number on my AT&T;Family plan that rings ALL of my cell phones. That service should be no more than an additional $5… Then there is no need for a land-line or IP-based home phone.
February 04, 2009 at 7:19 pm
Patric Welch
@asudduth Sounds like you (and me) need GrandCentral, http://www.grandcentral.com. If only Google would open it up to the public!
February 05, 2009 at 10:49 am
Mike Welch
As a granpa myself, even our adult children do not remember streetcars, no TV and then black and white TV, party lines, ice boxes, and honest politicians!
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