Thanks to new technologies, what do you find you no longer need?
Posted at 5:00 AM on March 28, 2011
by Eric Ringham
(29 Comments)
Filed under: Science/Technology
Gadgets become obsolete more quickly than ever. And new technologies are changing our habits and routines. Today's question: Thanks to new technologies, what do you find you no longer need?
Comments (29)
A true friend. I can get all the fake ones I want through Facebook.
CNR: Nothing worse than waiting for the check writer, except, oh, maybe YOU playing with your stinking card. I'm strictly cash and am through that line faster than any check or card person. I have my my reciet , the deal is complete and any problems are discovered as I walk out the door checking the reciet. Plus I just might be saving a tree limb or two as well. And finally, no cash, no buy.
Satelite/cable TV: We said good-bye almost four years ago. My kids don't need the Disney channel or nickelodeon.
I don't need cnn or Fox news.
And none of us need the "reality" shows, or commercials.
Though not technology, advanced medical technology could help with the fact that we don't need so many cats and dogs running around.
August 2007, the month of the 35W bridge collapse, I let go of my TV. Viva la internet.
@LR
In all actuality, my job DID disappear 6 mos ago. Not due to technology, rather from economics and outsourcing overseas. Generally speaking, when technology eliminates one job, it creates another (at least in theory). But who's to say that new job will be in the same place as the one before?
Speaking of jobs, one thing I would LOVE to say I no longer need because of technology is commuting. Why is it in today's world with remote access to networks, video conferencing, internet meeting, scanning and digitizing of documents and high speed internet, we still get into our cars, one at a time, clog the highways, pollute the air and drive to work like we did back in the 1950's? And to do what? Sit in front of a computer... of which I am doing already at home and perfectly capable of doing any computer-related job I would otherwise be doing in an office. Employers are you listening????
A lot of the things mentioned that technology may do away with, also does away with jobs. Automatic check outs- no cashier jobs. Don't pay bills with checks - no clerk to receive the payment and apply the payments. No checks - no on one to process the check orders. Reducing your staff because of technology - where did those people go to get jobs? Becareful of what you want technology to do , for your job may be next to disappear.
Republicans.
Stone tools. Fire wood. Horses. Pit latrines & chamber pots.
Land line telephone. 8 track tapes, cassette tapes, CDs. A mailbox.
My memory for things like phone numbers! I used to have a great memory for numbers and can remember several friends' numbers from my childhood. Now, thanks to my cell phone, I don't have the faintest idea what the contact numbers are for even my closest friends and coworkers.
CASH: Paper money and coin is so old fashioned and cumbersome to handle. Everything I buy is with an ATM card. Cash is good only for tiny purchases under a buck or two, say the paper, leaving tips, a lottery ticket, etc.
CHECKS: I wish checks would just go away! I hate it when I have to wait for somebody who refuses to accept technology and write a check at the supermarket.... for a can of pop! I can make a single book of checks last for years. I don't even use checks to pay bills anymore.
CASHIERS: Thank You!! Home Depot and Cub Foods for self checkouts! Target and Menard's, duh!! Get with the program.
LAND-LINE TELEPHONE: It's like, hey.. Alexander Graham Bell invented the land-line over 150 years ago? I can't believe people still use land-line phones, especially when cellular phones are actually cheaper, (under some plans).
THE MAIL: Except for packages.
RETAIL: For most things I want, I can't even find in a store. Amazon.com baby!
INCANDESCENT LIGHT BULBS: All the nay-sayers who complain about CFL's are dead wrong, I like them and use them in almost every fixture I have.
DIAL-UP INTERNET: I so slow that in this day and age, it's like using the telegraph lines along the railroad tracks to transmit data.
Here is a link to stop delivery of the Yellow Pages. There are similar ones for each of the books you receive. Tedious, but this does work.
http://www.yellowpagesgoesgreen.org/opt-out.php
What I've found that I need more of is electricity. Maybe someday these gadgets will be re-charged with solar energy. Even though I find that I don't use most of the things others have listed, I keep them around for power failures and emergency preparedness.
I no longer need a car thanks to:
a) new tech making bikes amazingly lightweight
b) high tech clothing for comfortable rain & winter weather
c) cell phone enabling constant access to travel coordination
d) 24 hour bus & light rail access
Well a couple of days ago as I entered my apartment I found about 7 single blue bags each filled with yet another phone book and not just one, two! 3 days later they are still there. I'm sure this discussion has been mentioned before, but in my opinion the era of the phone book is long over. So even though I use the internet to find numbers, I still have my 3 other phone books, no wait I think i have 4 just sitting around getting dusty waiting for the day I open them. But I do have to say they have some good coupons, but it's really not worth a tree.
I do not need a home phone anymore with my cell phone.
Interesting comments from folks. Like many, I gave up my land line a long time ago, and lately I've pretty much given up on physical media. However, I see a slightly different perspective on "new technology".
For example, most of us have gotten used to being able to own movies and watch them whenever we want. When I was a kid, this was only starting to be an available option. Last I checked, no one is volunteering to give up this benefit of technology, we're just finding new ways to make it easier and more seamless in our life. I can still own my movies, but now I download them and can watch them on more than just my TV. I've gotten rid of the clutter of boxes of VHS or DVDs, and I've freed myself to being chained to my living room TV when I want to watch something.
I find all of this more freeing, and less obtrusive to my life. The name of the game in technology now is finding ways to integrate it in with life, while removing it from the central focus of life. The device becomes the tool for living instead of the purpose of living.
Employees!! I travel the globe in my business. 15 years ago we required a staff of 75 to manage contracts, licensing agreements, travel, etc. Today with the benefit of technology, we manage a larger business with a staff of 16.
I believe advancement in technology will continue to leave more and more unemployed as the gap between high skill and no skill widens.
Video rental stores, paper tax forms and cook books.
Cashiers at the gas station, grocery store, hardware store, or parking ramp.
Like Marcus, I have only the very basic cell phone. It has the cheapest rate possible and is turned off when not in use. My home land line is perfectly fine. I have a desk top computer, an old TV, a VCR , DVD player and a good radio/CD/tape player.. All this "new" technology can be useful, but not really necessary for living. Most of the the new stuff is just to get you to spend more money and have less actual human contact.
No more need for the map in the glove box. Printed directions or GPS units are easier. I still keep a map, though (just in case.)
I find myself googling topics on my blackberry when I previously might have called a friend or parent to ask them their advice or experience.
Apparently, lots of folks have decided that they no longer need to think for themselves. They just go to web sites and other "information" sources that support what they already believe and denigrate alternative opinions, and then they never have to be challenged by new ideas. That wasn't possible in the days when news media strove to be objective, and when buying a newspaper meant you got lots of info you weren't necessarily looking for but found valuable anyway. Now its extremely easy to just plug oneself into propaganda that you already agree with and remain stuck in one's complacent, smug self-righteousness.
Clearing out old bookshelves, I was surprised to find a bunch of books I no longer need. Travel books, symptom-checker books, basic reference books... It's so much faster to look things up on the computer, and the information is much more likely to be up to date.
I kept our paper dictionary, although we don't use that either.
My wife must have found some “New Technology” … see no longer needs me.
I haven't had a home land line for 5 years, and next on the list is my cable tv, Soon I will be able to watch all my favorite shows minus the $120 a month bill, thats new technology at it's finest!
New technology itself. I do not require the latest and greatest. My television was brand new in 2003, my computer is still a desk top which I can easily swap out chip sets and circuit boards as needed, and my cell phone is a marvel among cell phones as it makes phone calls and only phone calls (that was actually very hard to find). As the list of new technology grows longer, the list of crap I don't need also grows.
Phone books.
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