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24 Things About to Become Extinct

24 Things About to Become Extinct
“24. Yellow Pages
23. Classified Ads
22. Movie Rental Stores
21. Dial-up Internet Access
20. Phone Landlines
19. Chesapeake Bay Blue Crabs
18. VCRs
17. Ash Trees
16. Ham Radio
15. The Swimming Hole
14. Answering Machines
13. Cameras That Use Film
12. Incandescent Bulbs
11. Stand-Alone Bowling Alleys
10. The Milkman
9. Hand-Written Letters
8. Wild Horses
7. Personal Checks
6. Drive-in Theaters
5. Mumps & Measles
4. Honey Bees
3. News Magazines and TV News
2. Analog TV
1. The Family Farm
Both interesting and saddening, isn’t it?”
More detail and commentary after the link.
Some are pretty dead already but have an emotional tug on our nostalgic memories. Most will still exist for a very small group of hobbyists and collectors. We can’t confuse that with mainstream markets though.
Stephen

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Posted on: August 22, 2009, 9:29 am Category: Uncategorized

7 Responses

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  1. Larry Schwartz said

    I wouldn’t bet on the demise of Ham radio even now. I think it’ll be operating when the cell towers blow down. AND it’ll be operating when the cell towers get overloaded with calls, as they do in every natural disaster (e.g., southern California earthquakes) as the calls come pouring in.
    Also extinction-bound: people who can decode Morse code.

  2. The “very small group of hobbyists and collectors” sounds like the long tail to me. And isn’t the long tail part of our audience? Don’t write off the ham radio operators, bee keepers, and bowlers entirely. If we only cater to the most popular segment, we may as well be a pop reading room. (That may be fine for some libraries, but not all).

  3. I simply must disagree with a couple of these.
    Ham Radio operators are rabid about their interest. Trust me, I work with one! Further, they are one of our backup systems in case of bad, bad, emergency. During Katrina the news would have you think that there was no information coming in or out. Not true. The hams were running as long as they could on backup power. I think somebody forgot to check.
    The swimming hole will never die. As long as there are kids and water it’s just going to be waaaay to tempting!

  4. Todd Kyle said

    “24. Yellow Pages – RIP. But they have a distribution box at my library. Must be desperate.
    23. Classified Ads – RIP. Kijiji rules.
    22. Movie Rental Stores – RIP.
    21. Dial-up Internet Access – RIP. But some rural residents have no choice.
    20. Phone Landlines – Still a way to wait, cellphones are too expensive and coverage too poor for most people to use all day.
    19. Chesapeake Bay Blue Crabs – pitty
    18. VCRs – I still own TWO but RIP.
    17. Ash Trees
    16. Ham Radio -what?
    15. The Swimming Hole – I don’t swim.
    14. Answering Machines – Got rid of mine in ’99.
    13. Cameras That Use Film – RIP.
    12. Incandescent Bulbs – Will be legislated or taxed out of existence. But I still have some for rooms with dimmers, ceiling fans, etc.
    11. Stand-Alone Bowling Alleys – huh? You ever been to Brampton Bowl for a kids birthday party? 5-pin rules!!!!
    10. The Milkman – never seen one in my lifetime.
    9. Hand-Written Letters – never write ’em.
    8. Wild Horses – they won’t drive me away from you.
    7. Personal Checks – umm, my kids school and dance teacher will have something to say about that.
    6. Drive-in Theaters – there’s still one, somewhere…
    5. Mumps & Measles – RIP
    4. Honey Bees – I’m truly saddened.
    3. News Magazines and TV News – Sad too. Not so much about the media formats, but of course the paid professional journalism.
    2. Analog TV – already gone in the US.
    1. The Family Farm – saddened.

  5. Helen K said

    I agree with a number of items on the list. However with number 13, in Japan (and spreading worldwide) cameras using traditional film are very popular. New cameras and film are readily available in a wide variety of popular stores, and newsagents. Take a look here: http://www.lomography.com/
    – Helen K.

  6. Stephen Abram said

    Some folks are using different definitions of ‘dead’ than I do. That’s OK. I don’t need every single vinyl disk user to disappear to declare it dead. From an institutional strategy point of view I can can find nearly every ancient product still around somewhere. I still know people with working 8-trac players!
    I still see horses and carriages but I’m not building a franchise chain of blacksmiths. And yes there will always be niche markets for film but I still like being abe to take hundreds of photos without the cost of film and developing. Hobbyists and people passionate about old things for whatever reason will always exist and our libraries will maintain resources for them.
    SA

  7. Gary Wilson said

    Please check your facts before publishing things.

    On March 10, 2009, the number of licensed Amateur Radio operators in the US reached it’s highest number ever of 688,666. See http://www.ah0a.org/FCC/Licenses.html for the facts. That’s an increase of 11,000 over the past five years!

    Amateur Radio isn’t dying , it’s expanding and thriving!