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Ten Things That Are Practically Obsolete Now that We Have Smartphones

Jim_S

Gone But Not Forgotten
GOLD Site Supporter
Ten Things That Are Practically Obsolete Now that We Have Smartphones
BY CHRIS QUEEN NOVEMBER 13, 2018

https://pjmedia.com/lifestyle/10-things-that-are-practically-obsolete-now-that-we-have-smartphones/

We’re living in an age of unprecedented technology. It’s not the future that our elders promised to us when we were kids – I mean, where are the flying cars? – but technology has made our lives exponentially easier.

Take the smartphone, for example. What used to take a computer, a Walkman, an atlas, and more now fits in the palm of your hand. In fact, the advent of the smartphone has rendered obsolete some things that we used for years.

Here’s a list of ten things that our smartphones have replaced. It’s not an exhaustive list by any means, but I think you’ll get an idea of what revolutionary technology our phones have become. Enjoy!

10. Landlines and payphones
Obviously, the biggest thing that our smartphones have made obsolete is the landline phone and everything that goes along with it. For starters, it’s nice not to have to pull over and look for a payphone when you need to make a call. Of course, handsfree laws are causing many people to have to stop to call others, but that can happen anywhere these days.

We don’t have to look for a payphone to get in touch with others, and we don’t have to use a phone book or directory assistance to find most phone numbers. Answering machines are part of the dustbin of history too. And one of the greatest blessings of having a phone that can call anybody, anywhere, anytime is that we don’t have to worry about long distance.

Of course, we’re all aware of the problems that having a phone that can call anybody, anywhere, anytime brings, but that’s a discussion for another day.

9. Flashlights
I can remember for years the conventional wisdom that a flashlight was an essential item to have handy for safety purposes. Nowadays, it seems crazy to have an extra flashlight nearby when your smartphone can light the way for you.

Let’s be honest: cellphone flashlights don’t give out the best light (and don’t get me started on the Apple Watch’s joke of a flashlight). But in a pinch, when it’s a little too dark to see, the flashlight on your smartphone can be a godsend. Personally, I like to have a couple of cheap LED flashlights around the house or in the car for emergencies when it’s legitimately dark.

There’s just something convenient and appealing about knowing that you can pull a flashlight out of your pocket or purse anytime.

8. Calculators
For years, many of us kept a calculator in the desk drawer at home or work just to keep us from having to do hard math ourselves. It came in handy, especially because those cheap battery-powered calculators lasted forever. Doing math with a pencil and paper was a thing of the past.

Now our smartphones have rendered the little calculator in the drawer obsolete. Open up your calculator app, and you’re able to do things that the little cheap calculator never dreamed of doing. Our phones can even do most of the things that we could only do with those expensive calculators we had to buy for high school math. (You know, the things you swore you’d never use after you finished the class.)

The richness of the features in our smartphone calculators is a testimony to how technology can provide practical solutions to our needs.

7. Timers
Here’s an innovation that we don’t think about much. These days we have timers that allow us to throw out those old kitchen timers and keep up with time just like we keep up with everything else – on our smartphones.

I’m not just talking about cooking, though it’s nice to know that if I walk out of the kitchen, I can still hear the timer because my phone (or smartwatch) is with me everywhere I go. I use the timer on my phone for plenty of other things too. I may set a timer when I’m reading or for walks and workouts so that I don’t lose track of time. Sometimes I even time my Sunday afternoon naps so that I don’t oversleep.

Let’s face it: a timer isn’t a terribly exciting technological marvel, but we can admit that having one on our smartphones is pretty convenient.

6. Guitar tuners
Here’s something all the musicians out there will appreciate. Smartphones have birthed all sorts of apps that make creating music so much easier. Apple’s Garage Band app allows a single person to put together full instrumental tracks with ease. Other apps imitate instruments of any stripe, and vocalists can benefit from apps that allow them to practice or develop their skills as well.

But one of the best musical revolutions that the smartphone has ushered in is the guitar tuner app. There’s nothing worse than an out-of-tune guitar, and having a smartphone handy makes tuning a guitar easier than ever. Sure, not everyone will appreciate or even understand how convenient having an app on your smartphone for tuning your guitar is, but anyone who has ever needed one can vouch for their importance.

5. Cameras
For generations, we relied on cameras – first film, then digital – to help us record life’s moments. These days, we don’t have to lug a camera around to photograph the minutiae of our lives now that we can capture our lives with smartphones.

The first couple of generations of smartphone cameras were serviceable, but they didn’t hold a candle to “regular” cameras. Each generation of the smartphone has given us cameras with better features and even options to touch up photos that we hadn’t dreamed of in the past. We can learn from YouTube videos how to make the best of the photos we take, and the possibilities for nearly professional-grade photography with our phones are endless.

And let’s not forget how our smartphones have made carrying bulky video cameras a thing of the past. Those of us who are old enough to remember the heavy cameras of days past can be especially grateful for the technology that allows us to create a video using what’s in our pockets.

4. Photo albums
While we’re on the subject of smartphone photography, our phones have made yet another part of our picture-taking lives obsolete: photo albums. We used to have to rely on photo albums to physically look back at the moments in our lives. There’s still something special about sitting down with family and friends and looking through books and boxes full of photos.

But we don’t have to do that anymore now that our phone holds every one of the pictures that we’ve taken over the past few years. It’s so much easier to pull out a smartphone and show off those vacation shots or the latest family photos.

While we’re at it, does anybody carry those photo sleeves in their wallets anymore? I used to always feel the pressure to have the most up-to-date pics of family and loved ones in my billfold. Not anymore. The smartphone does it for me, and I don’t have to print a thing!

3. Alarm clocks
The alarm clock has been an essential feature of modern living for a while now. We moved from the wind-up kinds with actual bells on top to analog and digital electric clocks with tons of features. Occasionally we’ll see those clocks with gimmicks like flashing the wake-up time on the wall or moving around so that you have to get up to stop the alarm.

Thanks to the advent of the smartphone, all of that annoying alarm business is a thing of the past. These days our alarms are completely customizable. We can set any alert tone or song we want as an alarm – even if we want to set a different alert for every day of the week. Smartphone alarms aren’t a nightmare to program like so many alarm clocks used to be, either. The alarm clock function on our smartphones might be one of the best features that users could ask for.

2. Maps/GPS
It wasn’t that long ago that I carried an atlas in my vehicle. That’s a practice I picked up from my parents, who had picked it up from their parents. We can’t value enough the ability to find our way to and from places.

With the rise of the internet, our travel planning and mapping changed. We could look up and print routes to where we needed to go. Later on, people purchased GPS devices that could point the way just about anywhere.

Today, our smartphones provide better directions in real time than any map or GPS device we ever used in the past. Directional apps account for traffic and construction, and they can recalculate faster routes on the fly. If you’re traveling out of town or are using a rental, your smartphone is on the go with you.

Smartphones have definitely made getting from place to place easier than ever. And that’s something we can all be grateful for.

1. Address books
Remember the old address books that everyone used to have? Every bit of information about everybody in your circle of friends was in that book – addresses, phone numbers, even birthdays. I’d bet that nobody keeps up with address books anymore.

Our smartphones have replaced the old address books these days. We can store so much information about our friends and family in our phones – the same info we used to write down. I would even wager that we have information about more people in our phones than we would have ever dreamed of putting in an address book. Our ability to program so many numbers into our contacts has just about rendered business cards obsolete as well.

The upside to having all the info at our fingertips is that we can call, text, or email anybody with ease. The downside is that the phone numbers we used to commit to memory aren’t in our heads anymore. Then again, when we can pick up a phone to access anybody’s information, who needs to remember phone numbers and addresses?



---
 

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FrancSevin

Proudly Deplorable
GOLD Site Supporter
And one day in the future, the aliens who brought us this technological sh!t will arrive. Somewhere on the mother ship, a long slender finger will flip a switch, the crew will giggle,,,; and none of this stuff will work.

No one will know how to get anywhere.
No one will have anything documented on paper
Credit cards won't work
No one will be able to count change.
Amazon will collapse overnite.
Facebook will fail
Having had no use for it, our memories will now fail us.
With no pictures to remind us, family life will cease.
And nothing will absolutely, positively arrive on our doorsteps overnite

The daily life we take for granted will be lost and capitulation will be immediate.

On the bright side, some of us will look up and see other human faces. And for a change, see each other's eyes.
 
Last edited:

pirate_girl

legendary ⚓
GOLD Site Supporter
I always said if all this technology ceased to exist, there would be mass suicides.
Oh noes!
People couldn't function any longer.

I love how far we've come.
It's useful and entertaining.
But! I miss the simpler times.
Often.
 

Pau Diaz

Banned
Ten Things That Are Practically Obsolete Now that We Have Smartphones
BY CHRIS QUEEN NOVEMBER 13, 2018

https://pjmedia.com/lifestyle/10-things-that-are-practically-obsolete-now-that-we-have-smartphones/

We’re living in an age of unprecedented technology. It’s not the future that our elders promised to us when we were kids – I mean, where are the flying cars? – but technology has made our lives exponentially easier.

Take the smartphone, for example. What used to take a computer, a Walkman, an atlas, and more now fits in the palm of your hand. In fact, the advent of the smartphone has rendered obsolete some things that we used for years.

Here’s a list of ten things that our smartphones have replaced. It’s not an exhaustive list by any means, but I think you’ll get an idea of what revolutionary technology our phones have become. Enjoy!

10. Landlines and payphones
Obviously, the biggest thing that our smartphones have made obsolete is the landline phone and everything that goes along with it. For starters, it’s nice not to have to pull over and look for a payphone when you need to make a call. Of course, handsfree laws are causing many people to have to stop to call others, but that can happen anywhere these days.

We don’t have to look for a payphone to get in touch with others, and we don’t have to use a phone book or directory assistance to find most phone numbers. Answering machines are part of the dustbin of history too. And one of the greatest blessings of having a phone that can call anybody, anywhere, anytime is that we don’t have to worry about long distance.

Of course, we’re all aware of the problems that having a phone that can call anybody, anywhere, anytime brings, but that’s a discussion for another day.

9. Flashlights
I can remember for years the conventional wisdom that a flashlight was an essential item to have handy for safety purposes. Nowadays, it seems crazy to have an extra flashlight nearby when your smartphone can light the way for you.

Let’s be honest: cellphone flashlights don’t give out the best light (and don’t get me started on the Apple Watch’s joke of a flashlight). But in a pinch, when it’s a little too dark to see, the flashlight on your smartphone can be a godsend. Personally, I like to have a couple of cheap LED flashlights around the house or in the car for emergencies when it’s legitimately dark.

There’s just something convenient and appealing about knowing that you can pull a flashlight out of your pocket or purse anytime.

8. Calculators
For years, many of us kept a calculator in the desk drawer at home or work just to keep us from having to do hard math ourselves. It came in handy, especially because those cheap battery-powered calculators lasted forever. Doing math with a pencil and paper was a thing of the past.

Now our smartphones have rendered the little calculator in the drawer obsolete. Open up your calculator app, and you’re able to do things that the little cheap calculator never dreamed of doing. Our phones can even do most of the things that we could only do with those expensive calculators we had to buy for high school math. (You know, the things you swore you’d never use after you finished the class.)

The richness of the features in our smartphone calculators is a testimony to how technology can provide practical solutions to our needs.

7. Timers
Here’s an innovation that we don’t think about much. These days we have timers that allow us to throw out those old kitchen timers and keep up with time just like we keep up with everything else – on our smartphones.

I’m not just talking about cooking, though it’s nice to know that if I walk out of the kitchen, I can still hear the timer because my phone (or smartwatch) is with me everywhere I go. I use the timer on my phone for plenty of other things too. I may set a timer when I’m reading or for walks and workouts so that I don’t lose track of time. Sometimes I even time my Sunday afternoon naps so that I don’t oversleep.

Let’s face it: a timer isn’t a terribly exciting technological marvel, but we can admit that having one on our smartphones is pretty convenient.

6. Guitar tuners
Here’s something all the musicians out there will appreciate. Smartphones have birthed all sorts of apps that make creating music so much easier. Apple’s Garage Band app allows a single person to put together full instrumental tracks with ease. Other apps imitate instruments of any stripe, and vocalists can benefit from apps that allow them to practice or develop their skills as well.

But one of the best musical revolutions that the smartphone has ushered in is the guitar tuner app. There’s nothing worse than an out-of-tune guitar, and having a smartphone handy makes tuning a guitar easier than ever. Sure, not everyone will appreciate or even understand how convenient having an app on your smartphone for tuning your guitar is, but anyone who has ever needed one can vouch for their importance.

5. Cameras
For generations, we relied on cameras – first film, then digital – to help us record life’s moments. These days, we don’t have to lug a camera around to photograph the minutiae of our lives now that we can capture our lives with smartphones.

The first couple of generations of smartphone cameras were serviceable, but they didn’t hold a candle to “regular” cameras. Each generation of the smartphone has given us cameras with better features and even options to touch up photos that we hadn’t dreamed of in the past. We can learn from YouTube videos how to make the best of the photos we take, and the possibilities for nearly professional-grade photography with our phones are endless.

And let’s not forget how our smartphones have made carrying bulky video cameras a thing of the past. Those of us who are old enough to remember the heavy cameras of days past can be especially grateful for the technology that allows us to create a video using what’s in our pockets.

4. Photo albums
While we’re on the subject of smartphone photography, our phones have made yet another part of our picture-taking lives obsolete: photo albums. We used to have to rely on photo albums to physically look back at the moments in our lives. There’s still something special about sitting down with family and friends and looking through books and boxes full of photos.

But we don’t have to do that anymore now that our phone holds every one of the pictures that we’ve taken over the past few years. It’s so much easier to pull out a smartphone and show off those vacation shots or the latest family photos.

While we’re at it, does anybody carry those photo sleeves in their wallets anymore? I used to always feel the pressure to have the most up-to-date pics of family and loved ones in my billfold. Not anymore. The smartphone does it for me, and I don’t have to print a thing!

3. Alarm clocks
The alarm clock has been an essential feature of modern living for a while now. We moved from the wind-up kinds with actual bells on top to analog and digital electric clocks with tons of features. Occasionally we’ll see those clocks with gimmicks like flashing the wake-up time on the wall or moving around so that you have to get up to stop the alarm.

Thanks to the advent of the smartphone, all of that annoying alarm business is a thing of the past. These days our alarms are completely customizable. We can set any alert tone or song we want as an alarm – even if we want to set a different alert for every day of the week. Smartphone alarms aren’t a nightmare to program like so many alarm clocks used to be, either. The alarm clock function on our smartphones might be one of the best features that users could ask for.

2. Maps/GPS
It wasn’t that long ago that I carried an atlas in my vehicle. That’s a practice I picked up from my parents, who had picked it up from their parents. We can’t value enough the ability to find our way to and from places.

With the rise of the internet, our travel planning and mapping changed. We could look up and print routes to where we needed to go. Later on, people purchased GPS devices that could point the way just about anywhere.

Today, our smartphones provide better directions in real time than any map or GPS device we ever used in the past. Directional apps account for traffic and construction, and they can recalculate faster routes on the fly. If you’re traveling out of town or are using a rental, your smartphone is on the go with you.

Smartphones have definitely made getting from place to place easier than ever. And that’s something we can all be grateful for.

1. Address books
Remember the old address books that everyone used to have? Every bit of information about everybody in your circle of friends was in that book – addresses, phone numbers, even birthdays. I’d bet that nobody keeps up with address books anymore.

Our smartphones have replaced the old address books these days. We can store so much information about our friends and family in our phones – the same info we used to write down. I would even wager that we have information about more people in our phones than we would have ever dreamed of putting in an address book. Our ability to program so many numbers into our contacts has just about rendered business cards obsolete as well.

The upside to having all the info at our fingertips is that we can call, text, or email anybody with ease. The downside is that the phone numbers we used to commit to memory aren’t in our heads anymore. Then again, when we can pick up a phone to access anybody’s information, who needs to remember phone numbers and addresses?



---

Spot on. Mobile phones is the wave of the present and the future that's washing away the handheld devices we once used as a matter of fact. Slowly, Microsoft Windows introduced the calculator, the landline phone, (I used to use Windows 95 phone software that came with my '95 PC with a mic and it worked very well), then came the smart phone that incorporated all those tools. Alarm clocks are now commonplace on smartphones and they have some nice tunes. Even word processors are finding their way onto android and apple mobile devices, so the office must already be undergoing some serious changes.

Before too long, the stars will shine brightly on the mobile phone and the tablet, burning away the old Casio machines and even the once bigger than life desktop computers. They already feature the ability to work from wherever you are and offer some entertaining games. By 2030, I doubt the world will produce any more large machines to house what used to be state of the art technology.

The mobile device is king of the hill and deserves to be. It's our beacon of light and must continue to be developed.
 

FrancSevin

Proudly Deplorable
GOLD Site Supporter
Something not on that list and should be so, is the ability to think for oneself and solve simple problems.
Why should we try when the Internet has all the answers?:bb::ermm:


When the :shitHitFan:some of us old fools will be the smartest people in the room because we can make fire, shelter and,,, beer.
 

tiredretired

The Old Salt
SUPER Site Supporter
If only they could have made Democrats obsolete, then those damn things would be absolutely perfect, even without all those other things. :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:
 

Bannedjoe

Well-known member
If only they could have made Democrats obsolete, then those damn things would be absolutely perfect, even without all those other things. :thumbup::thumbup::thumbup:

That one's a piece of cake!

Just get everyone to register their party affiliation using their phones, then just turn all the democratic ones off.
 

Pau Diaz

Banned
I actually entered the smart phone world late in my life. I was 32 when I bought my very first touch screen phone, but boy oh boy, it was one of the smartest changes in my life. I owe my greater autonomy to the companies that developed the smart phone. They allow me to do so many daily things so much better. Online shopping, printing and messaging are now all a breeze.
 

jillcrate

Well-known member
pirate_girl said:
I always said if all this technology ceased to exist, there would be mass suicides.
Oh noes!
People couldn't function any longer.....But! I miss the simpler times.
Often.
Ya people have become too reliant on these things Pirate girl!!

I dont have one as I value my privacy 10 fold......... I avoid facebook and try to attain as much privacy as we can get now...... (Which is hard to come by)
 
Last edited:

EastTexFrank

Well-known member
GOLD Site Supporter
The only thing that I've never had that is on the list is a "guitar tuner".

I still have and occasionally use the other 9. Some of them I use a lot.
 

jimbo

Bronze Member
GOLD Site Supporter
Ten Things That Are Practically Obsolete Now that We Have Smartphones
BY CHRIS QUEEN NOVEMBER 13, 2018

https://pjmedia.com/lifestyle/10-things-that-are-practically-obsolete-now-that-we-have-smartphones/

We’re living in an age of unprecedented technology. It’s not the future that our elders promised to us when we were kids – I mean, where are the flying cars? – but technology has made our lives exponentially easier.

Take the smartphone, for example. What used to take a computer, a Walkman, an atlas, and more now fits in the palm of your hand. In fact, the advent of the smartphone has rendered obsolete some things that we used for years.

Here’s a list of ten things that our smartphones have replaced. It’s not an exhaustive list by any means, but I think you’ll get an idea of what revolutionary technology our phones have become. Enjoy!

10. Landlines and payphones
Obviously, the biggest thing that our smartphones have made obsolete is the landline phone and everything that goes along with it. For starters, it’s nice not to have to pull over and look for a payphone when you need to make a call. Of course, handsfree laws are causing many people to have to stop to call others, but that can happen anywhere these days.

We don’t have to look for a payphone to get in touch with others, and we don’t have to use a phone book or directory assistance to find most phone numbers. Answering machines are part of the dustbin of history too. And one of the greatest blessings of having a phone that can call anybody, anywhere, anytime is that we don’t have to worry about long distance.

Of course, we’re all aware of the problems that having a phone that can call anybody, anywhere, anytime brings, but that’s a discussion for another day.

9. Flashlights
I can remember for years the conventional wisdom that a flashlight was an essential item to have handy for safety purposes. Nowadays, it seems crazy to have an extra flashlight nearby when your smartphone can light the way for you.

Let’s be honest: cellphone flashlights don’t give out the best light (and don’t get me started on the Apple Watch’s joke of a flashlight). But in a pinch, when it’s a little too dark to see, the flashlight on your smartphone can be a godsend. Personally, I like to have a couple of cheap LED flashlights around the house or in the car for emergencies when it’s legitimately dark.

There’s just something convenient and appealing about knowing that you can pull a flashlight out of your pocket or purse anytime.

8. Calculators
For years, many of us kept a calculator in the desk drawer at home or work just to keep us from having to do hard math ourselves. It came in handy, especially because those cheap battery-powered calculators lasted forever. Doing math with a pencil and paper was a thing of the past.

Now our smartphones have rendered the little calculator in the drawer obsolete. Open up your calculator app, and you’re able to do things that the little cheap calculator never dreamed of doing. Our phones can even do most of the things that we could only do with those expensive calculators we had to buy for high school math. (You know, the things you swore you’d never use after you finished the class.)

The richness of the features in our smartphone calculators is a testimony to how technology can provide practical solutions to our needs.

7. Timers
Here’s an innovation that we don’t think about much. These days we have timers that allow us to throw out those old kitchen timers and keep up with time just like we keep up with everything else – on our smartphones.

I’m not just talking about cooking, though it’s nice to know that if I walk out of the kitchen, I can still hear the timer because my phone (or smartwatch) is with me everywhere I go. I use the timer on my phone for plenty of other things too. I may set a timer when I’m reading or for walks and workouts so that I don’t lose track of time. Sometimes I even time my Sunday afternoon naps so that I don’t oversleep.

Let’s face it: a timer isn’t a terribly exciting technological marvel, but we can admit that having one on our smartphones is pretty convenient.

6. Guitar tuners
Here’s something all the musicians out there will appreciate. Smartphones have birthed all sorts of apps that make creating music so much easier. Apple’s Garage Band app allows a single person to put together full instrumental tracks with ease. Other apps imitate instruments of any stripe, and vocalists can benefit from apps that allow them to practice or develop their skills as well.

But one of the best musical revolutions that the smartphone has ushered in is the guitar tuner app. There’s nothing worse than an out-of-tune guitar, and having a smartphone handy makes tuning a guitar easier than ever. Sure, not everyone will appreciate or even understand how convenient having an app on your smartphone for tuning your guitar is, but anyone who has ever needed one can vouch for their importance.

5. Cameras
For generations, we relied on cameras – first film, then digital – to help us record life’s moments. These days, we don’t have to lug a camera around to photograph the minutiae of our lives now that we can capture our lives with smartphones.

The first couple of generations of smartphone cameras were serviceable, but they didn’t hold a candle to “regular” cameras. Each generation of the smartphone has given us cameras with better features and even options to touch up photos that we hadn’t dreamed of in the past. We can learn from YouTube videos how to make the best of the photos we take, and the possibilities for nearly professional-grade photography with our phones are endless.

And let’s not forget how our smartphones have made carrying bulky video cameras a thing of the past. Those of us who are old enough to remember the heavy cameras of days past can be especially grateful for the technology that allows us to create a video using what’s in our pockets.

4. Photo albums
While we’re on the subject of smartphone photography, our phones have made yet another part of our picture-taking lives obsolete: photo albums. We used to have to rely on photo albums to physically look back at the moments in our lives. There’s still something special about sitting down with family and friends and looking through books and boxes full of photos.

But we don’t have to do that anymore now that our phone holds every one of the pictures that we’ve taken over the past few years. It’s so much easier to pull out a smartphone and show off those vacation shots or the latest family photos.

While we’re at it, does anybody carry those photo sleeves in their wallets anymore? I used to always feel the pressure to have the most up-to-date pics of family and loved ones in my billfold. Not anymore. The smartphone does it for me, and I don’t have to print a thing!

3. Alarm clocks
The alarm clock has been an essential feature of modern living for a while now. We moved from the wind-up kinds with actual bells on top to analog and digital electric clocks with tons of features. Occasionally we’ll see those clocks with gimmicks like flashing the wake-up time on the wall or moving around so that you have to get up to stop the alarm.

Thanks to the advent of the smartphone, all of that annoying alarm business is a thing of the past. These days our alarms are completely customizable. We can set any alert tone or song we want as an alarm – even if we want to set a different alert for every day of the week. Smartphone alarms aren’t a nightmare to program like so many alarm clocks used to be, either. The alarm clock function on our smartphones might be one of the best features that users could ask for.

2. Maps/GPS
It wasn’t that long ago that I carried an atlas in my vehicle. That’s a practice I picked up from my parents, who had picked it up from their parents. We can’t value enough the ability to find our way to and from places.

With the rise of the internet, our travel planning and mapping changed. We could look up and print routes to where we needed to go. Later on, people purchased GPS devices that could point the way just about anywhere.

Today, our smartphones provide better directions in real time than any map or GPS device we ever used in the past. Directional apps account for traffic and construction, and they can recalculate faster routes on the fly. If you’re traveling out of town or are using a rental, your smartphone is on the go with you.

Smartphones have definitely made getting from place to place easier than ever. And that’s something we can all be grateful for.

1. Address books
Remember the old address books that everyone used to have? Every bit of information about everybody in your circle of friends was in that book – addresses, phone numbers, even birthdays. I’d bet that nobody keeps up with address books anymore.

Our smartphones have replaced the old address books these days. We can store so much information about our friends and family in our phones – the same info we used to write down. I would even wager that we have information about more people in our phones than we would have ever dreamed of putting in an address book. Our ability to program so many numbers into our contacts has just about rendered business cards obsolete as well.

The upside to having all the info at our fingertips is that we can call, text, or email anybody with ease. The downside is that the phone numbers we used to commit to memory aren’t in our heads anymore. Then again, when we can pick up a phone to access anybody’s information, who needs to remember phone numbers and addresses?



---

One of the huge items not on the list is the USPS. No longer do we need to communicate with others via pen and paper, but instead on line. I haven't written a letter in years. We don't even need a desktop computer. Instead just type it out on the phone, hit go. You're done.

Same with bills. I'm one of the few that pays no bills by phone. Most just receive bills by phone, if even that.

USPS needs to go. It has lost between somewhere between 4 and 8 billion this year. And will lose more e each year from now on.
 

pixie

Well-known member
SUPER Site Supporter
I use the phone and the camera. Don't know how to work anything else on it. Get a discount for not using data.

It's too small to text on but bigger won't fit in a pocket so I have a laptop for email. All bills are paper.
 

NorthernRedneck

Well-known member
GOLD Site Supporter
The only thing that I've never had that is on the list is a "guitar tuner".

I still have and occasionally use the other 9. Some of them I use a lot.
I have 2 different tuners on mine. Most of my guitars (I have 8) have built in tuners but my taylor doesn't. It's my main stage guitar.

I also have a neat app on mine where I can look up any song and it'll show the lyrics and chords to use just like sheet music. Then if I want, I can listen to the song and hit "autoscroll" and I can hit play and the sheet music will scroll along to the music while it's playing.
 

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
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#5, Cameras ... I'm actually thinking of breaking out the old 35mm film cameras and playing around with film again. I also have a couple very nice digital cameras, the type that let you be creative with exposure length, aperture and intensity in ways very similar to old film cameras.

I realize we live in a day of iPhone snap shots and filter fantasy but sometimes you want something real, something genuine, something that you have to be creative to capture by adjusting for the light, accounting for the speed and movement of the subject, sometimes you want something that is not just automatic and "fixed" with a simple filter.
 

EastTexFrank

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We had an electronics recycling event for our Rotary Club a few weeks back. I got rid of a bunch of stuff like camcorders and old computer stuff that was taking up closet space. I also got rid of an old tower hi-fi system and speakers. During the clear out I came across all my old 35mm camera equipment. Man, 'way back then I was really into photography and had a ton of it. I couldn't bring myself to get rid of it. Besides, it wasn't what the recyclers were looking for but I don't know if you can even get film for it anymore and finding a lab to develop it could be difficult. I still have two or three digital cameras that are excellent but I haven't used them in years either.
 

Melensdad

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We had an electronics recycling event for our Rotary Club a few weeks back. I got rid of a bunch of stuff like camcorders and old computer stuff that was taking up closet space. I also got rid of an old tower hi-fi system and speakers. During the clear out I came across all my old 35mm camera equipment. Man, 'way back then I was really into photography and had a ton of it. I couldn't bring myself to get rid of it. Besides, it wasn't what the recyclers were looking for but I don't know if you can even get film for it anymore and finding a lab to develop it could be difficult. I still have two or three digital cameras that are excellent but I haven't used them in years either.
You can still mail order film. Not sure where to get it processed!

I found an old Nikon and an old Olympus. I should have another nice Nikon laying around somewhere but I'll be damned if I can find that one. Found a handful of high end digital cameras. Those are probably a lot more practical than the 35mm film cameras.

All this stuff came back to my mind because Dasha was interested in my old Nikon F2a at some point during the summer when she was with us. Never put it to use but I showed her the basics of how it worked. At semester's end she showed up with a "disposable" Fuji camera that used 35mm film. She plans to look for a camera club on campus.

For Christmas I am gifting her a Nikon N80, which is a high end 'enthusiast' level Nikon camera ... long obsolete but maybe she will enjoy it and have some fun.

Info about the N80 camera ->
 

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EastTexFrank

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Bob, I'm afraid that my "obsolete" cameras go back even further than the N80. They are a Canon A-1 and a Canon F-1 from the early 1980s. I seem to have lost an AE-1 somewhere along the way. I was brand loyal. :) Just thinking of those cameras brings back some good memories of my my wife and I and our time in England, trudging all over the place taking pictures. She was my pack horse and carried a camera bag that must have weighed 20 pounds. She must have loved me. Good times.
 

Melensdad

Jerk in a Hawaiian Shirt & SNOWCAT Moderator
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Bob, I'm afraid that my "obsolete" cameras go back even further than the N80. They are a Canon A-1 and a Canon F-1 from the early 1980s. I seem to have lost an AE-1 somewhere along the way. I was brand loyal. :) Just thinking of those cameras brings back some good memories of my my wife and I and our time in England, trudging all over the place taking pictures. She was my pack horse and carried a camera bag that must have weighed 20 pounds. She must have loved me. Good times.
I still have my Nikon F2 that I used when I was in college. Probably circa 1978/80?

But probably my favorite camera of all time is a digital camera.

Panasonic Lumix GX1

 
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Melensdad

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Since Dasha was out of the country over most of Christmas break we celebrated Christmas with her on Saturday.

I gave her the Nikon F80/N80 camera body. A Nikkor 28-80 AF lens. 3 rolls of professional B&W film. 3 rolls of standard 400asa color film. I even found an undamaged copy of a vintage advanced guide to the F80/N80 camera.

She was very excited. Apparently iPhones have not totally obsoleted film cameras.

I think we have an analog convert!
tempImageaCjaE6.jpg
 

300 H and H

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I have an Uncles Zeiss Contaflex B compact 35MM SLR. It is in the camera bag with several lenses in see through plastic containers, the lids form the mount for each lens. One is a large "fish eye" type of wide angle. I acquired it 20 years ago from my Uncles estate. It has an unusual feature for us novices. In the aperture along with the view finder is a light meter. Top left front corner there is a wheel you turn to center the light meter. As you do this it is also simultaneously adjusting the f stop on the lens. This results in a near perfect picture every time. I used it up until 2014 when we got an Olympus digital camera I still use. Film and developing got hard to find, and that old Zeiss has sat idle for a decade. It does have a roll of shot up film in the camera currently, and I have no idea any more what those pictures might be of lol.... I should try and find a developer some were..

Regards, Kirk
 

waybomb

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I had a RB67. I sold it when a new digital camera was a thousand bucks and a digital back for the RB was 20,000.
I should have kept the RB.
Been thinking about buying a used one along with all the goodies.
It was a nice setup. RB Pro body;, 120, 220, and polaroid backs; 37mm lens, 65mm lens, 90mm lens, 250mm lens, 500mm lens; magnifying hood,, pro grip; umbrellas, brownline lighting, Heavy Gosen tripod with fluid head.
Nice stuff.
 
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