10 Things That Will Soon Disappear Forever (And 7 That Refuse to Die)

Midpack

Midpack

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Just one of the latest lists. This always seems to [-]stir up the Get Off My Lawn[/-] elicit good discussion among this group. Like it or not, things change...

  1. Keys
  2. Blackouts
  3. Fast Food Workers
  4. Clutch Pedals
  5. College Textbooks
  6. Dial-Up Internet (it's not already dead?)
  7. The (Farm) Plow
  8. Your Neighborhood Mail Collection Box (group box, not individual home)
  9. Your Privacy
  10. Incandescent Light Bulbs
Things that refuse to die:

  1. Parking Meters
  2. Cassette Tapes
  3. Ethanol Flex Fuel
  4. The Penny
  5. Fax Machines
  6. Paper Checks
  7. CB Radios
http://www.kiplinger.com/slideshow/...cid=56&kwp_0=201158&kwp_4=781355&kwp_1=392268
 
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Pay phones
Hard copy airline tickets

Refuse to die? Pencils
 
I thought that paper checks were dead here in the UK but this week the banks just announced that they have given up trying to kill the paper check, and instead are putting in new software/systems to clear a paper check on the same day it is received, and are introducing mobile paper check deposit similar to what the USA has had for years, except that the mobile check deposit has the money available in the user's account within hours of pressing "submit".
 
Keys will remain, just look at all the padlocks.

Cassette tapes will die, once folks realize (again) how crappy they are (sound quality, break, wear out).

The penny is already gone in some countries, and will disappear in this country, but it will take many more years until folks realize it's not worth the trouble.
 
I will mourn the loss of a clutch pedal if I ever go back to an automatic transmission.

Regarding Parking Meters--they aren't dying, but the coin-operated versions seem to be slowly disappearing, at least from what I've seen.
 
2017ish said:
I will mourn the loss of a clutch pedal if I ever go back to an automatic transmission.
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The automated manuals are more efficient and faster than even the best human driver and have been for some time. The automated manuals are the clutched transmissions that are controlled by computer rather than the "slushbox" or CVT type. The My 2005 RX-8 with a manual transmission is likely to be the last manual car that I ever own. By the time I replace it there may not be any available. Even in motorcycles the automated manuals are starting to make inroads.
 
Hyperborea said:
The automated manuals are more efficient and faster than even the best human driver and have been for some time. The automated manuals are the clutched transmissions that are controlled by computer rather than the "slushbox" or CVT type.
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Yabbut...where's the fun in that? :(
 
Take a trip to anywhere else, manual transmission is still dominant. Europe I think >80%.

Luxury segment is shifting to automatic transmission though.

My bet is that we'll all have self-driving electrics before the manual transmission dies.
 
Nemo2 said:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hyperborea View Post
The automated manuals are more efficient and faster than even the best human driver and have been for some time. The automated manuals are the clutched transmissions that are controlled by computer rather than the "slushbox" or CVT type.
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Yabbut...where's the fun in that? :(
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Agree with both of you.
 
All the ones on the Disappear Soon list seem reasonable to me... except #2: blackouts. I guess it depends on what the definition of "soon" is in this context, but I have serious doubts that occasional power outages here in my neighborhood will stop happening anytime soon. For that to happen, the price of whole-home batteries would have to drop substantially and/or the power lines running to my neighborhood would have to be replaced and re-installed underground.

We have, on average, around two long-ish (1+ hour) power outages per year in my neighborhood. While inconvenient and annoying, I don't see enough incentive for the power company or individual homeowners to invest a lot of money to completely eradicate this problem.
 
Cassettes aren't dead? I can't recall the last time I saw one.

One thing I expect to be gone in 20-30 years is the traditional realtor charging a % of the house sale price. I think the flat fee realtors will replace them for the market that will still use realtors at all by then.
 
Yes a fun list.

I think that no one is missing the penny here in Canada. I agree that I would miss the manual transmission which is such fun to drive but I expect to go from manual to self-driving in one fell swoop. Though likely keep the manual in the garage for sunny days. Two of the kids have totally gotten into the manual and really don't like driving any other vehicle. As a bonus, aren't tempted to text and drive!

I think the CB radio is going to be around for quite awhile. I think the scene in 'Live Free or Die Hard' is the explanation why. A colleague and I were surprised to see a pay phone inside one of the campus buildings the other day. We had never noticed it before and wondered if it might even be a new installation. So who knows.

Car keys are definitely on the way out. I consistently get into above-mentioned manual and hit the four-way flasher button expecting the engine to start... well not quite that bad but... I think the entire key fob / chipped key 'advance' is just an industry ploy to make more money. A replacement fob for my Hyundai Elantra cost 4% of the car's purchase price!
 
Cashiers are disappearing.

With the minimum wage passing $12/hr on it's way to $15/hr nationwide, the value a human provides to a company in that role is a financial loss. Witness McDonalds in the process of replacing nearly all of it's order takers with kiosks.

I always think of this each time we visit a retail store, and have to wonder why the clerk isn't replaced by a scanner. I think many surviving retail operations in the next 10 years will be along the Amazon Go model.


_B
 
Privacy already gone with the ISPs soon selling our browsing habits :(.
 
Midpack said:
8. Your Neighborhood Mail Collection Box (group box, not individual home)
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Really? That's interesting. I was under the impression we'd be getting more of them. I recently* read an article which claimed that the US Postal Service was looking into the possibility of installing more of these in some areas, so as to cut down on deliveries to individual houses, thereby making routes more efficient.

*Well, about a year ago.
 
"Your Neighborhood Mail Collection Box (group box, not individual home)" - I doubt this. Every new development around here, and it's a pretty well off area, has central collection boxes with individual locked boxes for a group of homes.

Tom: we posted within a minute of each other on this...
 
Nemo2 said:
Yabbut...where's the fun in that? :(
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Yeah, I know. I enjoy them too. That's why I've got one in my current car. I've had one in every car that is mine (as opposed to my wife's car). However, the rationale for them is disappearing and the number of drivers who learn how to do so are disappearing too. By the time I buy my next car there will only be CVTs, slushboxes, and automated manuals or as someone pointed out above electric cars.

If you are buying a sports car, then for track and auto-x the automated manual gets you round quicker (and you can tell it to change and let it do the work). If you are doing it for economy then a CVT will do it better.

You see signs of the decrease everywhere.

A few years back I took the motorcycle class here in California to get my license (I used to ride in Canada) and much of the class was young folks. They had a lot of trouble understanding how to work the clutch on the bikes and none of them had any experience with one in a car. Beyond the CVT type transmissions in scooters, Honda is working hard at building automated transmissions for bikes and shipping quite a number of models. The manual transmission will disappear from here too.

Again a few years back, my wife who learned in a manual transmission car but hasn't driven one in a long time looked for a place to take some refresher lessons. I've tried to do this for her in the past but both cars during that time had difficult for her to use clutches (one was very heavy and the other was very sensitive). Better for her to learn again in something more basic. There was only one instructor in an hours driving radius who was giving lessons on manual transmission.
 
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i can't imagine the clutch going away - too many car ppl like them
 
Big_Hitter said:
i can't imagine the clutch going away - too many car ppl like them
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I think the people that think the manual transmission is going away just don't drive one or probably don't have the skill set to do so. I hear this frequently from young people who have never been exposed.
 
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