Recently my sister texted me a picture saying: “Maybe you could blog on phones … (this one) obviously doesn’t work.“
Before the cell phone, the public phone was the only way to “reach out, reach out and touch someone“when you were” on the road “.
Pay phones were all over.
Now they might as well be in museums.
It got me thinking … why stop there?
Do you remember the phone book? They were in every home and business and were updated every year. Yellow Pages, are you interested? “Let your fingers walk.“
The flip phone? It was my first cell phone, summer 2008.
Until then, above, was the only way to reach me. Now this is the “last” way. Did you “cut the cord?”
It’s not only Phone (s… like many other Jersey “essentials” have disappeared from everyday use.
Instant gratification is still a relatively new thing when it comes to photos.
Do you remember going to the “photo booth” or the drugstore … and in the late 80’s you visited “Dusty Lenscap” at the K-Mart … to pick up your photos?
I processed my own black and white film …
… and photos printed in black and white “at the time”.
Or, maybe, you took some “slides”.
It’s a two in one photo … note the slide tray, and my typewriter. Yes, it’s electric.
And, no, that two-in-one photo was not “staged” for the article. Just a happy (?) Coincidence.
Remember when you listened to the radio and played records (read: music downloads) on the “family stereo?” It was a prized piece of “fine furniture”.
Then it turned into this …
… complete with 8 tracks. Grandpa B was not an ELO fan … this one is mine.
Of course, one could buy 8 blank tracks. As a kid, I bought (old) 8 prerecorded tracks from garage sales for a quarter, and recorded my own music (and radio) on them.
Personally, I preferred the cassette to the 8 tracks … who didn’t?
How many “mix tapes” have you done for your friends?
Unfortunately, it had been a few years since I had been able to enter any store …
… and buy blank tape.
Forget the “reel to reel” tape stock, it is beyond obsolete.
Then there’s the sight and sound of Jersey, together:
Yes, your television was also a piece of furniture. A big pipe. IN COLOR (please).
Let’s not forget the VHS video recorder (which made the Beta video recorder obsolete). Recording programs, so that you can watch them later, was … awesome.
Driving around the “Garden State?” Planning a “road trip?”
Who could forget paper maps?
Obsolete by “New Jersey Traffic North & South”, online directions and GPS.
Hmmm … as I think back to all those things that weren’t planned for obsolescence, it seems to me that ALL have been replaced by the capabilities of the SMART PHONE.
Calls … photos … entering letters (emails and SMS) … listening to music and TV (downloads or live streaming) … recording live sound / action. .. and routes / GPS.
The article comes full circle. Phone to … phone.
I still have plenty of other “obsolete” to add … but I entrust it to you.
What would you add?
Let’s come back to this idea in the not-so-distant future. Together.
In our fast-paced, tech-driven world, everything becomes obsolete … eventually.
Except this idea.
