What's something modern you won't miss when it becomes obsolete?

[Foxer55]

Fastuni,

Originally Posted by hatguy1
Neckties. The most worthless invention ever created, IMHO. Thank God for "business casual" eliminating the daily need to wear a tie to work.

Blasphemy.

Agreed.

 

[Shangas]

Also agreed.

Also, Neckties, and their relations, the bowtie and cravat, were invented to hold shirtfronts closed. But these days they're purely decorative.

 

[LizzieMaine]

And yet more --

"Twerking."

Celebrities who "twerk."

News organizations that headline celebrities who "twerk."

People who coin words like "twerk."

People who don't understand what you mean when you tell them the time is "half past six."

Bagged salads.

"Brunch."

People who think "living simply" means hiring some underweight European decorator in tight vinyl pants to come in and redo their entire house in a "simple living" motif.

Interleague play.

Those faucets in public bathrooms that operate on an infra-red sensor and never give you enough water to properly wash your hands.

The mass "Southernification" of American working-class culture.

Sportscasters more concerned with getting in all their idiotic catchphrases than in what's actually happening on the field.

People who can't even sew on a button.

Parents who say "that's not how we express ourselves!" when their two-year-olds act up in the grocery store.

Women earning $350,000 a year, with Guatemalan nannies for their kids, two houses, and a company car writing turgid magazine essays about why they still can't "have it all".

People who fly the flag all night long, and in the pouring rain, until it becomes a tattered rag -- and think they're being "patriotic."

The cupcake fad.

People who stick so many bumper stickers on their cars that you get distracted reading them all and don't see when they put on their brakes.

People who call Pepto-Bismol "Pepto."

Presidential dollar coins that are worse likenesses than those ones you used to get for free at the Shell station.

Vending machines that sell air for your tires, and hardly ever actually work when you need them.

Those "15 things about something" slide-show articles on the Internet that are nothing more than generators for ad clicks.

Smart meters.

People who come into a theatre to see a show and the first question they ask is "Do you have free wi-fi?"

"Rebranding."

 

[Two Types]

This thread reminds me of the song 'Plea From A Cat Named Virtue' (posibly the only song i can think of that is sung from the persepective of a pet cat) by Canadian band The Weakerthans:

"Ask the things you wouldn't miss: tape hiss and the modern man, Cold War and card catalogues ...."

I think that sums it up fairly well - except that, whilst I don't exactly miss the Cold War, somehow the world felt more secure than it does now (but lets not talk about that for fear of straying into politics).

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Reconstruction-Site-Weakerthans/dp/B0000AGWJG

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

Those faucets in public bathrooms that operate on an infra-red sensor and never give you enough water to properly wash your hands.

Smart meters.

Low pressure faucets that makes washing up such a Papa India Tango Alpha because before you could give the dishes a good blast with the water. And as for Smart Meters...

[video=youtube;Ah3nNo89-NU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ah3nNo89-NU[/video]

[video=youtube;LXfIY6mfWWc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXfIY6mfWWc[/video]

 

[HudsonHawk]

A few of mine...

collapsible umbrellas

"genuine faux" anything

sabermetrics

people who use "summer" as a verb

 

[sheeplady]

Those faucets in public bathrooms that operate on an infra-red sensor and never give you enough water to properly wash your hands.

Parents who say "that's not how we express ourselves!" when their two-year-olds act up in the grocery store.

I hate the automatic toilets more. They flush when they shouldn't and don't flush when they should.

I am guilty of telling my six-month old daughter "That's not how dignified people act in public," "that's not appropriate behavior," and "use your words." I've said to her "You can tell us without crying what you need" which is basically "that is not how we express ourselves." I can see how annoying that would be, but honestly if she's not misbehaving badly, I see it as a warning and then I redirect her to better behavior.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

"Keep Calm" Memes
Chuck Norris Jokes and References

 

[Foxer55]

Quartz and battery watches.

 

[vitanola]

Quartz and battery watches.

Those effemminate bracelet watches which have been sported by so many otherwise sensible men since the Great War.

Spread collars.

Cable News channels. All of them.

 

[Shangas]

Those effemminate bracelet watches which have been sported by so many otherwise sensible men since the Great War.

Spread collars.

Cable News channels. All of them.

Yes, Yes and Yes.

 

[kiwilrdg]

Trench watches and other forms of bracelet watches have become obsolete. Unfortunately they have been replaced by "smart" phones.

 

[3fingers]

Parents who say "that's not how we express ourselves!" when their two-year-olds act up in the grocery store.

A small ray of hope. My youngest son and I stopped at a small cafe for dinner on Saturday. A young mother came in with a child who was old enough to know how to behave in public, but was resisting doing so. As my son mentioned to me that it was about time for a trip outside for an adjustment, the mother got up and took the child out. When they returned a few minutes later, the child sat still and behaved perfectly. Adjustment delivered! I wished later that I had paid for her lunch.

 

[Foxer55]

kiwilrdg,

Trench watches and other forms of bracelet watches have become obsolete. Unfortunately they have been replaced by "smart" phones.

Only for those who know no better.

 

[Zombie_61]

...When I heard that the G.E. plant that makes the good old regular lightbulbs was going to be closing because they were going to be "outlawing" those type of bulbs...

"Hey, let's replace a perfectly good and harmless product with one that contains mercury so that people will have to call Hazmat to clean it up if they break one. Oh, and let's make it a legal requirement that you have to take them to a specific recycling center when they no longer work." Yeah, that's progress. :frusty:

Neckties. The most worthless invention ever created, IMHO...

I couldn't agree more. Who thought it was a good idea to take something that is essentially a noose, hang it around a man's neck, and call it a fashion item? shakeshead

 

[Gregg Axley]

"Hey, let's replace a perfectly good and harmless product with one that contains mercury so that people will have to call Hazmat to clean it up if they break one. Oh, and let's make it a legal requirement that you have to take them to a specific recycling center when they no longer work." Yeah, that's progress. :frusty:

I couldn't agree more. Who thought it was a good idea to take something that is essentially a noose, hang it around a man's neck, and call it a fashion item? shakeshead

I like to think of some ties as art.
A family member has a collection of Garcia ties, and while he enjoys them, I'd say Garcia couldn't sing, and he couldn't paint either.
Some ties are amusing though, such as the following:
A polo man riding an alligator (had that in the 80's, known as a pologator tie).
A tie with the periodic chart on it, and yes I did wear that to a chemistry exam in college!
And lastly, a tie with a lamb and a shepherd on it, drawn by A. Rogers who was a local preacher of a very large church not far from me.
Those were limited, and I really cherish this one.
So ties aren't much in the way of fashion, I'll agree with that one, but maybe they can be art.
Except the paisley ones from the 70's, that are a mile wide. What were we thinking?

Ipods. I won't miss Ipods when they are gone. I can't tell you how many people I see at work, or walking around in other offices I visit, that have "ear buds" in. Is your music that important that you carry it EVERYWHERE you go?
There is a coworker however, that has a great idea (some on here like Vintagetink might agree with this). He has audio from a lot of the
Mystery Science 3000 movies on his Ipod. All day he does his work, while listening to movies such as the Rocky Jones series, Boggy Creek II,
and even The Lost Continent with Cesar Romero and Hugh Beaumont. It's addicting to hear the audio and the jokes made about the lines, etc.

 

[JonnyO]

How about glasses with clear lenses?

 

[LizzieMaine]

And yet more --

The word "hawt"

People who say "It's how I roll."

Typewriter key-choppers.

Websites with video commercials that automatically load and play

People who think email gives them the right to passive-aggressively pester you all damn day about meaningless trivialities when you're trying to work.

Performance art.

Declawing cats. (I'd personally like to chop off the first finger joints of every jackass who does this.)

Cat food laced with corn bran and other substances indigestible by cats.

Writers who call themselves "wordsmiths."

Those sink faucets with a lever on the top instead of simple handles at the sides.

Fed Ex men who disregard five notes stuck to the door and leave your package out on the stoop in the rain.

Stores that warn you about security cameras with signs starting with "For Your Convenience."

Automatic paper towel dispensers that don't give you enough towel to dry your hands.

The chocolate hazelnut fad.

"Fauxhawks" on grown men.

Batters who stand at home plate and watch their home runs.

Security systems that go off in the middle of the night when a moth flies past the motion sensor.

Talking ATMs with a weird pseudo-European accent.

People who call macaroni and cheese "cheesy pasta."

Halloween crap going on display in August.

People who visit tourist towns and whine because there's no Starbucks.

Naked-woman-silhouette mudflaps.

Those oval airport-code stickers.

People who think those oval airport-code stickers are any less inane than naked-woman-silhouette mudflaps.

Hollow-core doors.

People who hate unions but can't wait to celebrate Labor Day.

The word "phablet."

 

[Gregg Axley]

Got you beat Lizzie, I saw Christmas stuff on sale at Costco last weekend.
The leaves haven't even turned down here yet.

 

[V.C. Brunswick]

I've seen Valentines stuff at the stores on the day after Christmas.