Get
ready to
imagine a
world without
the post
office They
are so deeply
in financial
trouble that
there is
probably no
way to sustain
it long term.
Email, Fed Ex,
and UPS have
just about
wiped out the
minimum
revenue needed
to keep the
post office
alive. Most of
your mail
every day is
junk mail and
bills.
Britain
is already
laying the
groundwork to
do away with
checks by
2018. It
costs the
financial
system
billions of
dollars a year
to process
checks.
Plastic cards
and online
transactions
will lead to
the eventual
demise of the
check.
This plays
right into the
death of the
post
office.
If you never
paid your
bills by mail
and never
received them
by mail, the
post office
would
absolutely go
out of
business.
The
younger
generation
simply doesn't
read the
newspaper.
They certainly
don't
subscribe to a
daily
delivered
print
edition.
That may go
the way of the
milkman and
the laundry
man. As
for reading
the paper
online, get
ready to pay
for it.
The rise in
mobile
Internet
devices and
e-readers has
caused all the
newspaper and
magazine
publishers to
form an
alliance.
They have met
with Apple,
Amazon, and
the major cell
phone
companies to
develop a
model for paid
subscription
services
You
say you will
never give up
the physical
book that you
hold in your
hand and turn
the literal
pages I
said the same
thing about
downloading
music from
iTunes.
I wanted my
hard copy
CD. But
I quickly
changed my
mind when I
discovered
that I could
get albums for
half the price
without ever
leaving home
to get the
latest
music.
The same thing
will happen
with
books.
You can browse
a bookstore
online and
even read a
preview
chapter before
you buy.
And the price
is less than
half that of a
real
book.
And think of
the
convenience!
Once you start
flicking your
fingers on the
screen instead
of the book,
you find that
you are lost
in the story,
can't wait to
see what
happens next,
and you forget
that you're
holding a
gadget instead
of a book.
5.
The Land Line
Telephone
Unless
you have a
large family
and make a lot
of local
calls, you
don't need it
anymore.
Most people
keep it simply
because
they've always
had it
But you are
paying double
charges for
that extra
service.
All the cell
phone
companies will
let you call
customers
using the same
cell provider
for no charge
against your
minutes.
This
is one of the
saddest parts
of the change
story.
The music
industry is
dying a slow
death.
Not just
because of
illegal
downloading.
It's the lack
of innovative
new music
being given a
chance to get
to the people
who would like
to hear
it.
Greed and
corruption is
the
problem.
The record
labels and the
radio
conglomerates
are simply
self-destructing.
Over 40% of
the music
purchased
today is
"catalogue
items,"
meaning
traditional
music that the
public is
familiar
with.
Older
established
artists.
This is also
true on the
live concert
circuit.
To explore
this
fascinating
and disturbing
topic further,
check out the
book,
"Appetite for
Self-Destruction"
by Steve
Knopper, and
the video
documentary,
"Before the
Music Dies."
To
the networks
are down
dramatically.
Not just
because of the
economy.
People are
watching TV
and movies
streamed from
their
computers.
And they're
playing games
and doing lots
of other
things that
take up the
time that used
to be spent
watching
TV.
Prime time
shows have
degenerated
down to lower
than the
lowest common
denominator.
Cable rates
are
skyrocketing
and
commercials
run about
every 4
minutes and 30
seconds.
I say good
riddance to
most of
it. It's
time for the
cable
companies to
be put out of
our
misery.
Let the people
choose what
they want to
watch online
and through
Netflix.
8.
The "Things"
That You Own
Many
of the very
possessions
that we used
to own are
still in our
lives, but we
may not
actually own
them in the
future.
They may
simply reside
in "the
cloud.."
Today your
computer has a
hard drive and
you store your
pictures,
music, movies,
and
documents.
Your software
is on a CD or
DVD, and you
can always
re-install it
if need
be. But
all of that is
changing.
Apple,
Microsoft, and
Google are all
finishing up
their latest
"cloud
services."
That means
that when you
turn on a
computer, the
Internet will
be built into
the operating
system.
So, Windows,
Google, and
the Mac OS
will be tied
straight into
the
Internet.
If you click
an icon, it
will open
something in
the Internet
cloud.
If you save
something, it
will be saved
to the
cloud..
And you may
pay a monthly
subscription
fee to the
cloud
provider.
In this
virtual world,
you can access
your music or
your books, or
your whatever
from any
laptop or
handheld
device.
That's the
good
news.
But, will you
actually own
any of this
"stuff" or
will it all be
able to
disappear at
any moment in
a big
"Poof?"
Will most of
the things in
our lives be
disposable and
whimsical?
It makes you
want to run to
the closet and
pull out that
photo album,
grab a book
from the
shelf, or open
up a CD case
and pull out
the insert.
9.
Joined
Handwriting
(Cursive
Writing)
Already
gone in some
schools who no
longer teach
"joined
handwriting"
because nearly
everything is
done now on
computers or
keyboards of
some type (pun
not intended).
If
there ever was
a concept that
we can look
back on
nostalgically,
it would be
privacy.
That's
gone.
It's been gone
for a long
time
anyway.
There are
cameras on the
street, in
most of the
buildings, and
even built
into your
computer and
cell
phone.
But you can be
sure that
24/7, "They"
know who you
are and where
you are, right
down to the
GPS
coordinates,
and the Google
Street
View. If
you buy
something,
your habit is
put into a
zillion
profiles, and
your ads will
change to
reflect those
habits..
"They" will
try to get you
to buy
something
else.
Again and
again and
again.
All
we will have
left that
which can't be
changed.......are
our "Memories".
And
dependency is
to be
revered..
This
is present day
North America.