things we don't....

things we don't...

   

   Many studies, surveys, and fun pieces have probably been written about the things we don't DO anymore because of technological advances.  CBS Sunday Morning has devoted numerous segments on the same subject. The History Channel  has followed suit. Magazine writers have dedicated articles to the countless stuff that is now archaic or obsolete.  Newspaper feature writers reflect on experiences of the past, while lamenting ...those bygone days.  

  But, besides the physical action of not doing something, there is a whole litany of EXPRESSIONS we no longer vocalize because of the information age.

  HUH? What's up with that? 

  Wait a minute!  I'll just go get the encyclopedia and we'll find out, Carl G. said.  

  He is one of seven contributors to this post, and his example is just one of many commands or statements we no longer say. 

  Only speculating here, but it would be difficult to find anyone younger than college age who has even seen an encyclopedia. Maybe even older than that.

  Encyclopedia Britannica lasted 244 years.  The first edition was three volumes in length and was printed in 1768.  Near the end of its time in 2010, the final edition was written by about 100 full-time editors and over 4,000 contributors.  Each writer was considered a scholar in his or her field.  

  In its better years, there were thousands of door-to-door Encyclopedia Britannica sales people nationwide. Today?  It is a service available only online.  

  Tony P. exclaimed, Don't touch that dial! 

  That was common language when a family member was about to change the TV channel from the show you were watching.  To change the channel required someone to physically get up from the couch, go to the television and turn a numbered dial usually located on the side of the TV set.  That was prior to remote controls!

  According to science.howstuffworks.com, the first remote unit to control a television was introduced by Zenith Radio Corporation (now a part of LG) in 1950.  The remote was marketed as Lazy Bones (back in the 1920's through the 1990's and even some today, TV's, radios, and most new appliances were given names for marketing purposes). It was connected to the TV by a wire that went from the TV to the viewer.  He or she sat comfortably in a recliner with the remote in hand.  The remote unit itself looked like a futuristic ray gun and was held in hand just like remotes of today.   

  The cost alone of Lazy Bones prevented widespread usage.  It would be another 35 years before the ultrasonic units we know today would become cheap and extremely popular.  By the 1980's, we no longer had a need to yell out, Don't touch that dial!

  If we're leaving Friday, I'll call Triple A and get a Triptik, offered Ken G.  

  Believe it or not, but in this day of Google and Google Maps, GPS and satellite directions and routing, you can still get that paper graph.

  History's earliest known world map was scratched on clay tablets in the ancient city of Babylon sometime around 600 BC, according to history.com.  But, localized maps have been found from thousands of years ago.

  Today, there are travelers who must have a paper map or hardcopy of their destination and route to achieve their goal.  For them, having a series of maps and Tour Books in the car is essential.  Enter Triple A.

  AAA, better known as Triple A, has paper maps, advice on the best hotels and restaurants, and all kinds of travel sightseeing tips in a package called a TripTik.  The first modern TripTik, a spiral bound notebook, was made in 1937.  

  Paper TripTiks are still available and there is a Triple A app for android phones.  At its peak, Triple A printed millions of TripTiks every summer.  In 2014, they manufactured 42,000.

  Matt G's contribution, I'll look it up in the Yellow Pages, or some variation was heard every day in every home and business in America.  

  Like it's encyclopedic equivalent, telephone books have become obsolete, thus you no longer hear or say that old familiar phrase. 

  A necessary form of advertising for any business or service was in the Yellow Pages.  It was absolutely critical for most businesses to be alphabetically listed by category in this annually updated behemoth. Think of the number of times you go to your cell phone to look up restaurant or other business information and you will readily see the frequency Yellow Pages were referenced.  

  Cumbersome and arduous to find a place in the house because the White Pages were equally voluminous, the two books together occupied an entire double-deep drawer in any desk. 

  The Yellow Pages originally got the iconic name by having been printed on yellow paper when the original YP printing company back in the 1880's ran out of white paper.  

 Revenue from advertising in yellow pages is minuscule compared to the past.  Fewer and fewer communities even print the once essential tomes.  

  I'll check the answering machine, Nicole R. said.  As soon as we got home, it was the first thing one of us would say, she added.  

   An engineer who worked for Bell Laboratories invented a tape-based answering machine which parent company, AT&T kept under wraps for years.  Their thinking was that an answering machine would reduce the number of telephone calls placed, thereby reducing revenue.  Back in those days, every telephone call, sent or received, cost the customer a few cents.

  A commercial answering machine was on the market in 1949 at a cost of $200.  According to, in2013dollars.com, that would translate to a little over $2,184 in today's economy.  The machine didn't sell because very few people could afford it.

  Improved technology led to less expensive units and by 1991, over 11 million answering machines were sold in the United States alone.  

  Today, the market has all but disappeared.  The industry forecast for 2020-2025 is barely a break even proposition and most sales will come from companies and corporations investing in Blue Tooth technology, reports industryarc.com.  

  Lets advertise our garage sale in the classified ads, says Jeremy G. 

  CBC.com writes, At any given time, a glance at the classifieds tells us exactly what we were wearing, what we had lost, what we wanted to find, and how we courted.  From lost and found to help wanted to runaway slaves to the first real estate to ransom notes to the wild and wacky world of personal ads, the classified section is an incredible chronicle of our existence. 

  Some of the first copywriters in recorded history appeared in England in the 1600s.  They were called scribes and they made their living writing announcements, which were for all intents and purposes, classified ads.  They were called Si quis, which according to CBC.com means, If anybody knows of....

  Sara Bader's book, Strange Red Cow, documents the history of classified ads.  She writes, The first newspaper in America wasn't published until 1704 in Boston.  The first classified appeared in that newspaper. 

  At one time, classifieds produced billions of dollars annually in revenue for newspapers world-wide.  Today, with the decline in newspaper readership, the slump or weakening of advertising and revenue, newspaper classified ads are not the first or even second choice of consumers.  Most newspapers are now online and personal ads can be placed the same way.   

  These are just a few of over two dozen expressions submitted for this post.  History says as technology moves forward, we will find ourselves doing less and less.  As an example, I'll drive the car, is certainly on borrowed time.  You can come up with many, many more.  

  Coming up in future posts, we will visit with some Encore Performers, and hear from some stay at home workers.  Next time though, we'll feature a topic you are sure to think is sweet. 

  And, speaking of copywriters.  About 15 crossed my path over a 38 year broadcast career.  Collectively, they are a unique group of people while being both talented and quite funny. Two of the 15 were gifted writers by any standard.

  One of my favorites was the chief writer for an ABC radio and television affiliate.  Her name was Penny.  One Monday morning after what Penny described as a particularly long weekend, she told me she was calling the newspaper to place the following classified:  

  If you're the guy I met at Meet Up, I asked you not to pinch my butt again.  You did.  Call me. (---) 555-5555.  

  Never once, then or now, did I think she was joking. 

  HUH? What's up with that?