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

[Bernie Zack]

Dancing with the Stars, and pumping gas.

 

[kamikat]

AJ is right! My BFF lives across the country and it's so much cheaper to keep in touch via Facebook. I use identi.ca all the time (open source version of Twitter) to DM my husband all the time because he doesn't get cell service in his office, but does have wifi, not to mention free as opposed to paying for texts
As for teen heart throb, they aren't for us. They are for teens. In my parents' day, it was Frankie Valley. In my sister's day, Shawn Cassidy. For me, Duran Duran. Young teen girls will always fawn over pretty, non-threatening boys who have more looks than talent.
The only thing I won't miss is reality TV. I have never gotten into it.

 

[Edward]

I remember a guy talking no the radio a few years back, just after the BBC had started screening complete past episodes of Top of the Pops. He told how he used to complain about the state of modern pop (this was in the mid 90s, at the height of Take That and the likes) and say how much better things like Top of the Pops were in the Seventies and earlier, when all those great artists from the past were on and not a bunch of rubbish as now. Then he watched some of those old episodes and discovered the truth of the old maxim plus ca change, plus la meme chose.

The real onslaught of manufactured outrageousness/rebelliousness/etc starts with the fifties, I think. You had intimations of it earlier, but it wasn't until the whole "Join The Beat Generation!" campaign in the late fifties that you really started to see the cynical appropriation and exploitation of such things. The sixties and seventies saw it explode, and today it's so much a part of the culture that few people know the difference between a real rebel and a marketing-created one. When you buy the accoutrements of your "rebellion" at the mall, you're no rebel -- you're just as much a tool of the system as the most rigid conformist.

Mnn. Yes, as a commercial thing, I see what you mean. Old punk that I am, I often laugh at kids in their early teens buying pre-printed t-shirts with a neat "Anarchy" symbol on them in Camden market. The commercialisation of Che Guevara's image is also darkly amusing - even more so that of Mao, something I see a lot of in China. I still find manufactured outrage rather more offensive, however - especially as practised by the British tabloid press.

 

[SgtRick]

Facebook! What a waste of time. And no I don't have one and never will. Those of you that do, be careful, HR managers love to check out perspective employees on there.

 

[Tango Yankee]

Facebook! What a waste of time. And no I don't have one and never will. Those of you that do, be careful, HR managers love to check out perspective employees on there.

Current employees have become former employees based on what they've posted on Facebook, as well. Some people just don't get it that they've given up their privacy when they start posting online.

Cheers,
Tom

 

[Brad Bowers]

To all who hate Facebook, I was like you once. However, after having my Facebook account for LESS than a year, I have been sought out and contacted by numerous relatives of hat manufacturers and retailers through my Facebook account, which has served to further my research in ways that might not have been possible without it. The Internet, e-mail, and social networking has made an historian's research so much easier that I wouldn't want to go back to the way things were before.

Brad

 

[RadioWave]

Lizzie: I'm impressed; that's a pretty thorough list.

Also:
- Youtube advertisements
- The prevalence of low-budget CGI family films
- Seth MacFarlane
- GREs
- Collegiate financial extortion
- The way the 1950s is clichéd by James Dean, Elvis Presley, and Marilyn Monroe.
- "The jokeless comedy" http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/29/magazine/the-hangover-and-the-age-of-the-jokeless-comedy.html?_r=2

...I will admit to using/linking Wikipedia in a pinch : /

 

[John in Covina]

Pop singers that have to have some polyphonic, multi-notes, 'practising the scales' interlude / portion of the song to show off their singing prowess.

I always thing of the scene in Amadeus when the King says: "Too many notes!"

 

[John in Covina]

To all who hate Facebook, I was like you once. However, after having my Facebook account for LESS than a year, I have been sought out and contacted by numerous relatives of hat manufacturers and retailers through my Facebook account, which has served to further my research in ways that might not have been possible without it. The Internet, e-mail, and social networking has made an historian's research so much easier that I wouldn't want to go back to the way things were before. Brad

Sounds like you need to write up a How to for Facebook so we can emulate your success. I know that i find Facebook somewhat counter intuitive.

 

[John in Covina]

Microsoft. I did not like them to begin with but the whole Vista debacle makes me wish they all would spend a significant portion of their lives alternating between writhing in pain, paralyzed with fear and living in abject despair.

But I don't mean that in a bad way.

 

[Stray Cat]

Facebook! HR managers love to check out perspective employees on there.

One more reason for NEVER having it!
If I want people to see me, I'd invite them into my life.. my future boss not included!

And wouldn't mind if "Big Brother" goes "Crash and burn!!"
(am I the only one who read George Orwell's "1984")?!

 

[Puzzicato]

People who call their living room the "Great Room."

I have never heard that. How odd. Is it a common thing?

I will be very, very happy when the notion of a "movie franchise" and "reboot" go the way of the dodo.

 

[rue]

I have never heard that. How odd. Is it a common thing?

It's an American term for a huge two story room and they are awful. I had one in our last house and hated it, because no matter how cozy you try to make them, you can't.

I agree with that and I'll also add .....

Open floor plans (Kitchen, living room and dining room all in one)
Huge designer kitchens (that no one cooks in)
Vinyl siding on old houses (just ripped the last of ours off yesterday... yay )

 

[Lady Day]

Helvetica.

There was actually a rather interesting documentary done on this typeface/font (I am sorry if I offended those true typography diehards by using the wrong term).

Digital 3D movies.

These drive me crazy. I don't want to interact with my film. It's job is to entertain me. That's why I'm there seeing it. I don't have a desire to have the movie come after me. I want it to draw me in via story characters and the like, not some stunt to drive up ticket sales and have me wear a pair of glasses OVER MY OWN GLASSES!!!!!!

LD

 

[Edward]

To all who hate Facebook, I was like you once. However, after having my Facebook account for LESS than a year, I have been sought out and contacted by numerous relatives of hat manufacturers and retailers through my Facebook account, which has served to further my research in ways that might not have been possible without it. The Internet, e-mail, and social networking has made an historian's research so much easier that I wouldn't want to go back to the way things were before.

Brad

And there's the rub. The thing is, for all those who claim to, or even believe they hate Facebook and other social networking sites (as distinct from online BBS on which they socialise), ultimately what they really profess to hate is not the technology at all, but the use to which it is put. Nobody ever put a gun to anyone's head and forced them to use their "real" details on Facebook. Hell, I've been using pseudonyms socially since I was about ten.... in 1984. I find Facebook incredibly useful for keeping in touch with people, organising socially, so many other things. I have also rediscovered and/or met for the first time a lot of very interesting people I never would have but for SNS.

Microsoft. I did not like them to begin with but the whole Vista debacle makes me wish they all would spend a significant portion of their lives alternating between writhing in pain, paralyzed with fear and living in abject despair.

I used to regard Bill Gates as the devil himself. Vista was a mis-step, yes... thuogh XP before it, and Windows 7 after it, are both great OS in my experience. Now that they no longer integrate their browser and media players, and that I can use something like Open Office instead of MS Office equally easily should I so choose to do, I much prefer them to Apple. I have totally turned against Apple, actually - not only because of their controlling nature (worse than Microsoft ever were - at least MS only sought to dominate your software, whereas Apple wish to dictate that you buy their hardware too - which is typically twice the price of the competition). It's the smug iLifestyle marketing that really sickens me. Selling the brand not the product to the max.

It's an American term for a huge two story room and they are awful. I had one in our last house and hated it, because no matter how cozy you try to make them, you can't.

I can imagine the down sides, though I rather like the idea nonetheless. Extra wallspace would allow for displaying much larger (and more) art pieces, more bookshelving (I've always wanted high, library shelves with one of those rolling ladders on a rail), and so on. Ideally, I would like to create a mezzanine level over a third or so of such a room - couple of sofas, coffee table, reading area sort of thing.

I agree with that and I'll also add .....

Open floor plans (Kitchen, living room and dining room all in one)

Not a fan of this either, though that said I'd be quite pen to the idea as a space-saver were I to be buying a small pied a Terre in another city.

Huge designer kitchens (that no one cooks in)

Does seem a touch pointless.

Vinyl siding on old houses (just ripped the last of ours off yesterday... yay )

What exactly is that - an equivalent of stone cladding?

These drive me crazy. I don't want to interact with my film. It's job is to entertain me. That's why I'm there seeing it. I don't have a desire to have the movie come after me. I want it to draw me in via story characters and the like, not some stunt to drive up ticket sales and have me wear a pair of glasses OVER MY OWN GLASSES!!!!!!

The handful of films I've seen in 3D were very well done (the latest Pirates, one of the Narnias, and Alice in Wonderland). The technology was used in all of them to simply give an extra texture, rather than dominating them. I wouldn't be bothered with it at home as on even a 50" screen I think it would seem pointless, but I did enjoy it in the cinema. I agree the glasses are a pain, though - I have the same issue as yourself, plus the fact that my Shuron Ronsirs seem to be a touch wider than they anticipated when the 3D goggles were designed, so they never sit quite right on me. Bearable for the duration of one film, but I'd never see it as realistic in the home.

 

[Lady Day]

The handful of films I've seen in 3D were very well done (the latest Pirates, one of the Narnias, and Alice in Wonderland). The technology was used in all of them to simply give an extra texture, rather than dominating them. I wouldn't be bothered with it at home as on even a 50" screen I think it would seem pointless, but I did enjoy it in the cinema.

Good for you, not for me.

Im one of those people who is going to imagine all that extra texture and vibrancy in any case, no matter the technology in which the movie is made because that is how I think when I go to moves. I dont need that cheat.

I also dont like the compositions of made for 3D films. They read as very static instead of the long linear format that films are designed for.

LD

 

[rue]

I can imagine the down sides, though I rather like the idea nonetheless. Extra wallspace would allow for displaying much larger (and more) art pieces, more bookshelving (I've always wanted high, library shelves with one of those rolling ladders on a rail), and so on. Ideally, I would like to create a mezzanine level over a third or so of such a room - couple of sofas, coffee table, reading area sort of thing.

I'm not referring to the gorgeous libraries with ladders on a rail in homes that suit such a thing. These rooms are basic pointless shells in modern middle class homes.

Not a fan of this either, though that said I'd be quite pen to the idea as a space-saver were I to be buying a small pied a Terre in another city.

I can see it in a log cabin or small apartment, but again this is something in a regular size home. The whole space is open to everything, so if you're having a dinner party and you have dishes in the sink, your guests have a lovely view of them while they eat dinner.

What exactly is that - an equivalent of stone cladding?

It's this awful plastic stuff they put on old wood houses. It's sold as a time saver so you don't have to paint anymore and supposedly to protect the house (think of plastic covers for couches). The trouble is, these old homes are rotting underneath that plastic and all kinds of bugs and critters hide in it. After only three years of having that stuff on (the previous owners did it), our house had horrible mold and rot. I can't imagine what the houses around us look like after 40 years of having it on.

 

[kamikat]

For the most part, I agree on the 3D movies. I saw Thor in 3D and while it was the first one I saw that was actually well done 3D, it still gave me a headache. I know many people who get headaches from 3D movies.
Those great, big kitchens: most people I know who love to cook DON'T have those great big kitchens. I think their only purpose is to make guests think you are a great cook.

 

[Stray Cat]

It's this awful plastic stuff they put on old wood houses. It's sold as a time saver so you don't have to paint anymore and supposedly to protect the house (think of plastic covers for couches). The trouble is, these old homes are rotting underneath that plastic and all kinds of bugs and critters hide in it. After only three years of having that stuff on (the previous owners did it), our house had horrible mold and rot. I can't imagine what the houses around us look like after 40 years of having it on.

They make those?!
*shivers*
Who would do such a blasphemy to fine wood houses?!

 

[LizzieMaine]

There was actually a rather interesting documentary done on this typeface/font (I am sorry if I offended those true typography diehards by using the wrong term).

Yep, we ran that film a few years back -- one of the most unusual audiences we ever had, too. Who would have known there were so many typography buffs in the world. But documentary nonwithstanding, Helvetica bugs me because it's just so bland and faceless and generic and ubiquitous -- a typeface of no character whatsoever, favored by people of no character whatsoever, who have nothing of character to say. Bring back Kabel or Bodoni.

These drive me crazy. I don't want to interact with my film. It's job is to entertain me. That's why I'm there seeing it. I don't have a desire to have the movie come after me. I want it to draw me in via story characters and the like, not some stunt to drive up ticket sales and have me wear a pair of glasses OVER MY OWN GLASSES!!!!!!

LD

Exactly my own view. Plus, like Kamikat says, *any* kind of 3-D movie, whether the 50s style red/blue or the modern polarized kind, gives me violent headaches. I suffer from an eye condition called "inadequate binocularity," and it takes physical effort for me to keep my eyes in synch under even ordinary conditions -- so you can imagine what 3D glasses do.

Plus, from a projectionist's point of view, the 3D technology itself is rotten -- poorly engineered, overpriced, and underilluminated. We have no plans to install it at work, because with our audience -- which skews heavily to the 50 plus crowd -- it'd put off more people than it would attract, and I couldn't be happier about that.