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Justin Style Inner circle 2010 Posts |
Bye, bye, love...
Common Sense and some research indicate that there are: 24 THINGS ABOUT TO BECOME EXTINCT IN AMERICA 24. Yellow Pages This year will be pivotal for the global Yellow Pages industry. Much like newspapers, print Yellow Pages will continue to bleed dollars to their various digital counterparts, from Internet Yellow Pages (IYPs), to local search engines and combination search/listing services like Reach Local and Yodel Factors like an acceleration of the print 'fade rate' and the looming recession will contribute to the onslaught. One research firm predicts the falloff in usage of newspapers and print Yellow Pages could even reach 10% this year -- much higher than the 2%-3% fade rate seen in past years. 23. Classified Ads The Internet has made so many things obsolete that newspaper classified ads might sound like just another trivial item on a long list. But this is one of those harbingers of the future that could signal the end of civilization as we know it. The argument is that if newspaper classifieds are replaced by free online listings at sites like Craigslist.org and Google Base, then newspapers are not far behind them. 22. Movie Rental Stores While Netflix is looking up at the moment, Blockbuster keeps closing store locations by the hundreds. It still has about 6,000 left across the world, but those keep dwindling and the stock is down considerably in 2008, especially since the company gave up a quest of Circuit City. Movie Gallery, which owned the Hollywood Video brand, closed up shop earlier this year. Countless small video chains and mom-and-pop stores have given up the ghost already. 21. Dial-up Internet Access Dial-up connections have fallen from 40% in 2001 to 10% in 2008. The combination of an infrastructure to accommodate affordable high speed Internet connections and the disappearing home phone have all but pounded the final nail in the coffin of dial-up Internet access. 20. Phone Landlines According to a survey from the National Center for Health Statistics, at the end of 2007, nearly one in six homes was cell-only and, of those homes that had landlines, one in eight only received calls on their cells. 19. Chesapeake Bay Blue Crabs Maryland's icon, the blue crab, has been fading away in Chesapeake Bay. Last year Maryland saw the lowest harvest (22 million pounds) since 1945. Just four decades ago the bay produced 96 million pounds. The population is down 70% since 1990, when they first did a formal count. There are only about 120 million crabs in the bay and they think they need 200 million for a sustainable population. Over-fishing, pollution, invasive species and global warming get the blame. 18. VCRs For the better part of three decades, the VCR was a best-seller and staple in every American household until being completely decimated by the DVD, and now the Digital Video Recorder (DVR). In fact, the only remnants of the VHS age at your local Wal-Mart or Radio Shack are blank VHS tapes these days. Pre-recorded VHS tapes are largely gone and VHS decks are practically nowhere to be found. They served us so well. 17. Ash Trees In the late 1990s, a pretty, iridescent green species of beetle, now known as the emerald ash borer, hitched a ride to North America with ash wood products imported from eastern Asia. In less than a decade, its larvae have killed millions of trees in the Midwest, and continue to spread. They've killed more than 30 million ash trees in southeastern Michigan alone, with tens of millions more lost in Ohio and Indiana. More than 7.5 billion ash trees are currently at risk. 16. Ham Radio Amateur radio operators enjoy personal (and often worldwide) wireless communications with each other and are able to support their communities with emergency and disaster communications if necessary, while increasing their personal knowledge of electronics and radio theory. However, proliferation of the Internet and its popularity among youth has caused the decline of amateur radio. In the past five years alone, the number of people holding active ham radio licenses has dropped by 50,000, even though Morse Code is no longer a requirement. 15. The Swimming Hole Thanks to our litigious society, swimming holes are becoming a thing of the past. '20/20' reports that swimming hole owners, like Robert Every in High Falls, NY, are shutting them down out of worry that if someone gets hurt they'll sue. And that's exactly what happened in Seattle. The city of Bellingham was sued by Katie Hofstetter who was paralyzed in a fall at a popular swimming hole in Whatcom Falls Park. As injuries occur and lawsuits follow, expect more swimming holes to post 'Keep out!' signs. 14. Answering Machines The increasing disappearance of answering machines is directly tied to No 20 our list -- the decline of landlines. According to USA Today, the number of homes that only use cell phones jumped 159% between 2004 and 2007. It has been particularly bad in New York; since 2000, landline usage has dropped 55%. It's logical that as cell phones rise, many of them replacing traditional landlines, that there will be fewer answering machines. 13. Cameras That Use Film It doesn't require a statistician to prove the rapid disappearance of the film camera in America. Just look to companies like Nikon, the professional's choice for quality camera equipment. In 2006, it announced that it would stop making film cameras, pointing to the shrinking market -- only 3% of its sales in 2005, compared to 75% of sales from digital cameras and equipment. 12. Incandescent Bulbs Before a few years ago, the standard 60-watt (or, yikes, 100-watt) bulb was the mainstay of every U.S. home. With the green movement and all-things-sustainable-energy crowd, the Compact Fluorescent Lightbulb (CFL) is largely replacing the older, Edison-era incandescent bulb. The EPA reports that 2007 sales for Energy Star CFLs nearly doubled from 2006, and these sales accounted for approximately 20 percent of the U.S. light bulb market. And according to USA Today, a new energy bill plans to phase out incandescent bulbs in the next four to 12 years. 11. Stand-Alone Bowling Alleys Bowling Balls. US claims there are still 60 million Americans who bowl at least once a year, but many are not bowling in stand-alone bowling alleys. Today most new bowling alleys are part of facilities for all types or recreation including laser tag, go-karts, bumper cars, video game arcades, climbing walls and glow miniature golf. Bowling lanes also have been added to many non-traditional venues such as adult communities, hotels and resorts, and gambling casinos. 10. The Milkman According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, in 1950, over half of the milk delivered was to the home in quart bottles, by 1963, it was about a third and by 2001, it represented only 0.4% percent. Nowadays most milk is sold through supermarkets in gallon jugs. The steady decline in home-delivered milk is blamed, of course, on the rise of the supermarket, better home refrigeration and longer-lasting milk. Although some milkmen still make the rounds in pockets of the U.S., they are certainly a dying breed. 9. Hand-Written Letters In 2006, the Radicati Group estimated that, worldwide, 183 billion e-mails were sent each day. Two million each second. By November of 2007, an estimated 3.3 billion Earthlings owned cell phones, and 80% of the world's population had access to cell phone coverage. In 2004, half-a-trillion text messages were sent, and the number has no doubt increased exponentially since then. So where amongst this gorge of gabble is there room for the elegant, polite hand-written letter? 8. Wild Horses It is estimated that 100 years ago, as many as two million horses were roaming free within the United States. In 2001, National Geographic News estimated that the wild horse population had decreased to about 50,000 head. Currently, the National Wild Horse and Burro Advisory board states that there are 32,000 free roaming horses in ten Western states, with half of them residing in Nevada. The Bureau of Land Management is seeking to reduce the total number of free range horses to 27,000, possibly by selective euthanasia. 7. Personal Checks According to an American Bankers Assoc. report, a net 23% of consumers plan to decrease their use of checks over the next two years, while a net 14% plan to increase their use of PIN debit. Bill payment remains the last stronghold of paper-based payments -- for the time being. Checks continue to be the most commonly used bill payment method, with 71% of consumers paying at least one recurring bill per month by writing a check. However, on a bill-by-bill basis, checks account for only 49% of consumers' recurring bill payments (down from 72% in 2001 and 60% in 2003). 6. Drive-in Theaters During the peak in 1958, there were more than 4,000 drive-in theaters in this country, but in 2007 only 405 drive-ins were still operating. Exactly zero new drive-ins have been built since 2005. Only one reopened in 2005 and five reopened in 2006, so there isn't much of a movement toward reviving the closed ones. 5. Mumps & Measles Despite what's been in the news lately, the measles and mumps actually, truly are disappearing from the United States. In 1964, 212,000 cases of mumps were reported in the U.S. By 1983, this figure had dropped to 3,000, thanks to a vigorous vaccination program. Prior to the introduction of the measles vaccine, approximately half a million cases of measles were reported in the U.S. annually, resulting in 450 deaths. In 2005, only 66 cases were recorded. 4. Honey Bees Perhaps nothing on our list of disappearing America is so dire; plummeting so enormously; and so necessary to the survival of our food supply as the honey bee. Very scary. 'Colony Collapse Disorder,' or CCD, has spread throughout the U.S. and Europe over the past few years, wiping out 50% to 90% of the colonies of many beekeepers -- and along with it, their livelihood. 3. News Magazines and TV News While the TV evening newscasts haven't gone anywhere over the last several decades, their audiences have. In 1984, in a story about the diminishing returns of the evening news, the New York Times reported that all three network evening-news programs combined had only 40.9 million viewers. Fast forward to 2008, and what they have today is half that. 2. Analog TV According to the Consumer Electronics Association, 85% of homes in the U.S. get their television programming through cable or satellite providers. For the remaining 15% -- or 13 million individuals -- who are using rabbit ears or a large outdoor antenna to get their local stations, change is in the air. If you are one of these people you'll need to get a new TV or a converter box in order to get the new stations which will only be broadcast in digital. 1. The Family Farm Since the 1930s, the number of family farms has been declining rapidly. According to the USDA, 5.3 million farms dotted the nation in 1950, but this number had declined to 2.1 million by the 2003 farm census (data from the 2007 census hasn't yet been published). Ninety-one percent of the U.S. FARMS are small Family Farms. |
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Cliffg37 Inner circle Long Beach, CA 2491 Posts |
Some of this is just standard progress, while some is just plain sad.
The phonograph was around for over 50 years, and was a huge part of American culture. When it started to disappear in favor of tapes and CD's that was normal progress. Losing Honey Bee's make be a gift to those afraid or allergic, but without them we will have serious problems in the agriculture of fruit and vegitables.
Magic is like Science,
Both are fun if you do it right! |
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Lyndel Inner circle wrote the theme to the TV show COPS! 1623 Posts |
Thank goodness drive-ins waited to disappear until AFTER my high school years!
Lyndel |
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kregg Inner circle 1950 Posts |
One doesn't see a whole lot of pay phones these days, nor booths for that matter (I'm talking - a glass box with doors). Funny though, I don't remember them clamoring for a BAILOUT to save their industry.
POOF!
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Michael Baker Eternal Order Near a river in the Midwest 11172 Posts |
#18 VCRs - I have so many home videos on VHS that I need to transfer before I lose it all.
#17 Ash Trees - BASEBALL BATS??? #13 Cameras That Use Film - Trying to capture an action shot with precision on a digital camera is one of my pet peeves. #12 Incandescent Bulbs - Do they have CFL bulbs that work with a dimmer? #4 Honey Bees - This is likely the worst thing to ever happen to our planet.
~michael baker
The Magic Company |
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Josh Chaikin Inner circle Kansas City 1430 Posts |
Quote:
On 2009-01-16 12:42, Michael Baker wrote: http://www.thinkgeek.com/electronics/dig......on/a956/ or http://www.amazon.com/Diamond-VC500-Touc......_title_0 Quote:
#12 Incandescent Bulbs - Do they have CFL bulbs that work with a dimmer? Yes, they're about $8 at Walmart. |
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MagiClyde Special user Columbus, Ohio 871 Posts |
There's some level of irony in all this for me.
I have an Extra Class ham license and got into the hobby in the 1970's. In fact, it's what got me into the electronics field in the first place! I recently purchased a vhs/dvd recorder, in part so I could actually make DVD backups of my vhs tapes. The added benefit for me was that it has a digital tuner so that I don't miss out on the changeover on Feruary 17. I did go retro on one thing, however. I cancelled my Direct TV service and get all my shows from the airwaves. I have rediscovered PBS and am loving it. As for Blockbuster, they are killing themselves. For what they charge to rent three movies at a store, I can watch as many as I want from Netflix. Heck! I have so many movies and magic instruction DVD's that being entertained for the rest of my life won't be a problem!
Magic! The quicker picker-upper!
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Michael Baker Eternal Order Near a river in the Midwest 11172 Posts |
Thanks for the info, Josh!
I've seen the VHS to DVD recorders at walMart. I just have not done it yet. I guess I was making the point that not only do I need to do it before I lose my tapes, but also before it becomes harder to find the machines. What's happening to Blockbuster is pretty much the same thing that is happening to B&M magic shops. It simply costs more to operate and maintain a retail storefront than a warehouse and a website.
~michael baker
The Magic Company |
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daffydoug Eternal Order Look mom! I've got 14077 Posts |
I have several hundred dollars in L&L vid tapes. My fear is that they are going to rot on my shelves, my investment, my heard earned dollars gone forever down the crapper..
What's the best, most ECONOMICAL way to get these transferred, (Since I DID pay money for them!) or would I be breaking the law if I did?
The difficult must become easy, the easy beautiful and the beautiful magical.
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boynextdoor Regular user Lancaster 129 Posts |
Someone mentioned CD's and tapes...
Ticks me off. I wanted a record player for so long. All I could find were the huge consoles or ones made for over-privileged classrooms (Expensive). But now all the idiot twerps are jumping on the "vintage" bandwagon and for my $299 I coulda waited a few years and bought one that has three speeds, a tape player, a cd player, radio, and MP3 player port with a stand, and comes with a set of drapes, a butler, and a dinette set.
Trapeze above the Grand Canyon. Be impressed.
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Jonathan Townsend Eternal Order Ossining, NY 27297 Posts |
Did you get a card from the state tax folks about them not sending out the booklets and forms anymore?
...to all the coins I've dropped here
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Josh the Superfluous Inner circle The man of 1881 Posts |
Remember calling time and person to person phone calls?
What do you want in a site? "Honesty, integrity and decency." -Mike Doogan
"I hate it, I hate my ironic lovechild. I didn't even have anything to do with it" Josh #2 |
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jstone Inner circle Someday I'll have 1473 Posts |
DaffyDoug,
It's not the cheapest route, but L&L does offer a discount on the DVD counterpart if you own the VHS. |
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ed rhodes Inner circle Rhode Island 2885 Posts |
Quote:
On 2009-01-16 12:42, Michael Baker wrote: Well, we have them at Wall-Mart. $9.something a pop, but they're supposed to last 6 years. I'm certain they're for sale in other places for those who won't be caught dead in a Wal-Mart. After last year's story. (Unemployed man buys hundreds of dollars of $10 Wal*Mart gift cards and starts handing them out outside the store as Christmas presents... Wal*Mart makes him stop claiming he's "solicitating!") I have a dream that we as a corporate entity will get through ONE year without shooting outselves in the foot! Incidently, the man had $300 left in cards, Target got a hold of him and said; "We'll take your Wal*Mart cards and replace them with Target cards, and you can stand outside Target and hand them out. Wal*Mart comes off looking stupid and Target comes off looking like a great humanitarian corporation.
"...and if you're too afraid of goin' astray, you won't go anywhere." - Granny Weatherwax
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close_up_act Special user Idaho Falls 773 Posts |
If anyone is looking to buy a vhs/dvd recorder check your local Circuit City, they are officially going out of business and will be having liquidation sales. They plan on selling everything they have by March of 09. So grab your recorders and blank discs' at low prices while you can.
check out the link: http://www.circuitcity.com/closed.html I guess you can add circuit city to list of "Soon To Be Extint In America" Junior
J Rodriguez
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evolve629 Inner circle A stack of 3838 Posts |
I'm really tick off by the Analog TV going off 2/17/09. I've 2 small portable hand held colored TVs that I watched games/fave shows at work. You can't get a converter box for these and getting one would certainly defeated the concept of hand held TV. I'm going to scream outside in the snow now..
One hundred percent of the shots you don't take don't go in - Wayne Gretzky
My favorite part is putting the gaffs in the spectators hands...it gives you that warm fuzzy feeling inside! - Bob Kohler |
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Al Angello Eternal Order Collegeville, Pa. USA 11045 Posts |
All of the record companies disappeared over night.
I sold my record collection for $50. I have an ipod now. I cary a cell phone so my wife can keep tabs on me, it has no other puropse. If you have a GPS you will never need directions again.
Al Angello The Comic Juggler/Magician
http://www.juggleral.com http://home.comcast.net/~juggleral/ "Footprints on your ceiling are almost gone" |
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Mark Rough Inner circle Ivy, Virginia 2110 Posts |
Quote:
On 2009-01-18 12:48, close_up_act wrote: Considering what kind of businesses closed when stores like Circuit City opened, I fail to see their closing as a real loss.
What would Wavy do?
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MagicSanta Inner circle Northern Nevada 5841 Posts |
Mr. Raven is right. The guy who started circuits cities son, who is retired, said the problem was that the company didn't take companies like Best Buy seriously and also that management wanted the quick profit and never managed for the future. It is like a lot of these businesses, they are badly managed by people lining their own pockets. The lil' guys who work the floor are just unemployed and broke, the big guys walk out with a couple million in the bank and Best Buy will hire them as execs. Life is so cute isn't it?
I will say it is tough to support small businesses at time. When Walmart opened in the closest town to me I shifted some prescriptions to the mom and pop drug store in town to give them some business. Their hours were bad, the service was worse, and I ended up pulling the prescriptions back to another drug store in another town. Too bad. They are still there but I don't know for how long. |
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daffydoug Eternal Order Look mom! I've got 14077 Posts |
VHS, 30, dies of loneliness
The home-entertainment format lived a fruitful life By DIANE GARRETT After a long illness, the groundbreaking home-entertainment format VHS has died of natural causes in the United States. The format was 30 years old. No services are planned. The format had been expected to survive until January, but high-def formats and next-generation vidgame consoles hastened its final decline. "It's pretty much over," concurred Buena Vista Home Entertainment general manager North America Lori MacPherson on Tuesday. VHS is survived by a child, DVD, and by Tivo, VOD and DirecTV. It was preceded in death by Betamax, Divx, mini-discs and laserdiscs. Although it had been ailing, the format's death became official in this, the video biz's all-important fourth quarter. Retailers decided to pull the plug, saying there was no longer shelf space. As a tribute to the late, great VHS, Toys 'R' Us will continue to carry a few titles like "Barney," and some dollar video chains will still handle cassettes for those who cannot deal with the death of the format. Born Vertical Helical Scan to parent JVC of Japan, the tape had a difficult childhood as it was forced to compete with Sony's Betamax format. After its youthful Betamax battles, the longer-playing VHS tapes eventually became the format of choice for millions of consumers. VHS enjoyed a lucrative career, transforming the way people watched movies and changing the economics of the film biz. VHS hit its peak with "The Lion King," which sold more than 30 million vidcassettes Stateside. The format flourished until DVDs launched in 1997. After a fruitful career, VHS tapes started to retire from center stage in 2003 when DVDs became more popular for the first time. Since their retirement, VHS tapes have made occasional appearances in children's entertainment and as a format for collectors seeking titles not released on DVD. VHS continued to make as much as $300 million a year until this year, when studios stopped manufacturing the tapes.
The difficult must become easy, the easy beautiful and the beautiful magical.
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