Last week we began our discussion of 10 things that might disappear in our lifetime. The first five were, telephone landlines, the post office, books, bank checks and the music industry. Now we continue our discussion with the second five. See if you agree with the statements that these things are disappearing as we know them.
Television as we know it – “Revenues to the networks are down dramatically. 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. Recently on a Saturday afternoon, two of the main networks were showing infomercials and cable rates are skyrocketing.”
I believe one thing we need is more cable company competition and that is now coming to Marysville and Union County. Also many people watch Netflix choosing the series they want to follow rather than watching it on basic television.
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 there. 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 providing “cloud services.” Soon 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.”
That would be nice. No more trying to get the Internet router to work properly. In this virtual world, you can access your music or your books, or whatever from any laptop or handheld device. Right now you can do that, but they have to be compatible. But, will you actually own any of this stuff or will it all be able to disappear at any moment in a big poof? That’s something that always worries me, because several times an entire column has vanished as I attempted to send it to my editor. Then, unbelievably, I had to start over.
Cursive handwriting – “Already gone in some schools, I do not believe Marysville is currently teaching this. The reason given was, nearly everything is done now on computers or keyboards and time used to teach handwriting is needed for other skills.”
I wonder what will happen to our signature needed for nearly everything we do now? Also, the cursive handwriting is so much faster than printing. I have already taught my seven-year-old grandson how to write his name in cursive. He asked me to show him one day and after three practice tries he was writing his name on everything. Maybe someday old people will use cursive writing as a secret code. They’ll be the only ones who know what it says.
Privacy – “If there ever was a concept that we can look back on nostalgically, it would be privacy. That’s gone. There are cameras on the street, in most buildings, and even built into your computer and cell phone.”
In fact, some people recently found they were being spied on through the camera on their laptop. Also, the new Alexa product by Amazon apparently has the ability to listen all the time in your home because it’s on, waiting for your next command. 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.
The Journal-Tribune is the only local daily newspaper in Union County. We strive to be relevant as we work hard to bring you local news each day. It may be that the printed page will be history one of these days, but that doesn’t mean people won’t need a local newspaper. It will just be supplied in another form. If you are a subscriber to the Journal-Tribune, our online addition is free and available to you anywhere you are in the world.
Recently, the J-T reported the boom in the use of our website. In the first quarter we already had nearly 7 million page views from just over 2 million visitors to the site. We are on the path to double the usage of our website this year.
Besides the job of supplying daily news, newspapers can be really entertaining and the evidence of that is from headlines from all over the country. Here we go. I guarantee you will laugh. Seriously, what were these editors thinking?
“Miracle Cure Kills Fifth Patient.” “Homicide Victims Rarely Talk to Police.” “Federal Agents Raid Gun Shop, Find Weapons.” “Statistics Show Teen Pregnancy Drops Off Significantly After Age 25.” “Bugs Flying Around With Wings Are Flying Bugs.” “Man With 12 DUIs Blames Drinking Problem.” “Diana Was Still Alive Hours Before She Died.” “Total Lunar Eclipse Will be Broadcast Live on Northwoods Public Radio.” “Missippi Literacy Program Shows Improvement.” “New Sick Policy Requires Two Day Notice.” “Study Shows Frequent Sex Enhances Pregnancy Chances.” And finally, “City Unsure Why the Sewer Smells.”
We thank all of you who read the Journal-Tribune and promise to continue to work hard to bring you all the news of Union County.
(Melanie Behrens – melb@marysvillejt.com)