Do you ever look at something and wonder why they still exist? Meaning, why haven’t we come up with a better mousetrap, or even worse- we HAVE but people are still using the older, worse version? I do. And here are a few of what I find to be the worst offenders.
#1 Fax machines. Seriously, why? There isn’t any good reason to keep them around. They are way less secure than digital transmissions, there isn’t a good way to know if it actually made it to the intended recipient in a useable format, and they waste a lot of paper. It’s time to put fax machines out the pasture once and for all.
#2 Dictionaries. When is the last time you used one? If you need to know what a word means or how it’s spelled you can Google that in less time than it takes to go get a book, never mind open it up and actually look something up. While they are great for killing large spiders, you can rid your home of pests just as well with a shoe, and shoes at least still serve a purpose. Yet there are still many dictionaries for sale in book stores and online.
#3 Cursive writing. Yeah, I know I’m going to get flack for this one. But really- what purpose does it serve other than making people feel superior because they can do it better than you? Even when done perfectly it can be difficult to read, and it’s almost never done perfectly. It’s inefficient, it’s pretentious, and it has outlived its purpose – whatever that might have been.
#4 Nicotine products. Using nicotine in any form has many known health risks. There is literally no upside to their use and we’ve known this for decades. It’s time for them to go away.
#5 The penny. It costs more than 2 cents to manufacture a penny. That alone is more than enough reason to eliminate them. Other countries- such as Canada- have already gotten rid of their one cent pieces, so it’s certainly doable.
What are some old things you think need to go away? OR, do you think one of these things need to stay?