It’s said that the only thing in this world that is constant is change. Technology advances seemingly at the speed of light, rendering things that were cutting edge just a few years ago obsolete now.
Along with things becoming obsolete, skills do too. No one needs to know how to operate a telephone switchboard or send a telegraph anymore. No one is getting hired to be a town crier. But there are a lot more recent skills that are quickly going the way of the Dodo bird too, and you probably have a few of them.
Some of the most commonly listed skills that will be obsolete soon include cursive handwriting and driving a manual transmission car. Other skills that aren’t useful anymore- or soon won’t be- include reading a paper map, adjusting the “rabbit ears” on top of the TV, using a pay phone, and using a slide rule.
I personally am hanging on to excellent 10 key skills. But only with my left hand. It stems back to my retail days which were so long ago we didn’t have barcode scanners. Yes, I’m that old. I can’t remember anymore why I only keyed in numbers left handed but I’m sure I had a good reason at the time. Do I need that anymore? Nope. Does anyone? Probably not.
It’s not always a bad thing when something isn’t useful anymore. I find cursive handwriting to be complete and utterly useless. Even when it’s done well it’s very difficult to read, and usually it’s not done well. There is no reason to keep it around. And yes I will die on this hill.
But some things make me a little sad. There is something unsettling about knowing you are the last generation who will use a physical dictionary or a give someone a personalized burned CD. But i suppose the last town criers and Pony Express riders felt that way too. Time marches on no matter how much we don’t want it to.
What out of date skills are you possess? Which ones are you sad to see go?