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10 Things that are going to change in our lifetime!

Discussion in 'General Baptist Discussions' started by righteousdude2, Jan 30, 2015.

  1. righteousdude2

    righteousdude2 Well-Known Member
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    These 10 things were sent to me, and I thought that they may be of interest to many of you! I would be interested in knowing what you think of this dreary forecast? As thought provoking as these are, I wonder if all 10 of them will truly be something of the past?

    Ten Things That Will Disappear In Our Lifetime. This is USA oriented, but Canada & the rest of the world should not be far behind. Whether these changes are good or bad depends in part on how we adapt to them. But, ready or not, here they come:

    1. The Post Office - Get ready to imagine a world without the post office. They are so deeply in financial trouble that there is probably no way to sustain it long term. Email, Fed Ex, and UPS have just about wiped out the minimum revenue needed to keep the post office alive. Most of your mail every day is junk mail and bills.

    2. The Check - Britains already laying the groundwork to do away with checks by 2018. It costs the financial system billions of dollars a year to process checks. Plastic cards and online transactions will lead to the eventual demise of the check. This plays right into the death of the post office. If you never paid your bills by mail and never received them by mail, the post office would absolutely go out of business.

    3. The Newspaper - The younger generation simply doesn't read the newspaper. They certainly don't subscribe to a daily delivered print edition. That may go the way of the milkman and the laundry man. As for reading the paper online, get ready to pay for it. The rise in mobile Internet devices and e-readers has caused all the newspaper and magazine publishers to form an alliance. They have met with Apple, Amazon, and the major cell phone companies to develop a model for paid subscription services.

    4. The Book - You say you will never give up the physical book that you hold in your hand and turn the literal pages I said the same thing about downloading music from iTunes. I wanted my hard copy CD. But I quickly changed my mind when I discovered that I could get albums for half the price without ever leaving home to get the latest music. The same thing will happen with books. You can browse a bookstore online and even read a preview chapter before you buy. And the price is less than half that of a real book. And think of the convenience! Once you start flicking your fingers on the screen instead of the book, you find that you are lost in the story, can't wait to see what happens next, and you forget that you're holding a gadget instead of a book.

    5. The Land Line Telephone - Unless you have a large family and make a lot of local calls, you don't need it anymore. Most people keep it simply because they've always had it. But you are paying double charges for that extra service. All the cell phone companies will let you call customers using the same cell provider for no charge against your minutes.

    6. Music - This is one of the saddest parts of the change story. The music industry is dying a slow death. Not just because of illegal downloading. It's the lack of innovative new music being given a chance to get to the people who would like to hear it. Greed and corruption is the problem. The record labels and the radio conglomerates are simply self-destructing. Over 40% of the music purchased today is "catalogue items," meaning traditional music that the public is familiar with like music by older established artists. This is also true on the live concert circuit. To explore this fascinating and disturbing topic further, check out the book, "Appetite for Self-Destruction" by Steve Knopper, and the video documentary, "Before the Music Dies."

    7. Television Revenues - Monies earned by the networks are down dramatically and not just because of the economy. 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 to lower than the lowest common denominator. Cable rates are skyrocketing and commercials run about every 4 minutes and 30 seconds. It's time for the cable companies to be put out of their misery. Let the people choose what they want to watch online and through Netflix.

    8. 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. 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 finishing up their latest "cloud services." That means that 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. If you click an icon, it will open something in the Internet cloud. If you save something, it will be saved to the cloud. And you may pay a monthly subscription fee to the cloud provider. In this virtual world, you can access your music or your books, or your whatever from any laptop or handheld device. That's the good news. But, will you actually own any of this "stuff" or will it all be able to disappear at any moment in a big "Poof?" Will most of the things in our lives be disposable and whimsical? It makes you want to run to the closet and pull out that photo album, grab a book from the shelf, or open up a CD case and pull out the insert.

    9. Joined Handwriting (Cursive Writing) - This skill is already gone in some schools that no longer teach "joined handwriting" because nearly everything is done now on computers or keyboards of some type.

    10. Privacy - If there ever was a concept that we can look back on nostalgically, it would be privacy. That's gone. It's been gone for a long time anyway. There are cameras on the street, in most of the buildings, and even built into your computer and cell phone. But 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. If you buy something, your habit is put into a zillion profiles, and the ads will change to reflect those habits. "They" will try to get you to buy something else.

    In the end ... All we will have left, that which can't be changed...are our "Memories." So cherish the memories, lest somehow man finds a way to take them too!
     
  2. Inspector Javert

    Inspector Javert Active Member

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    I can't agree with this one.
    I know too many true Bibliophiles.

    It's a sickness.

    Electronic books just don't do it. There are lots of books which are out of copyright which are available for free online and I'll still spend astronomical sums on an edition in print. I know a lot of people who do. There's a difference.
    It's not the same as a digital I-tunes recording of music vs. a CD or tape etc.

    It's more like the difference between hearing a concert pianist or Opera singer live in an acoustically designed building vs. a recording. The difference is astronomical.

    Bibliophiles amass HUGE collections, not merely to read them, but because they subconsciously feel they are responsible to be the archivists of knowledge for future generations. Some books, are not popular enough to have digitalized copies, and Bibliophiles collect hard-copies. Some books deemed important enough for posterity have never been deemed important enough to have digitalized copies made of them.
    Movies like The Book of Eli speak to Biblio-preppers like me who feel like 2 copies of "The Story of Civilization" by Will Durant are simply not enough for post-Apocalyptic Biblio-posterity and I must therefore justify my 3 copies of the entire series.

    Many preachers are Bibliophiles....sometimes it's the only thing they'll ever steal..... er, umm....."acquire".
    They do this quite innocently by borrowing said book, and then eventually writing their name in the heretofore unreturned book some years later having (quite innocently) forgotten it was not initially their book.

    I know I'm not the only Bibliophile out there. There are many of us and we are crazy. When you find someone who, when presented with a book, immediately picks it up and smells it.......(and then usually makes an immediate judgement call).
    Or who will posses two or more paperbacks of the same book and read them numerous times...but then buys a hard-back copy of the book and NEVER opens it, but rather re-reads the paperback over and over....
    You'll know I'm not kidding.
     
    #2 Inspector Javert, Jan 31, 2015
    Last edited by a moderator: Jan 31, 2015
  3. Deacon

    Deacon Well-Known Member
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    :thumbs::thumbs::thumbs:

    Couldn't agree more!

    I use my favorite books up - I read them till their worn out!
    Sometimes I buy two copies, one in paperback for reading, the other in hardback for bookshelf reference.

    It's a sickness that I don't want a cure for.

    Rob
     
  4. Van

    Van Well-Known Member
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    Interesting and thought provoking thread. Since many modern books seem to pay the author by the word, they a long and thus heavy. So people use a kindle, which provides sufficient light, and features adjustable font size so no need for glasses in bed.

    Also I think reference books, concordances, lexicons, interlinears, and the like a better formatted on the computer so you can get right to the information you are searching for.

    Technological displacement has been going on forever. It used to be a person could learn his father's trade. Now, with the pace of innovation, you must learn new technology at least every 5 years or you will not be an asset to today's generation.
     
  5. blessedwife318

    blessedwife318 Well-Known Member
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    I agree about books never truly going away. Yes I have a Kindle, 2 in fact, but for books I really really like I have a hard copy of. And I almost never read reference or non-fiction on my Kindle. Those I prefer a hard copy of, because its easier to flip around, or flip between sections if you need to.
     
  6. OldRegular

    OldRegular Well-Known Member

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    You left off one thing, the brain! People are relying so much on electronic devices they are not using the brain that God gave them. I fear it will atrophy!
     
  7. JamesL

    JamesL Well-Known Member
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    I disagree. People who prefer real books will always find real books easier to use - even reference books.

    I gave the majority of my books away last year, keeping only a few reference works. My pastor and I have done bible study together, with him using his computer and me using a half dozen books out on a table

    If you know your reference works, real books are just as easy, if not easier.
     
  8. Inspector Javert

    Inspector Javert Active Member

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    Yes...
    This.
    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^

    Once your fingers are trained for a particular set of reference books....at least ones in your own library:
    WAY faster than a computer...WAY FASTER.

    I Can grab my Strong's concordance or my Vine's Expository and if you ask me to turn immediately, without looking, to page no. 626....I will be within 15 pages of it, first go....and dead on the moment I flip once, takes less than 5 seconds.
    I know the feel of my own books WAY better than the feel of a keyboard, the keyboard doesn't become more worn with use....it only breaks.
     
    #8 Inspector Javert, Jan 31, 2015
    Last edited by a moderator: Jan 31, 2015
  9. Deacon

    Deacon Well-Known Member
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    Curious - I never purchase hardcopy reference material anymore!
    With Logos Bible software, searching and gathering material is 100% more efficient than searching by hand in books.

    I've given many of my lexicons and concordances away - I've kept a few special ones for posterity sake but can't remember the last time I've used them.

    Rob
     
  10. Salty

    Salty 20,000 Posts Club
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    Using my Strong's concordance.

    Today, I wanted to look up exhortation - I wanted to see how many variations of the word I could find.

    Is that possible by using Blue Bible?


    I do use Blue Bible, and other electronic means - but I still use hard copy - it is always reliable.

    But that's just me.
     
  11. righteousdude2

    righteousdude2 Well-Known Member
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    I agree with you folks on books. However, I didn't write this list, I simply found it interesting, and a somewhat scary look at the future.

    The idea of atrophy of the brain was a good insight! That may happen, and it seems to be happening in our younger generation. These kids know so little abut the history of America or the world, and that is scary as well as a shame!
     
  12. JamesL

    JamesL Well-Known Member
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    I think a lot of it depends on how a person's brain is wired. My pastor uses Logos, and I use books. I've got 2 interlinears, each containing a lexical concordance, a lexicon, word study dictionary, and a couple others.

    I've been using these same books for about 12-14 years, and i know them like the back of my hand. Like Insp. Javert said

    The only exception is my Apostolic Bible Polyglot, which is an interlinear NT + LXX. All Greek, OT & NT. It's numbered to AB Strong's, a variation which includes words exclusive to the LXX. I'm still learning the nuances of this one.

    There are times, however, where electronic reference materials are very hand, like looking up whole phrases or changing translation. I like BibleGateway

    I guess you could liken it to using a calculator. For most simple calculations, I do it in my head much quicker.
     
  13. Deacon

    Deacon Well-Known Member
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    I heard an interesting discussion regarding the medical education of physicians. They are no longer taught to memorize every everything - there's just too much. Instead they are taught how to access information.

    If you see a young doctor and he says, "Hummm, I don't know, let me look that up" and begin researching it on his computer - he's a good new doc.

    There are just too many medications, too many adverse side effects, to many newly treatable diseases for anybody to be an expert on.

    It's a different way of thinking and not necessarily a bad thing, it will expand us in different ways.

    In times past memory was important - now innovation and discovery is important.

    Rob
     
  14. righteousdude2

    righteousdude2 Well-Known Member
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    They've been doing this for the last twenty years. When my mom was dying, I noticed her doctor accessing a doctors only cyber link, that he used to check her symptoms, review blood work and write down diagnosis and treatment plan. He allowed me to watch the screen and it was awesome. I never thought doctors knew everything, and this supported my suspicions.
     
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