Today's Top 10: 34 Things We Don't Use Anymore

MAKE PHOTO ALBUMS

Making photo albums was the best way to preserve memories and photographs. With advanced technology where photos can be stored on hard drives, the cloud, and transferred without any hassle, we do not spend time making photo albums.

HAVE A CD COLLECTION

Having a huge CD collection was a thing to boast about. And now CDs are part of the creative ways to decorate your walls on popular DIY videos. With the advent of digital music collections on devices and laptops, owning physical music has become less common.

PAY BILLS AT THE COUNTER

We needed to take half day off from work or college to stand in long queues to pay the bills in the electricity board or at the post office but with the development of online portals, the process has become easier, time-saving and efficient, and no longer requires us to stand in queues.

CALL THE 24-HOUR OPERATOR TO KNOW THE EXACT TIME

There was a time when in case of emergency or when our watches stopped functioning suddenly, we called the 24-hour operator to know the exact time and now with buzzing technology all around us including computers, laptops, clocks and mobile phones, the 24-hour operator is not a phone we tend to make.

CALL A THEATER TO GET ACCURATE MOVIE SHOW TIMINGS

Online movie and event ticket booking websites have entirely replaced the era when we made calls to the theater inquiring about the movie show timings and then, rushing to catch the show according to our suitability.

RECORD YOUR FAVORITE PROGRAMS USING VHS RECORDER

Those times when we used to record your favorite programs using VHS recorder do not exist anymore. We have never missed using the VHS recorder because every program, show or film is available online or via a catch-up service.

PRESERVE PAPER CUTTINGS

While reading newspapers, if we came across an article or a photograph which we would cherish later, we used to cut it and paste it in our files. With every newspaper having a digital version these days, we bookmark the articles we would like to return to or save them on computer hard drives.

GOING GROCERY SHOPPING

We had to plan and make a list of the groceries to be bought before taking time to go to the nearby grocery stores to fetch groceries for the week. This has been made easier by several online stores which deliver groceries at our doorstep, without us going to the store and coming home loaded with the groceries.

OWN AN ENCYCLOPEDIA

The thick encyclopedia that adorns our antique book-shelf is not referred to anymore because of the myriad of online encyclopedias that can be downloaded and stored in our phones, and can be referred to at any time without the hassle of carrying the largest book you ever owned.

USE PUBLIC TELEPHONE BOOTHS

Those telephone booths in the streets and markets are just good-looking properties which do not cater to our needs anymore. With each of us depending significantly on mobile phones, there is no need to use a public telephone booth.

REMEMBER TO TAKE CASH WHEN GOING OUT

Years ago, we had to remember to carry cash with us while going out anywhere. But now the advent and popular use of credit and debit cards has made the need for cash less important.

GIFT BOOKS

Books are and will forever be the most worthy gift. But, time and technology together have challenged the notion with applications and softwares that allow us to download books to our mobile phones or tablets, and several at a time without bothering to carry books in our bags.

DEVELOP A FILM FOR PHOTOGRAPHS

After a birthday celebration or a vacation in the hills, we used to wait eagerly to develop the film for photographs which we would treasure for a lifetime. This fascination has withered due to the instant and digital cameras where we can click hundreds of photographs at a time and delete, and edit them as well.

PLAY SCRABBLE

Families and friends used to spend quality time playing Scrabble together, and connecting to each other. Now, several types of word games are available to download to our mobile phones which we can play anywhere; thus dwindling the tangible Scrabble we played with family and friends.

USE TELEPHONE LANDLINES

An essential part of our lives till a few years ago, landline phones are left redundant these days. An important proof of our address, landline phones were replaced by cordless phones and then, by mobile phones. But the charm of sitting against the wall or on a reclining chair and talking over the landline can never fade. Although many of us will have a landline as part of receiving broadband service.

PLANNING A SHOPPING LIST

We needed to prepare a shopping list and take time out to go for shopping but with the constant advancement in technology, this has been reduced to a job of merely half an hour. We can browse through websites on the internet, save the things we need to buy in the cart and pay; they will be delivered at my doorstep soon, saving me from the hassle of going through the traffic and long queues at the billing counters of shopping malls.

PAY BY CHECK

Earlier, for large amounts, we preferred paying using checks whereas now, we have flourishing credit and debit cards which do not leave us with the need to carry check books at all.

CARRY PLENTY OF CHANGE

Our wallets and bags always had the jingling sound of coins, which we collected to pay for telephone booths. But, now, with changing times, we do not prefer adding extra weight to our bags.

THANK YOU NOTES

Writing thank you notes was considered one of the sweetest gestures which depleted gradually with the trend of messaging and other messaging applications. Rarely do we see people these days writing thank you notes as a warm gesture.

VISIT A TRAVEL AGENT

An online reservation portal, run by most major vaction companies, has reduced the need to visit a travel agent’s office to make reservations and to research wallet-friendly vacations.

USE TELEPHONE DIRECTORY

It has been years since we last owned a telephone directory. Since mobile phones became an inevitable part of our lives and provided enormous memory to store all our phone numbers, we stopped buying or using telephone directories to save your local or relative’s phone numbers.

CARRY A DIARY AND PEN

With the conquest of mobile phones, we have lost the habit of carrying a small diary and a pen in our bags all the time. To save our to-do list for the day or to make notes of randomly flowing thought, mobile phones are our new friends.

CARRY PORTABLE CASSETTE PLAYERS AND CASSETTES

Cassette players and cassettes have become part of our treasures as we don’t use them for recreation today. With the invent of mobile phones that can store thousands of songs and MP3 players, we do not need to carry cassette players and cassettes to picnics anymore; properly charged mobile phones with a good number of songs will make any day out memorable.

CHECK A MAP BEFORE OR DURING A JOURNEY

We had huge maps on paper, of the places we were visiting or would visit to help us go through the journey in the right direction. That spirit of journey looking through the maps has been replaced by mobile applications and soft wares that give us specific directions to reach the place we want to, in any part of the world.

REMEMBER PHONE NUMBERS

Parent’s phone numbers, best friend’s number and our partner’s number; we used to remember these basic important phone numbers by heart and we could dial them blindly on a phone. With changing times and busier lives, we prefer saving the phone numbers in the contact list of our phones, rather than exercising our memory by remembering a few of them.

MAKE MIX TAPES

Making mix tapes was a common favorite hobby which has lost its following over the years. Rarely do we see people working on making mix tapes to gift to their friends or to carry to a picnic or taping their favorite radio shows.

HANDWRITTEN LETTERS

Handwritten letters are unparalleled expressions of love and words, which have faded in the trend of e-mails and messages. Rarely do people write and send letters to one another to express their hearts and to keep them as treasures for the longest time.

GOING OUT TO TOP-UP A MOBILE PHONE

Even after mobiles arived, we had to go to outlets to top-up the balance of our mobile phones. In the last few years, numerous websites and applications have allowed us to recharge our mobile phones using credit/ debit cards, sitting at home or work.

OWN AN ANALOGUE RADIO

With such well-equipped mobile phones which have digital radio feature, we do not need to own an analogue radio and tune to different stations. They have become part of the shelf decoration in the house.

ALARM CLOCK

One of the favorite accessories in our rooms, the alarm clock is barely used these days because of the multi-purpose mobile phones that can operate multiple alarms at a time.

WATCH TV SHOWS AT THE TIME THEY ARE BROADCAST

Those school days when we used to hurriedly wrap our home-work to be able to sit in front of the television set and watch our favorite shows, are not around anymore. The internet has given us ample opportunities where we can watch any show, any day and any time.

BUY FLOWERS FROM FLORIST

Rarely do we halt at a florist to buy flowers for our homes and to gift them to our friends on birthdays and anniversaries. With a click and payments done online, fresh flowers get delivered at our doorstep.

BUY NEWSPAPERS

Reading newspapers was the first thing to do in the morning, accompanied by a hot cup of tea. With advancing technology, we can now access newspapers, magazines and online journals on our mobile phones and tablets using Internet; the charm of reading a physical newspaper has dwindled over the years.

KEEP PRINTED BILLS AND CARD STATEMENTS

Maintaining a file to keep our printed bills and card statements in order was a regular habit, which does not serve any utility purpose these days due to the online access to bank/card statements anytime and anywhere.


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