I walked into a bank last week and while waiting to speak to the accounts person, I sat in the conformable chair facing a bookshelf of books.
But it was not a bookshelf of books. It was a PICTURE of a bookshelf of books.
It made me think that a lot has come and gone over the past 60 years.
You cannot find a typewriter, except in antique shops.
Anyone born after 1970, most probably, has never heard of a slide rule. And for sure, they never used one.
The rotary phone–you know–the kind that you have to dial is now considered a novelty. My daughter has this one in her room as a “dope” (i.e. cool) decoration.
When we use the phrase “dial a number,” someone from my generation knows what it means to actually put a finger in the little hole and turn the dial until it reaches the concave finger stop.
There is nothing to “dial”, as in moving in a circular motion, on a cell phone or a push button phone!
Push button phones came out in November 1963 and Bell had to convince customers it was better and faster.
By 1980, almost all phones in homes and offices were push button.
The phrase, “dial the number” is an antiquated term. I wonder how long it will be before that term is as obsolete as the rotary phone.
Back to my picture of the bookshelf of books.
Will future generations only know about books from paintings or pictures that are hanging on the wall?
Will you only be able to find them in antique shops, or will children only know about them from stories handed down from generation to generation? Will they be a “dope” decoration in a room?
Will the real meaning of the term “turn the page” be a term that is as vague and unknown as “dial the number?”
I was just wondering because the flat screen television above the picture was real and working just fine.