If you wanted a book about say 'plants' you would go to the 'P' drawer and riffle through it until you found the cards for books whose subject had anything to do with plants. Then you wrote down the dewey decimal number and wandered over there to find the book you wanted.
It was kind of like being a detective.
At dinner with a group of people the other week a wife of one guy mentioned she was a librarian and I asked her, "so what did you do with the card catalog?" She told me the big wooden fixture used to hold it was first in storage and then finally sold. The thousands of cards in it are now their eternal source of scratch paper.
VHS tapes, 8-track cassettes, laser disc, tractor feed printers, floppy discs....you've all disappeared. I wonder what I have lying around the house now that will be an anachronism in 15 years. Heck, I'm shocked now whenever I see a CRT TV and I just upgraded less than a year ago.
What in the future will be as funny as thinking about winding a music tape back in with the head of a wooden pencil?
(Personally I can't wait till American Idol and Dancing with the Stars is derided and considered as quaint and frankly stupid as Solid Gold or Incredible People.)
I just started classes again and in a classroom I've had before, the typical giant analog clock on the wall has been replaced with a digital ticker bar. It shows the time but will broadcast emergency messages when needed. I wear a watch sometimes, but I know a lot of people who will just check their cellphones for the time. I wonder how long it will be when people don't even know how to read analog clocks anymore!
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