Things smartphones have replaced

[The Nature Boy]

Mystery.  Remember not knowing things?

Oh trust me, my Facebook feed tells me that there are still a lot of people who don't know things.

Perhaps to bolster both of our points, I have often said that one of the things that keeps me away from Facebook is that it keeps me from knowing more than I should about my friends.

As a tool for future historians and cultural anthropologists though, Facebook is going to be priceless. Could you imagine if we had access to a Facebook of the 1800s? 

What makes you think Facebook is going to be around for hundreds of years?

Oh it won't be, but I assume that the digital records will be kept. As it gets easier to store massive amounts of data, I imagine that we'll see Facebook's entire archive kept somewhere.

If/when Facebook goes under, I wonder what will happen to the data that they have. Zuckerberg has accidentally created a window into the soul of American (and really the world's) pop culture and the information that Facebook has WILL be valuable to future generations. We've seen historians scramble to get personal correspondence from previous generations, I can only imagine the value that Facebook would have.

The same could be said for AARoads or any other online forum really. We have more written correspondence than any civilization that has ever existed. It's a shame that the quality of writing has gone drastically down.

[NE2]

It's a shame that the quality of writing has gone drastically down.

I screwed the barmaid

[Alps]

It's a shame that the quality of writing has gone drastically down.

I screwed the barmaid

But it came so far UP from then. 18th-19th centuries were unquestionably the pinnacle of writing. American 20th-century writers set the bar to come down from literary excellence to reflect common speech. Literary quality has declined notably over the last 50 years as a result. We've lost cursive and letter-writing, and degraded to text speak.
Language is always evolving. But like I've noticed with other aspects of society, sometimes evolution takes a step backwards. If the least fit are the ones who survive (oh hey Honey Boo-Boo), does that redefine "fit"? Is monosyllabic, misspelled writing the Platonic ideal we are heading toward?

[Laura]

Mystery.  Remember not knowing things?

I believe information and knowledge are wonderful things.

Not all information is necessary or critical for getting through life. Yesterday, my aunt wanted me to use my smartphone to google where "Harbor Federal Savings and Loan Association" is located because it was written on a yardstick that my uncle picked up at a yard sale. In the past, we would have guessed "Harbor...hmm...most likely in Baltimore City or Anne Arundel County near the Baltimore Harbor" and carried on with our lives. Yesterday, I found out with my phone that it is located on Fort Smallwood Road in Pasadena, MD, in Anne Arundel County near the southside of the harbor. That's great to confirm, but it wasn't necessarily critical information that we absolutely had to know.

That being said, in that same afternoon, we used the Pinterest app on my phone to plan my cousin's baby shower, and it's definitely going to be more creative due to some of the cool pins we found. Rather than just bake a cake, we are going to bake cupcakes, place them on the table in the shape of a baby carriage, and decorate accordingly. No, having a baby carriage cupcake cake isn't necessary, but having access to someone else's great idea will make it better. My cousin will say "That's so cute! Where did you get this idea?" and she'll remember it long after the day is over.

So yeah, having a smartphone to access information instantly (taking some of the mystery out of life) can be both useless as well as enriching.

[kkt]

Mystery.  Remember not knowing things?

Oh trust me, my Facebook feed tells me that there are still a lot of people who don't know things.

Perhaps to bolster both of our points, I have often said that one of the things that keeps me away from Facebook is that it keeps me from knowing more than I should about my friends.

As a tool for future historians and cultural anthropologists though, Facebook is going to be priceless. Could you imagine if we had access to a Facebook of the 1800s? 

What makes you think Facebook is going to be around for hundreds of years?

Oh it won't be, but I assume that the digital records will be kept. As it gets easier to store massive amounts of data, I imagine that we'll see Facebook's entire archive kept somewhere.

If/when Facebook goes under, I wonder what will happen to the data that they have. Zuckerberg has accidentally created a window into the soul of American (and really the world's) pop culture and the information that Facebook has WILL be valuable to future generations. We've seen historians scramble to get personal correspondence from previous generations, I can only imagine the value that Facebook would have.

The same could be said for AARoads or any other online forum really. We have more written correspondence than any civilization that has ever existed. It's a shame that the quality of writing has gone drastically down.

Hard disks are cheap... but they have a short lifetime.  Admins have to continually watch over the data, make sure backup procedures are working, migrate from 3-years-ago technology to today's.  Admins naturally expect to be paid.  I don't see them maintaining such an archive for centuries when advertisers stop paying to advertise to dead people.

There's also the rights issue.  I don't use Facebook and haven't read their contract this week, but I think there would be some problems with releasing information that was posted for friends only to researchers.  Lots of families wouldn't necessarily want selfies Grandma made when she was 17 to be released to the general public 100 years afterwards.  And under ever-extended copyright terms they'll probably be able to enforce that.

[kkt]

You have to pull this out of your pocket.

Pocket watches ended for everyday purposes when it became possible to make a wristwatch that kept time as well.

There are lots of times when I keep my cell phone off.  Working, driving, at a show.  I might still want to glance at my wrist to see the time, but don't want to wait a minute for my phone to turn on and make its little beeps just to see what time it is.

[bugo]

I've worn a watch since I was a kid, and I feel naked without one. The only time I take it off is when I shower.

^^^^^^
THIS.

I don't wear a watch when I'm sitting at home doing nothing, but when I go somewhere I like to have one on. The few times I went to work without one I felt "naked" (and used that very word to describe it). If anybody cares, I wear a $20 cheapo Walmart special Timex. It keeps time and it's easy to read so it is fine for me.

Speaking of watches, did you know you can remove scratches with toothpaste? I thought it was a bullshit urban legend until my watch was so scratched up that it interfered with being able to see the numbers. Take a tiny bit of toothpaste, put it on a toothbrush, and scrub the watch with a medium amount of force. If your watch is like mine, the scratches will come right off.

[bugo]

Mystery.  Remember not knowing things?

Oh trust me, my Facebook feed tells me that there are still a lot of people who don't know things.

Perhaps to bolster both of our points, I have often said that one of the things that keeps me away from Facebook is that it keeps me from knowing more than I should about my friends.

As a tool for future historians and cultural anthropologists though, Facebook is going to be priceless. Could you imagine if we had access to a Facebook of the 1800s? 

What makes you think Facebook is going to be around for hundreds of years?

Oh it won't be, but I assume that the digital records will be kept. As it gets easier to store massive amounts of data, I imagine that we'll see Facebook's entire archive kept somewhere.

If/when Facebook goes under, I wonder what will happen to the data that they have. Zuckerberg has accidentally created a window into the soul of American (and really the world's) pop culture and the information that Facebook has WILL be valuable to future generations. We've seen historians scramble to get personal correspondence from previous generations, I can only imagine the value that Facebook would have.

The same could be said for AARoads or any other online forum really. We have more written correspondence than any civilization that has ever existed. It's a shame that the quality of writing has gone drastically down.

I've said before that when the Aaroads forum becomes defunct, that the posts should be archived somewhere because there is a massive amount of information here that cannot be found elsewhere on the internet. There's a lot of garbage too, but the good outweighs the bad.

[bugo]

It's a shame that the quality of writing has gone drastically down.

I screwed the barmaid

But it came so far UP from then. 18th-19th centuries were unquestionably the pinnacle of writing. American 20th-century writers set the bar to come down from literary excellence to reflect common speech. Literary quality has declined notably over the last 50 years as a result. We've lost cursive and letter-writing, and degraded to text speak.
Language is always evolving. But like I've noticed with other aspects of society, sometimes evolution takes a step backwards. If the least fit are the ones who survive (oh hey Honey Boo-Boo), does that redefine "fit"? Is monosyllabic, misspelled writing the Platonic ideal we are heading toward?

Hmm....where have I seen this prediction...Oh yeah, it was on Idiocracy. If you haven't seen that movie you should check it out.

[jeffandnicole]

I've said before that when the Aaroads forum becomes defunct, that the posts should be archived somewhere because there is a massive amount of information here that cannot be found elsewhere on the internet. There's a lot of garbage too, but the good outweighs the bad.

That's pretty much true with any subject.

[jwolfer]

The obvious one is missing from the OP's list - the humble wristwatch. I haven't worn a watch since buying my first monochrome screened dumbphone around 15 years ago. In fact almost everyone I know doesn't wear a watch any more. I'm surprised watch manufacturers are still in business.

In healthcare watches are used to take pulse, respiration and blood pressure. (If someone does manually, which is more reliable)

[Brandon]

It's a shame that the quality of writing has gone drastically down.

I screwed the barmaid

But it came so far UP from then.

It did?  We remember Shakespeare and others not because they were the only people writing, but because they were the best people writing.  We look at the past through rose colored glasses while failing to realize that only the best survived while the crap was flushed to the dustbin of history.  Seriously, who the hell is going to remember Honey Boo-Boo 500 years from now?  They may remember and still view something like Firefly, but as for Who Wants To Marry A Millionaire?, that's nearly forgotten already.  Every generation writes and produces good stuff and crap.  For every great hit from the 1960s, there was a whole steaming pile of crap you'd rather not listen to.  For every Dickens and Twain from the late 19th century, there's a bunch of pulp that's better off as much or toilet paper (and people did use it that way).  We remember the best, forget the worst, and then claim that things are worse than they every have been.  It's a bunch of bullshit.  Things are no better and no worse than they have been, and will ever be.

[Duke87]

I started wearing a watch regularly when I was in 8th grade. I didn't have a cellphone of any kind until I was in 12th grade. To this day I still constantly wear a watch and it feels weird not to. Not only is it quicker to check than to extract my phone from my pocket, but it also permits me to check the time if my phone's battery is dead or if I am in a place where my phone must be turned off (such as in a movie theater or on an airplane).

As for cameras, I carry an actual camera around and am a bit snobbish about this fact. But then I am actually into photography as a hobby and a cellphone camera just doesn't have all the features I need for that.

My smartphone has, however, shamelessly replaced paper maps for me, with the caveat that I still navigate manually rather than having it give me directions.

[Pete from Boston]

I've worn a watch since I was a kid, and I feel naked without one. The only time I take it off is when I shower.

^^^^^^
THIS.

I don't wear a watch when I'm sitting at home doing nothing, but when I go somewhere I like to have one on. The few times I went to work without one I felt "naked" (and used that very word to describe it). If anybody cares, I wear a $20 cheapo Walmart special Timex. It keeps time and it's easy to read so it is fine for me.

Speaking of watches, did you know you can remove scratches with toothpaste? I thought it was a bullshit urban legend until my watch was so scratched up that it interfered with being able to see the numbers. Take a tiny bit of toothpaste, put it on a toothbrush, and scrub the watch with a medium amount of force. If your watch is like mine, the scratches will come right off.

Toothpaste is a great mild abrasive.  I am told it's decent at clearing up headlight lenses.

[agentsteel53]

We remember Shakespeare and others not because they were the only people writing, but because they were the best people writing. 

that's pretty sad.  I always equate the whole punch line to Macbeth, that he was never "born" but rather "untimely ripped" to be the equivalent of Honey Boo Boo level lazy writing.

and don't get me started on Juliet waking up 30 seconds after Romeo dies.  that's soap opera shit.

[hbelkins]

Toothpaste is a great mild abrasive.  I am told it's decent at clearing up headlight lenses.

Have heard that as well, but have never tried it. I wonder how well some of those exfoliating body scrubs would work? I shower using the Irish Spring GEAR scrub (only because the regular Irish Spring exfoliating scrub -- "Inspired by Celtic Rock Salt" -- isn't available in my area.

[Pete from Boston]

I think anything gritty would fail.  You want to polish the lens.

[realjd]

I've worn a watch since I was a kid, and I feel naked without one. The only time I take it off is when I shower.

As for digital cameras, my phone's camera works OK in a pinch, but it's no substitute for a good camera with a zoom lens, adjustable features such as ISO/ASA, aperture and shutter speed, and other functions.

And the Internet-enabled functions are nice, but I prefer a computer to a smartphone for most everything.

I used to have a nice DSLR and a small Canon Powershot point-and-shoot. Different tools for different purposes. Nowdays though, my cell phone replaced the Powershot but not my DSLR.

[Molandfreak]

Do NOT use your smartphone as an alarm clock! It'll destroy your battery faster.

[The Nature Boy]

Mystery.  Remember not knowing things?

Oh trust me, my Facebook feed tells me that there are still a lot of people who don't know things.

Perhaps to bolster both of our points, I have often said that one of the things that keeps me away from Facebook is that it keeps me from knowing more than I should about my friends.

As a tool for future historians and cultural anthropologists though, Facebook is going to be priceless. Could you imagine if we had access to a Facebook of the 1800s? 

What makes you think Facebook is going to be around for hundreds of years?

Oh it won't be, but I assume that the digital records will be kept. As it gets easier to store massive amounts of data, I imagine that we'll see Facebook's entire archive kept somewhere.

If/when Facebook goes under, I wonder what will happen to the data that they have. Zuckerberg has accidentally created a window into the soul of American (and really the world's) pop culture and the information that Facebook has WILL be valuable to future generations. We've seen historians scramble to get personal correspondence from previous generations, I can only imagine the value that Facebook would have.

The same could be said for AARoads or any other online forum really. We have more written correspondence than any civilization that has ever existed. It's a shame that the quality of writing has gone drastically down.

Hard disks are cheap... but they have a short lifetime.  Admins have to continually watch over the data, make sure backup procedures are working, migrate from 3-years-ago technology to today's.  Admins naturally expect to be paid.  I don't see them maintaining such an archive for centuries when advertisers stop paying to advertise to dead people.

There's also the rights issue.  I don't use Facebook and haven't read their contract this week, but I think there would be some problems with releasing information that was posted for friends only to researchers.  Lots of families wouldn't necessarily want selfies Grandma made when she was 17 to be released to the general public 100 years afterwards.  And under ever-extended copyright terms they'll probably be able to enforce that.

Facebook's TOS already takes care of that. Anything you post becomes property of Facebook the minute you post it and they can do mostly whatever they want with it.

Mark Zuckerberg controls the rights to an absurdly high amount of teenage girl selfies.

[SSOWorld]

Do NOT use your smartphone as an alarm clock! It'll destroy your battery faster.

only if you don't wake up... and "destroy" is the wrong word to use here.

[Molandfreak]

Do NOT use your smartphone as an alarm clock! It'll destroy your battery faster.

only if you don't wake up... and "destroy" is the wrong word to use here.

Fine, wear out.

Batteries need sleeping time, too.

[GCrites]

Mystery.  Remember not knowing things?

Oh trust me, my Facebook feed tells me that there are still a lot of people who don't know things.

And they vote.

[SSOWorld]

Do NOT use your smartphone as an alarm clock! It'll destroy your battery faster.

only if you don't wake up... and "destroy" is the wrong word to use here.

Fine, wear out.

Batteries need sleeping time, too.

I don't run alarms 24/7.  It's all relative.  There are a lot of time-dependent apps on smartphones besides alarm clocks.

[Pete from Boston]

Do NOT use your smartphone as an alarm clock! It'll destroy your battery faster.

only if you don't wake up... and "destroy" is the wrong word to use here.

You've never seen me react to an alarm clock.