So many objects in our life have become obsolete and been replaced by better alternatives. Here, I just want to remember all those obsolete objects and reflect upon the future.
We grew up listening to the ruckus of the sewing machine as our mother stitched our clothes at home. The big radios at home are nowhere to be seen now.
And, do you remember the record player and the big black records that were a luxury to listen to. And, more recently we saw the cassettes and cassettes getting wasted.
The top-view camera, the big box camera with the stand and the fast vanishing film rolls.
As kids in nursery we used to have a slate and chalks, rarely seen now.
The priyadarshini phone is unknown now while the phones with separate ear piece and mouth piece had already vanished before our time.
Dozens of types of computers have come and gone, I still remember seeing the computer that used those cards as input instead of a keyboard.
The Black & White TV sets are almost gone. The clumsy looking switches are replaced by swanky ones now.
Car models have vanished.
The VCR had a short life.
The kerosene oil stoves in the kitchen are gone.
Rarely see a fountain pen around and the ink bottles and ink droppers are seen no more.
Horse carts outside the railway stations have been replaced by Taxis.
And, do you remember the record player and the big black records that were a luxury to listen to. And, more recently we saw the cassettes and cassettes getting wasted.
The top-view camera, the big box camera with the stand and the fast vanishing film rolls.
As kids in nursery we used to have a slate and chalks, rarely seen now.
The priyadarshini phone is unknown now while the phones with separate ear piece and mouth piece had already vanished before our time.
Dozens of types of computers have come and gone, I still remember seeing the computer that used those cards as input instead of a keyboard.
The Black & White TV sets are almost gone. The clumsy looking switches are replaced by swanky ones now.
Car models have vanished.
The VCR had a short life.
The kerosene oil stoves in the kitchen are gone.
Rarely see a fountain pen around and the ink bottles and ink droppers are seen no more.
Horse carts outside the railway stations have been replaced by Taxis.
So, may things that were so a part of our lives have vanished - either they have outlived their utility or have evolved into more efficient and contemporary forms. In Future Shock, Alvin Toflersays that the speed of change and obsolescence is only going to get faster and so more and more of our life is going to get transformed faster and faster.
In the media industry, many of us are but in a state of denial - we refuse to see the writing on the wall or even if we do; we never really believe that any mahor shift will happen during our lifetime. The choice is ours to either ignore the change and bury our heads in the sand like the ostrich or anticipate the change and be ready for it. We need to ask ourselves some questions:
- Do we really think that print media does not need to worry about its future?
- Is TV advertising going to continue on its growth trend for long?
- What all areas of media is digital going to invade?
- How long is the traditional TV spot or the Press ad going to exist?
- How many TVs or screens are out there that no measurement system is measuring?
Obsolescence of many media and media formats is inevitable. Lets stop denying it and prepare for it.
2 comments:
I totally agree; Digital is going to hog the limelight soon when it comes to Media; thanks to the rate at which convergence is taking place. TV advertising might not really become redundant; but I am not quite sure how many people are going to watch that 60 sec ad that they now do after DVR's take over. Print i still think has some strength since reading for most of us is a habit that we have developed over the years; but having said that at times what we read in the morning NP might not really be the headline after 2 hours. We are so hooked on to digital media for every possible thing that we can think of.And we are now functioning in such a dynamic environment that things move every minute.So quite a few media formats might just get obsolete with time.I totally agree with your POV on the same.
Thanks for your comments, Aditi. Just to add to your thoughts on print - yes print journalism and writing will be cherished for ever but the delivery format of reading material may not be "regular paper" but could be digital. We are already seeing the iPads and e-books and e-paper could soon be a reality and that will impact how and what we read.
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