10 THINGS ABOUT TO BECOME EXTINCT IN AMERICA
Thanks to Randy Hlubik, at RHA Landscape Architects in Riverside CA, for passing these on. The original article can be found at http://www.schargel.com/2009/03/27/25-things-about-to-become-extinct/. It lists 25 things about to become extinct. I have edited and grouped TEN.
These will likely be similar in Canada, but I’d love to hear colleagues’ feedback from Korea, Japan, Thailand, Russia and China as to how they reflect your view of things.
ENTERTAINMENT
1. Stand-Alone Bowling Alleys
Bowling Balls, US claims there are still 60 million Americans who bowl at least once a year, but many are not bowling in stand-alone bowling alleys. Today most new bowling alleys are part of facilities for all types or recreation including laser tag, go-karts, bumper cars, video game arcades, climbing walls and glow miniature golf. Bowling lanes also have been added to many non-traditional venues such as adult communities, hotels andresorts, and gambling casinos.
2. Movie Rental Stores
While Netflix is looking up at the moment, Blockbuster keeps closing store locations by the hundreds. It still has about 6,000 left across the world, but those keep dwindling and the stock is down considerably since 2008, especially since the company gave up a quest of Circuit City. Movie Gallery, which owned the Hollywood Video brand, closed up shop. Countless small video chains and mom-and-pop stores have given up the ghost already.
“SOCIAL NETWORKING ‘98”
3. Hand-Written Letters
In 2006, the Radicati Group estimated that, worldwide, 183 billion e-mails were sent each day. Two million each second. By November of 2007, an estimated 3.3 billion Earthlings owned cell phones, and 80% of the world’s population had access to cell phone coverage. In 2004, half-a-trillion text messages were sent, and the number has no doubt increased exponentially since then. So where amongst this gorge of gabble is there room for the elegant, polite hand-written letter?
And, partially as a result:
U.S. Post Office
They are pricing themselves out of existence. With e-mail, and online services they are a relic of the past. Packages are also sent faster and cheaper with UPS.
TECHNOLOGY / EQUIPMENT
4. Phone Landlines
According to a survey from the National Center for Health Statistics, at the end of 2007, nearly one in six homes was ell-only and, of those homes that had landlines, one in eightonly received calls on their cells.
And partially as a result:
Answering Machines
The increasing disappearance of answering machines is directly tied to the decline of landlines. According to USA Today, the number of homes that only use cell phones jumped 159% between 2004 and 2007. It has been particularly bad in New York; since 2000, landline usage has dropped 55%. It’s logical that as cell phones rise, many of them replacing traditional landlines, that there will be fewer answering machines.
5. Cameras That Use Film
It doesn’t require a statistician to prove the rapid disappearance of the film camera in America. Just look to companies like Nikon, the professional’s choice for quality camera equipment. In 2006, it announced that it would stop making film cameras, pointing tothe shrinking market — only 3% of its sales in 2005, compared to 75% of sales from digital cameras and equipment.
HEALTH
6. Mumps & Measles
Despite what’s been in the news lately, the measles and mumps actually, truly are disappearing from the United States. In 1964, 212,000 cases of mumps were reported in the U.S. By 1983, this figure had dropped to 3,000, thanks to a vigorous vaccinationprogram. Prior to the introduction of the measles vaccine, approximately half a million cases of measles were reported in the U.S. annually, resulting in 450 deaths. In 2005, only 66 cases were recorded.
AGRICULTURE
7. Honey Bees
Perhaps nothing on our list of disappearing America is so dire; plummeting so enormously; and so necessary to the survival of our food supply as the honey bee. Very scary. ‘Colony Collapse Disorder,’ or CCD, has spread throughout the U.S. and Europe over the past few years, wiping out 50% to 90% of the colonies of many beekeepers — and along with it, their livelihood.
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
8. News Magazines and TV News
While the TV evening newscasts haven’t gone anywhere over the last several decades, their audiences have. In 1984, in a story about the diminishing returns of the evening news, the New York Times reported that all three network evening-news programs combined had only 40.9 million viewers. Fast forward to 2008, and what they have today is half that.
MISCELLANEOUS
9. The Family Farm
Since the 1930s, the number of family farms has been declining rapidly. According to the USDA, 5.3 million farms dotted the nation in 1950, but this number had declined to 2.1 million by the 2003 farm census (data from the 2007 census hasn’t yet been published).Ninety-one percent of the U.S. FARMS are small Family Farms.
10. Personal Checks
According to an American Bankers Assoc. report, a net 23% of consumers plan to decrease their use of checks over the next two years, while a net 14% plan to increase their use of PIN debit. Bill payment remains the last stronghold of paper-basedpayments — for the time being. Checks continue to be the most commonly used bill payment method, with 71% of consumers paying at least one recurring bill per month by writing a check. However, a bill-by-bill basis, checks account for only 49% of consumers’ recurring bill payments (down from 72% in 2001 and 60% in 2003).
Thanks to Randy Hlubik, at RHA Landscape Architects in Riverside CA, for passing these on. The original article can be found at http://www.schargel.com/2009/03/27/25-things-about-to-become-extinct/. It lists 25 things about to become extinct. I have edited and grouped TEN.
These will likely be similar in Canada, but I’d love to hear colleagues’ feedback from Korea, Japan, Thailand, Russia and China as to how they reflect your view of things.
ENTERTAINMENT
1. Stand-Alone Bowling Alleys
Bowling Balls, US claims there are still 60 million Americans who bowl at least once a year, but many are not bowling in stand-alone bowling alleys. Today most new bowling alleys are part of facilities for all types or recreation including laser tag, go-karts, bumper cars, video game arcades, climbing walls and glow miniature golf. Bowling lanes also have been added to many non-traditional venues such as adult communities, hotels andresorts, and gambling casinos.
2. Movie Rental Stores
While Netflix is looking up at the moment, Blockbuster keeps closing store locations by the hundreds. It still has about 6,000 left across the world, but those keep dwindling and the stock is down considerably since 2008, especially since the company gave up a quest of Circuit City. Movie Gallery, which owned the Hollywood Video brand, closed up shop. Countless small video chains and mom-and-pop stores have given up the ghost already.
“SOCIAL NETWORKING ‘98”
3. Hand-Written Letters
In 2006, the Radicati Group estimated that, worldwide, 183 billion e-mails were sent each day. Two million each second. By November of 2007, an estimated 3.3 billion Earthlings owned cell phones, and 80% of the world’s population had access to cell phone coverage. In 2004, half-a-trillion text messages were sent, and the number has no doubt increased exponentially since then. So where amongst this gorge of gabble is there room for the elegant, polite hand-written letter?
And, partially as a result:
U.S. Post Office
They are pricing themselves out of existence. With e-mail, and online services they are a relic of the past. Packages are also sent faster and cheaper with UPS.
TECHNOLOGY / EQUIPMENT
4. Phone Landlines
According to a survey from the National Center for Health Statistics, at the end of 2007, nearly one in six homes was ell-only and, of those homes that had landlines, one in eightonly received calls on their cells.
And partially as a result:
Answering Machines
The increasing disappearance of answering machines is directly tied to the decline of landlines. According to USA Today, the number of homes that only use cell phones jumped 159% between 2004 and 2007. It has been particularly bad in New York; since 2000, landline usage has dropped 55%. It’s logical that as cell phones rise, many of them replacing traditional landlines, that there will be fewer answering machines.
5. Cameras That Use Film
It doesn’t require a statistician to prove the rapid disappearance of the film camera in America. Just look to companies like Nikon, the professional’s choice for quality camera equipment. In 2006, it announced that it would stop making film cameras, pointing tothe shrinking market — only 3% of its sales in 2005, compared to 75% of sales from digital cameras and equipment.
HEALTH
6. Mumps & Measles
Despite what’s been in the news lately, the measles and mumps actually, truly are disappearing from the United States. In 1964, 212,000 cases of mumps were reported in the U.S. By 1983, this figure had dropped to 3,000, thanks to a vigorous vaccinationprogram. Prior to the introduction of the measles vaccine, approximately half a million cases of measles were reported in the U.S. annually, resulting in 450 deaths. In 2005, only 66 cases were recorded.
AGRICULTURE
7. Honey Bees
Perhaps nothing on our list of disappearing America is so dire; plummeting so enormously; and so necessary to the survival of our food supply as the honey bee. Very scary. ‘Colony Collapse Disorder,’ or CCD, has spread throughout the U.S. and Europe over the past few years, wiping out 50% to 90% of the colonies of many beekeepers — and along with it, their livelihood.
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
8. News Magazines and TV News
While the TV evening newscasts haven’t gone anywhere over the last several decades, their audiences have. In 1984, in a story about the diminishing returns of the evening news, the New York Times reported that all three network evening-news programs combined had only 40.9 million viewers. Fast forward to 2008, and what they have today is half that.
MISCELLANEOUS
9. The Family Farm
Since the 1930s, the number of family farms has been declining rapidly. According to the USDA, 5.3 million farms dotted the nation in 1950, but this number had declined to 2.1 million by the 2003 farm census (data from the 2007 census hasn’t yet been published).Ninety-one percent of the U.S. FARMS are small Family Farms.
10. Personal Checks
According to an American Bankers Assoc. report, a net 23% of consumers plan to decrease their use of checks over the next two years, while a net 14% plan to increase their use of PIN debit. Bill payment remains the last stronghold of paper-basedpayments — for the time being. Checks continue to be the most commonly used bill payment method, with 71% of consumers paying at least one recurring bill per month by writing a check. However, a bill-by-bill basis, checks account for only 49% of consumers’ recurring bill payments (down from 72% in 2001 and 60% in 2003).
Please let me know if this is of interest to you.
I welcome your feedback!
HARD
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