notacomputergeek

Our daily lives continue to be affected by changing technology. Here are 10 things your kids may never do that were once very common. Our kids are in their 20s and haven’t done many of these. Can you add to this list?

Write a check – I still write about two checks a year and it’s usually because I don’t want to pay the 3% credit card transaction fee (I’m frugal). Even Target recently said they would not be accepting any more checks.

Subscribe to cable TV – I may get some pushback on this one, but we were one of the first families to beta test cellular internet at our house. Six of us streaming, using our phones, and gaming. We haven’t looked back. Sure, you may still have to reboot the router occasionally, but we had to do that with our cable service. So, if you get decent cellular service, we’re fine with month-to-month streaming internet service for their TV.

Live without a cell phone – I don’t agree, but many kids are given phones at such an early age. We held out on giving our kids one until they were about 13 and it was mainly so we could get in touch with them. Please monitor what they do with these phones. One of our kids was accepting every friend request that came in until we realized it and told them to unfriend anyone they didn’t know.

Use a tube TV or monitor – This one is a bit dated already, since almost all TVs and monitors made today are flat.

Use a paper map – With cell phone maps and GPS navigation, it’s hard to imagine needing a paper map anymore.

Walk into a bank – Online banking, ATMs, and alternate payment methods tied to your checking account reduced the need to enter a bank unless you need to sign something in person, take out a loan, or need more money than the ATM can give you. But isn’t that why there is a drive-through? Even a lot of loans are now done online.

Hand write a letter and mail it – This one is actually sad to me, because hand writing a letter is a very personal gesture. I still have letters from relatives who are now passed away that I love to look at their handwriting.

Have a landline phone at home – I recently read that about 30% of US adults still use a landline – mainly in the Northeast and the elderly. That seemed high to me, but younger generations are not signing up. We had a landline at our house until about 20 years ago and that phone number is still tied to some accounts at retail stores. It’s just too much trouble to change it.

Use a pay phone – Fewer and fewer of these phones still exist and the ones that do are probably not operational due to vandalism.

Unlock a car door with the knob – With so much tech on cars today, manual operations such as rolling down the window or unlocking the door are passé. I can see why this changed – it was easy to break into cars with a coat hanger that could grab the door lock.