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24 THINGS ABOUT TO BECOME
EXTINCT IN AMERICA
24. Yellow
Pages
This year will be pivotal for the global Yellow
Pages industry. Much like newspapers, print Yellow Pages will
continue to bleed dollars to their various digital
counterparts, from Internet Yellow Pages (IYPs), to local
search engines and combination
search/listing services like
Reach Local and Yodel Factors like an acceleration of the
print 'fade rate' and the looming recession will contribute to
the onslaught. One research firm predicts the falloff in usage
of newspapers and print Yellow Pages could even
reach 10% this
year -- much higher than the 2%-3% fade rate seen in past
years.
23. Classified Ads
The Internet has
made so many things obsolete that newspaper classified ads
might sound like just another trivial item on a long list. But
this is one of those harbingers of the future that could
signal the end of civilization as we know it. The argument is
that if newspaper classifieds are replaced by free online
listings at sites like Craigslist.org and Google Base, then
newspapers are not far behind them.
22. 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 in
2008, especially since the company gave up a quest of Circuit
City. Movie Gallery, which owned the Hollywood
Video brand,
closed up shop earlier this year. Countless small video chains
and mom-and-pop stores have given up the ghost
already.
21. Dial-up Internet
Access
Dial-up connections have fallen from 40% in 2001
to 10% in 2008. The combination of an infrastructure to
accommodate affordable high speed Internet connections and the
disappearing home phone have all but pounded the final nail in
the coffin of dial-up
Internet access.
20. Phone
Landlines
According to a survey from the National
Center for Health Statistics, at the end of 2007, nearly one
in six homes was cell-only and, of those homes that had
landlines, one in eight only received calls on their
cells.
19. Chesapeake Bay Blue
Crabs
Maryland's icon, the blue crab, has been fading
away in Chesapeake Bay. Last year Maryland saw the lowest
harvest (22 million pounds) since 1945. Just four decades ago
the bay produced 96 million pounds. The population is down 70%
since 1990, when they first did a formal count. There are only
about 120 million crabs in the bay and they think they need
200 million for a sustainable population. Over-fishing,
pollution, invasive species and global warming get the
blame.
18. VCRs
For the better part of
three decades, the VCR was a best-seller and staple in every
American household until being completely decimated by the
DVD, and now the Digital Video Recorder (DVR). In fact, the
only remnants of the VHS age at your local Wal-Mart or
Radio
Shack are blank VHS tapes these days. Pre-recorded VHS tapes
are largely gone and VHS decks are practically nowhere to be
found.
EXTINCT IN AMERICA
24. Yellow
Pages
This year will be pivotal for the global Yellow
Pages industry. Much like newspapers, print Yellow Pages will
continue to bleed dollars to their various digital
counterparts, from Internet Yellow Pages (IYPs), to local
search engines and combination
search/listing services like
Reach Local and Yodel Factors like an acceleration of the
print 'fade rate' and the looming recession will contribute to
the onslaught. One research firm predicts the falloff in usage
of newspapers and print Yellow Pages could even
reach 10% this
year -- much higher than the 2%-3% fade rate seen in past
years.
23. Classified Ads
The Internet has
made so many things obsolete that newspaper classified ads
might sound like just another trivial item on a long list. But
this is one of those harbingers of the future that could
signal the end of civilization as we know it. The argument is
that if newspaper classifieds are replaced by free online
listings at sites like Craigslist.org and Google Base, then
newspapers are not far behind them.
22. 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 in
2008, especially since the company gave up a quest of Circuit
City. Movie Gallery, which owned the Hollywood
Video brand,
closed up shop earlier this year. Countless small video chains
and mom-and-pop stores have given up the ghost
already.
21. Dial-up Internet
Access
Dial-up connections have fallen from 40% in 2001
to 10% in 2008. The combination of an infrastructure to
accommodate affordable high speed Internet connections and the
disappearing home phone have all but pounded the final nail in
the coffin of dial-up
Internet access.
20. Phone
Landlines
According to a survey from the National
Center for Health Statistics, at the end of 2007, nearly one
in six homes was cell-only and, of those homes that had
landlines, one in eight only received calls on their
cells.
19. Chesapeake Bay Blue
Crabs
Maryland's icon, the blue crab, has been fading
away in Chesapeake Bay. Last year Maryland saw the lowest
harvest (22 million pounds) since 1945. Just four decades ago
the bay produced 96 million pounds. The population is down 70%
since 1990, when they first did a formal count. There are only
about 120 million crabs in the bay and they think they need
200 million for a sustainable population. Over-fishing,
pollution, invasive species and global warming get the
blame.
18. VCRs
For the better part of
three decades, the VCR was a best-seller and staple in every
American household until being completely decimated by the
DVD, and now the Digital Video Recorder (DVR). In fact, the
only remnants of the VHS age at your local Wal-Mart or
Radio
Shack are blank VHS tapes these days. Pre-recorded VHS tapes
are largely gone and VHS decks are practically nowhere to be
found.
They served us so well.
17. Ash
Trees
17. Ash
Trees
In the late 1990s, a pretty, iridescent green
species of beetle, now known as the emerald ash borer, hitched
a ride to North America with ash wood products imported from
eastern Asia. In less than a decade, its larvae have killed
millions of trees in the Midwest, and continue to spread.
They've killed more than 30 million ash trees in southeastern
Michigan alone, with tens of millions more lost in Ohio and Indiana. More than 7.5 billion ash trees are currently at
risk.
16. Ham Radio
Amateur radio
operators enjoy personal (and often worldwide) wireless
communications with each other and are able to support their
communities with emergency and disaster communications if
necessary, while increasing their personal knowledge of
electronics and radio theory.. However, proliferation of the
Internet and its popularity among youth has caused the decline
of amateur radio. In the past five years alone, the number of
people holding active ham radio licenses has dropped by
50,000, even though Morse Code is no longer a
requirement.
15. The Swimming Hole
Thanks
to our litigious society, swimming holes are becoming a thing
of the past. '20/20' reports that swimming hole owners, like
Robert Every in High Falls, NY, are shutting them down out of
worry that if someone gets hurt they'll sue. And that's
exactly what happened in Seattle. The city of Bellingham was
sued by Katie Hofstetter who was paralyzed in a fall at a
popular swimming hole in Whatcom Falls Park. As injuries occur
and lawsuits follow, expect more swimming holes to post 'Keep
out!' signs.
14. Answering Machines
The
increasing disappearance of answering machines is directly
tied to No 20 our list -- 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.
13. 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 to
the shrinking market -- only 3% of its sales in
2005, compared to 75% of sales from digital cameras and
equipment.
12. Incandescent Bulbs
Before a
few years ago, the standard 60-watt (or, yikes, 100-watt) bulb
was the mainstay of every U.S. home. With the green movement
and all-things-sustainable-energy crowd, the Compact
Fluorescent Lightbulb (CFL) is largely replacing the older,
Edison-era incandescent bulb. The EPA reports that 2007 sales
for Energy Star CFLs nearly doubled from 2006, and these sales
accounted for approximately 20 percent of the U.S. light bulb
market. And according to USA Today, a new energy bill plans to
phase out incandescent bulbs in the next four to 12
years.
11. Stand-Alone Bowling
Alleys
BowlingBalls. 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 and resorts, and gambling
casinos.
10. The Milkman
According to the
U.S. Department of Agriculture, in 1950, over half of the milk
delivered was to the home in quart bottles, by 1963, it was
about a third and by 2001, it represented only 0.4% percent.
Nowadays most milk is sold through supermarkets in gallon
jugs. The steady decline in home-delivered milk is blamed, of
course, on the rise of the supermarket, better home refrigeration and longer-lasting milk.Although some milkmen
still make the rounds in pockets of the U.S., they are
certainly a dying breed.
9. 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?
8. Wild Horses
It is
estimated that 100 years ago, as many as two million horses
were roaming free within the United States. In 2001, National
Geographic News estimated that the wild horse population had
decreased to about 50,000 head. Currently, the National Wild
Horse and Burro Advisory board states that there are 32,000
free roaming horses in ten Western states, with half of them
residing in Nevada. The Bureau of Land Management is seeking
to reduce the total number of free range horses to 27,000,
possibly by selective euthanasia.
7. 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-based payments -- 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, on a bill-by-bill
basis, checks account for only 49% of consumers' recurring
bill payments(down from 72% in 2001 and 60% in
2003).
6. Drive-in Theaters
During the
peak in 1958, there were more than 4,000 drive-in theaters in
this country, but in 2007 only 405 drive-ins were still
operating. Exactly zero new drive-ins have been built since
2005. Only one reopened in 2005 and five reopened in 2006, so
there isn't much of a movement toward reviving the closed
ones.
5. 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
vaccination program. 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.
4. 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.
3. 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.
2. Analog TV
According to the
Consumer Electronics Association, 85% of homes in the U.S. get
their television programming through cable or satellite
providers. For the remaining 15% -- or 13 million individuals
-- who are using rabbit ears or a large outdoor antenna to get
their local stations, change is in the air. If you
are one of
these people you'll need to get a new TV or a converter box in
order to get the new stations which will only be broadcast in
digital.
species of beetle, now known as the emerald ash borer, hitched
a ride to North America with ash wood products imported from
eastern Asia. In less than a decade, its larvae have killed
millions of trees in the Midwest, and continue to spread.
They've killed more than 30 million ash trees in southeastern
Michigan alone, with tens of millions more lost in Ohio and Indiana. More than 7.5 billion ash trees are currently at
risk.
16. Ham Radio
Amateur radio
operators enjoy personal (and often worldwide) wireless
communications with each other and are able to support their
communities with emergency and disaster communications if
necessary, while increasing their personal knowledge of
electronics and radio theory.. However, proliferation of the
Internet and its popularity among youth has caused the decline
of amateur radio. In the past five years alone, the number of
people holding active ham radio licenses has dropped by
50,000, even though Morse Code is no longer a
requirement.
15. The Swimming Hole
Thanks
to our litigious society, swimming holes are becoming a thing
of the past. '20/20' reports that swimming hole owners, like
Robert Every in High Falls, NY, are shutting them down out of
worry that if someone gets hurt they'll sue. And that's
exactly what happened in Seattle. The city of Bellingham was
sued by Katie Hofstetter who was paralyzed in a fall at a
popular swimming hole in Whatcom Falls Park. As injuries occur
and lawsuits follow, expect more swimming holes to post 'Keep
out!' signs.
14. Answering Machines
The
increasing disappearance of answering machines is directly
tied to No 20 our list -- 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.
13. 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 to
the shrinking market -- only 3% of its sales in
2005, compared to 75% of sales from digital cameras and
equipment.
12. Incandescent Bulbs
Before a
few years ago, the standard 60-watt (or, yikes, 100-watt) bulb
was the mainstay of every U.S. home. With the green movement
and all-things-sustainable-energy crowd, the Compact
Fluorescent Lightbulb (CFL) is largely replacing the older,
Edison-era incandescent bulb. The EPA reports that 2007 sales
for Energy Star CFLs nearly doubled from 2006, and these sales
accounted for approximately 20 percent of the U.S. light bulb
market. And according to USA Today, a new energy bill plans to
phase out incandescent bulbs in the next four to 12
years.
11. Stand-Alone Bowling
Alleys
BowlingBalls. 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 and resorts, and gambling
casinos.
10. The Milkman
According to the
U.S. Department of Agriculture, in 1950, over half of the milk
delivered was to the home in quart bottles, by 1963, it was
about a third and by 2001, it represented only 0.4% percent.
Nowadays most milk is sold through supermarkets in gallon
jugs. The steady decline in home-delivered milk is blamed, of
course, on the rise of the supermarket, better home refrigeration and longer-lasting milk.Although some milkmen
still make the rounds in pockets of the U.S., they are
certainly a dying breed.
9. 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?
8. Wild Horses
It is
estimated that 100 years ago, as many as two million horses
were roaming free within the United States. In 2001, National
Geographic News estimated that the wild horse population had
decreased to about 50,000 head. Currently, the National Wild
Horse and Burro Advisory board states that there are 32,000
free roaming horses in ten Western states, with half of them
residing in Nevada. The Bureau of Land Management is seeking
to reduce the total number of free range horses to 27,000,
possibly by selective euthanasia.
7. 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-based payments -- 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, on a bill-by-bill
basis, checks account for only 49% of consumers' recurring
bill payments(down from 72% in 2001 and 60% in
2003).
6. Drive-in Theaters
During the
peak in 1958, there were more than 4,000 drive-in theaters in
this country, but in 2007 only 405 drive-ins were still
operating. Exactly zero new drive-ins have been built since
2005. Only one reopened in 2005 and five reopened in 2006, so
there isn't much of a movement toward reviving the closed
ones.
5. 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
vaccination program. 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.
4. 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.
3. 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.
2. Analog TV
According to the
Consumer Electronics Association, 85% of homes in the U.S. get
their television programming through cable or satellite
providers. For the remaining 15% -- or 13 million individuals
-- who are using rabbit ears or a large outdoor antenna to get
their local stations, change is in the air. If you
are one of
these people you'll need to get a new TV or a converter box in
order to get the new stations which will only be broadcast in
digital.
June now is the date, by order of the new Presedent of the U.S.A.
1. 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.
Both interesting and saddening, isn't
it?
1. 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.
Both interesting and saddening, isn't
it?
(received this in an e-mail...Ana