# Are briefcases a thing of the past? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 24, 2018, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-briefcases-a-thing-of-the-past/820210 "2018-08-24T20:00:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2019, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-briefcases-a-thing-of-the-past/820210/41 "2019-03-26T21:32:59Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > Briefcases don’t fit in here in Silicon Valley. Maybe they do on Wall Street but not here. I don’t know anyone who uses one. I don’t recall seeing too many on Wall Street. Plus even Goldman Sachs is going business casual these days. Hopefully after suits, the next thing to go will be the Midtown Uniform of dress pants, dress shirt and fleece vest from Patagonia, EMS or North Face. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [March 26, 2019, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-briefcases-a-thing-of-the-past/820210/42 "2019-03-26T22:30:39Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > They days when you carried your briefcase straight into the office and hand “the girl” get you a cup of coffee while lighting up your sixth Winston of the morning are thankfully gone. I can be thankful that having certain jobs reserved for certain genders is long gone, or that smoking in workplaces is long gone, but why should I be thankful that the job of someone getting someone else coffee is long gone? I often wish for someone to bring me a beverage and a snack during a long, stressful, hectic workday. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2019, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-briefcases-a-thing-of-the-past/820210/43 "2019-03-27T04:11:04Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > The last professionals I saw who carried actual briefcases were lawyers on their way to/from court. My theory is that briefcases had actual locks, as opposed to backpacks, etc., and the lawyers didn’t want to risk having legal documents get loose. Well, yeah, that’s why they’re called brief-cases. They’re cases for briefs, as in the legal kind. But I agree that laptops are the big driver to moving away from them. ---
**Author:** ![Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ce7236/32.png) [@Mona\_Lisa\_Simpson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mona_Lisa_Simpson)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2019, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-briefcases-a-thing-of-the-past/820210/44 "2019-03-27T04:45:17Z")
My 15 year old uses one, at least weekly. My son went through a phase some years ago where he liked carrying things around in briefcases, (he had this sort of businessman wannabee thing going on when he was 8) and while he started with an [old cassette carrying-case of mine from the 1980s](https://i.etsystatic.com/6329257/r/il/0156da/1393000322/il_794xN.1393000322_i0ly.jpg) both his school principal and then my dad gave him better ones. My dad’s case was the one he used up to and after retirement in 1999. In the last few years, my son has started using it again to keep his meeting notes for his youth council, and for a while, he was also carrying his laptop in it. When the handle on the briefcase started to show damage, he stopped using it for the laptop and got a messenger bag. Apparently, the use of the briefcase had become a retro hipster thing, some kids asked why he had given up that “cool old school briefcase.” ---
**Author:** ![Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/les_espaces_du_sommeil/32/308_2.png) [@Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Les_Espaces_Du_Sommeil)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2019, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-briefcases-a-thing-of-the-past/820210/45 "2019-03-27T09:25:15Z")
> [@Balance](#): > > You don’t see them in use much now, and I think they’ve been outmoded for some time… Indeed. One of my ex-girlfriends’ parents bought me one after I graduated in 1997. It was… nice I guess, not particularly upscale but not cheap either. Yet, even then I felt that it was a bit old-fashioned and unpractical. I stopped using it soon after our relationship ended some 10 months later and switched to a backpack. I’ve used a satchel for the past 15 years at least. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2019, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-briefcases-a-thing-of-the-past/820210/46 "2019-03-28T22:34:42Z")
> [@](#): > > Quoth **What Exit?** : > > The Courthouse will probably be the last holdout of briefcases, suits and ties. Heck, it’s already one of the last two holdouts of formal robes. How many centuries has it been since robes have been used for anything but courtrooms and graduation ceremonies? ---
**Author:** ![sisu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@sisu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sisu)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2019, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-briefcases-a-thing-of-the-past/820210/47 "2019-03-28T23:03:49Z")
> [@Llama\_Llogophile](#): > > With any luck. Hopefully neckties are next. Then the suits altogether. Working for a large corporation (35,000 employees) ties are dead (the CEO doesn’t even wear one), people are also ditching suits slowly (I still wear one for customer meetings) but chinos and a sports coat do just fine as well, so everyday is casual Friday! In my office one bloke I know has a briefcase everyone else has a back top mainly, we still have laptops. When I go to a more portable device will probably go to a manbag. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-briefcases-a-thing-of-the-past/820210.md?page=2)