# Essential skills our children won't need. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 25, 2011, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/essential-skills-our-children-wont-need/600706 "2011-10-25T03:06:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2011, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/essential-skills-our-children-wont-need/600706/101 "2011-10-26T15:12:00Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > How is rolling down a window a skill? A retarded monkey with asses for hands could roll a window down. Thanks to global warming our children may not know how to take care of Gustaffson’s Retarded Ass-Hand Monkeys. ---
**Author:** ![raskolnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e47c2d/32.png) [@raskolnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raskolnik)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2011, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/essential-skills-our-children-wont-need/600706/102 "2011-10-26T15:42:31Z")
There is a story going around chinese university/internets that a recent student at a school in beijing was so spoiled by his parents he did not know how to … …peel a hard boiled egg (Remember that in China boiled soy sauce eggs are WIDLEY sold as a quick, grab and go food at bus stations, and quiki marts.) So if this is true some chinese teenagers are stumped by eggs. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2011, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/essential-skills-our-children-wont-need/600706/103 "2011-10-26T19:37:11Z")
Fine tuning a TV, and using the separate UHF dial to get those fuzzy UHF stations. Using the command line interface on your computer. Even better, only being computer literate if you knew how to program, not open up a web browser or Word. Searching the TV listings for the movie that you missed or wanted to see again, since that was the only way of seeing it unless it got revived. Chain dialing. When I was in college, girls’ dorms had only a few phones, and they seemed to be constantly in use. If you wanted to call someone, you had to repeatedly dial until you finally got it to ring. This was on a rotary phone, of course, with no redial button, and possibly a payphone. Phone hacking was mentioned. The first thing Jobs and the Woz sold was blue boxes which mimicked the frequencies used to dial. There were also some tricks you could play with diodes and the line used by the operator to collect your money. No need for this now that long distance is free, basically. Oh, and talking to an operator is pretty much a lost art also. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2011, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/essential-skills-our-children-wont-need/600706/104 "2011-10-26T20:25:42Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Reading, period. > Writing, period. > Arithmetic. Using a slide-rule, even. > Thinking. So, you think people will go back to how the average person of the 1700s lived? Why? Do you foresee a concomitant increase in subsistence farming? ---
**Author:** ![cantara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6f9a4e/32.png) [@cantara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cantara)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2011, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/essential-skills-our-children-wont-need/600706/105 "2011-10-26T21:00:41Z")
Okay, so not an essential skill, but kids these days… Last night I had to describe what a TV Guide is to my 10 year olds and that it came in the Saturday paper with the colour comics. They had no idea what I was on about. Poltergeist was on TV and they wanted to see it, but it was late and I told them that they will see it when they get older. I tried to relate to them that I had seen ‘[The Lathe of Heaven](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Lathe_of_Heaven_(film))’ back in the early 80’s. I was intrigued by it and scanned the TV guide every week in hopes that I could see it again. I gave up after about 10 years. It was finally rebroadcast in 2000. They won’t have that sort of problem to deal with. ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2011, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/essential-skills-our-children-wont-need/600706/106 "2011-10-26T22:16:14Z")
> [@Nzinga\_Seated](#): > > You can continue to send birthday cards out in cursive, but if your recipients are younger than 16, I bet they can’t read it. Actually , they can. They can also read the check that comes with the card. Using electronic bill payment to send a check to my niece/nephew just isn’t the same. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2011, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/essential-skills-our-children-wont-need/600706/107 "2011-10-26T22:27:53Z")
> [@Lancia](#): > > Did anyone do a Google image search for “octopus” with safe search off after reading the linked article? > > I did. I did, too, but missed anything significant. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2011, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/essential-skills-our-children-wont-need/600706/108 "2011-10-26T22:59:16Z")
Dealing with VHS tapes that will only work if you get the tracking on the VCR exactly right, and otherwise look completely broken. Dealing with floppy disks that only work on one specific floppy drive, because only that drive is misaligned just right. (Formatting floppies to have a higher capacity than the standard was a good way to invoke this; higher capacity means you need a higher density, and therefore more precise head and arm movements from the drive hardware, which often exposes the fact your drive is just _that far_ out of true.) In general, the analog part of computing is dying off; even hard drives are moving to SSD technology, something that also eliminates moving parts. Sooner rather than later, computers will be entirely solid-state and the only moving parts will be keyboards and mice. Not even those for touch-screen hand-helds, but you can’t do everything on a pad or (especially) a phone. Voice technology isn’t there yet, won’t be for a while, and won’t be relevant for a lot of people anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/essential-skills-our-children-wont-need/600706/109 "2011-10-27T00:32:16Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Taking any books out of the library for any reason. :rolleyes: Le sigh. Library usage has never been higher than it is right now. Especially among kids because of Harry Potter, Twilight, Percy Jackson, Eragon, Ellen Hopkins, Wimpy Kid, etc, etc, etc. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/essential-skills-our-children-wont-need/600706/110 "2011-10-27T01:27:16Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Marking their place in a book by dog-earing a page. Heh. I have the Kindle app on my iPhone and it electronically folds over the corner of a page when I mark my place in a book. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/essential-skills-our-children-wont-need/600706/111 "2011-10-27T13:17:00Z")
Carrying a boom box. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/essential-skills-our-children-wont-need/600706/112 "2011-10-27T13:54:15Z")
Bumming cigarettes. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/essential-skills-our-children-wont-need/600706/113 "2011-10-27T14:02:53Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > :rolleyes: Le sigh. > > Library usage has never been higher than it is right now. Especially among kids because of Harry Potter, Twilight, Percy Jackson, Eragon, Ellen Hopkins, Wimpy Kid, etc, etc, etc. I’m sure kids will still _read_, probably more than ever. However, I’m pretty sure that “taking book out of library” will become “dowload e-book to kindle” for most kids before long. Heck, it should. Come on, e-books, why haven’t you completely superseded this silly, cellulose-based, ancient-world technology yet? Paper books are \*so \*second century! Get a move on! ---
**Author:** ![Trom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@Trom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trom)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/essential-skills-our-children-wont-need/600706/114 "2011-10-27T14:03:28Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > :rolleyes: Le sigh. > > Library usage has never been higher than it is right now. Especially among kids because of Harry Potter, Twilight, Percy Jackson, Eragon, Ellen Hopkins, Wimpy Kid, etc, etc, etc. I graduated college in 2006. I never checked out a single book from the university library. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/essential-skills-our-children-wont-need/600706/115 "2011-10-27T14:07:41Z")
Yes, I’m sure children are reading, and I applaud authors who get children to read. But soon everything will be downloaded to them new-fangled reading devices. Remember the abilities it took to open a CD case and get the CD out of it? ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/essential-skills-our-children-wont-need/600706/116 "2011-10-27T14:20:59Z")
> [@Martian Bigfoot](#): > > I’m sure kids will still _read_, probably more than ever. However, I’m pretty sure that “taking book out of library” will become “dowload e-book to kindle” for most kids before long. > [@Annie-Xmas](#): > > Yes, I’m sure children are reading, and I applaud authors who get children to read. But soon everything will be downloaded to them new-fangled reading devices. Number of dead tree books in my county library system: About 2,000,000 Number of eBooks in my county library system: About 5,000 We will all be long dead before eBooks take over. ---
**Author:** ![Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brown_eyed_girl/32/3574_2.png) [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brown_Eyed_Girl)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/essential-skills-our-children-wont-need/600706/117 "2011-10-27T14:43:26Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > How is rolling down a window a skill? A retarded monkey with asses for hands could roll a window down. Similarly, defining the word ‘essential’. Apparently doing anything no matter how trivial is deemed essential if the action is no longer required at some point. ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2011, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/essential-skills-our-children-wont-need/600706/118 "2011-10-27T22:50:34Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > Defrosting a refrigerator. I _wish._ (Of course, we have a small place, and we just have a small fridge, with one of those _tiny_ freezer spaces. Luckily, we have a chest freezer for the meat and pizzas. 🆒) ---
**Author:** ![GameHat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ed655f/32.png) [@GameHat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GameHat)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2011, 5:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/essential-skills-our-children-wont-need/600706/119 "2011-10-28T05:18:27Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > Number of dead tree books in my county library system: About 2,000,000 > Number of eBooks in my county library system: About 5,000 > > We will all be long dead before eBooks take over. Unless you plan on dying in the next couple of years or so, I think you’re wrong. [Amazon Kindle sales overtake printed book sales May 2011](http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-19/amazon-com-says-kindle-electronic-book-sales-surpass-printed-format.html) ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2011, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/essential-skills-our-children-wont-need/600706/120 "2011-10-28T05:37:07Z")
> [@GameHat](#): > > Unless you plan on dying in the next couple of years or so, I think you’re wrong. > > [Amazon Kindle sales overtake printed book sales May 2011](http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-19/amazon-com-says-kindle-electronic-book-sales-surpass-printed-format.html) A single website… where people purchase books… that never actually explains what “Kindle overtakes printed book sales” means. Beyond that, in 2009 and 2010 there were 16 million eReaders sold worldwide. That’s not all that much when you stop and think about it. When you add in iPads and other tablets, it looks a little more impressive, but it’s still a drop in the bucket. [http://www.idc.com/about/viewpressrelease.jsp?containerId=prUS22737611§ionId=null&elementId=null&pageType=SYNOPSIS](http://www.idc.com/about/viewpressrelease.jsp?containerId=prUS22737611§ionId=null&elementId=null&pageType=SYNOPSIS) Basically, analysts keep talking about kids growing up with iPads and eReaders and that’s all they’ll know. The only problem is _that group of kids hasn’t been born yet_. EReaders will take over in their lifetime, not before. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/essential-skills-our-children-wont-need/600706.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/essential-skills-our-children-wont-need/600706.md?page=7)