# Mundane consequences of modern or future technology **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 30, 2012, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-consequences-of-modern-or-future-technology/626832 "2012-06-30T18:32:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2012, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-consequences-of-modern-or-future-technology/626832/21 "2012-07-02T06:22:57Z")
> [@jackdavinci](#): > > When newspapers are finally gone, how will kidnappers prove their victim is still alive? > > Share your own examples. More importantly, what am I going to use to clean mirrors and windows? ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2012, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-consequences-of-modern-or-future-technology/626832/22 "2012-07-02T06:36:21Z")
> [@Kevbo](#): > > I had a young programmer ask me why I kept calling the “enter” character “carriage return” had no idea there was a definition of carriage that didn’t involve a horse. I haven’t used a typewriter since I dicked around with one when I was little (born late 1989), but isn’t the key, even on a typewriter, a new line (blank vertical space) AND carriage return? I was under the impression that a carriage return referred to returning to printhead to wherever the default position is (usually to the left-hand horizontal page margin in English writing), whereas the key itself did more than JUST carriage return\*, and in fact that combination newline/carriage return keys on typewriters were a relatively new feature (old typewriters just adding a vertical space and you had to carriage return by physically pushing the carriage to the left with your hand). I defer to you experience, either way, I’m just curious – it seems odd to call it the carriage return key if it performs more functions in one keystroke than just returning the carriage. - Which is, in fact, the reason for the infuriating difference between Windows newlines being while Unix and Unix-likes have just , apparently considering the necessity of simulating a carriage return silly. ---
**Author:** ![postcards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e8cbc/32.png) [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2012, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-consequences-of-modern-or-future-technology/626832/23 "2012-07-02T13:17:02Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > Remember paper maps? Now obsolete-try getting one now. Maps have many advantages over GPS. I find it very easy to find and buy paper maps; I update my Hagstrom’s every few years. Obsolete? Hardly. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2012, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-consequences-of-modern-or-future-technology/626832/24 "2012-07-02T13:24:05Z")
> [@TBG](#): > > Likewise, all the flatpanel babies a few years from now will never understand why TV’s called the boob **tube**. They’ll probably think it’s somehow related to youtube, if anything. That’s okay, though, because the only people who call it that are people’s dads, and they’ll be all dead soon enough. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2012, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-consequences-of-modern-or-future-technology/626832/25 "2012-07-02T13:28:53Z")
I was rereading “Neuromancer” a few years ago and was amused that in a book about the changes wrought on human culture by technology, the first line has had its meaning completely reversed by a minor technological innovation. “The sky was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel” meant the sky was grey and stormy when the book was written in the 80’s, but now almost every TV turns a pleasant sky blue when its turned to a dead channel. ---
**Author:** ![Winnipeg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/ec9cab/32.png) [@Winnipeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Winnipeg)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2012, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-consequences-of-modern-or-future-technology/626832/26 "2012-07-02T13:29:48Z")
> [@Jragon](#): > > I haven’t used a typewriter since I dicked around with one when I was little (born late 1989), but isn’t the key, even on a typewriter, a new line (blank vertical space) AND carriage return? I was under the impression that a carriage return referred to returning to printhead to wherever the default position is (usually to the left-hand horizontal page margin in English writing), whereas the key itself did more than JUST carriage return\*, and in fact that combination newline/carriage return keys on typewriters were a relatively new feature (old typewriters just adding a vertical space and you had to carriage return by physically pushing the carriage to the left with your hand). > > I defer to you experience, either way, I’m just curious – it seems odd to call it the carriage return key if it performs more functions in one keystroke than just returning the carriage. > > - Which is, in fact, the reason for the infuriating difference between Windows newlines being > while Unix and Unix-likes have just > , apparently considering the necessity of simulating a carriage return silly. There was a lever to pull for a new line. The carriage return, returned the “carriage” that held the paper back to the “start” position. ---
**Author:** ![JoelUpchurch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f05b48/32.png) [@JoelUpchurch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoelUpchurch)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2012, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-consequences-of-modern-or-future-technology/626832/27 "2012-07-02T13:41:18Z")
> [@JustinC](#): > > When we all have our flying cars (like we’ve been promised) how will taxi drivers know I’m in a hurry when I say “Burn rubber”. It will pretty futile telling a robot to “Burn rubber”. They will be programmed to obey the speed limits. For that matter, what will cities do for revenue when none of the robot drivers are speeding. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2012, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-consequences-of-modern-or-future-technology/626832/28 "2012-07-02T13:47:37Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > They’ll probably understand the “boob” part, though. MISunderstand it, more likely. When the TV was first called “The Boob Tube”, “boob” meant “idiot”\*, not “piece of female anatomy”. As evidenced by its frequent appearances in opo literature – magazines, newspapers, books – inevitably to describe an idiot. “Boob” as “breast” may have a longer histotry behind it, but it became a popular and recognized sorta euphemism for “breast” only since about the late 1960s. Before that you could use the word and not hsave anyone think you were being pririent. ---
**Author:** ![emmaliminal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@emmaliminal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emmaliminal)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2012, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-consequences-of-modern-or-future-technology/626832/29 "2012-07-02T14:04:00Z")
Consequence already probably in place: You kids today don’t get the funny in [this](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fp6FpX0izjM), one of my favorite songs ever. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Me](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d2c977/32.png) [@Mr.Me](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Me)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2012, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-consequences-of-modern-or-future-technology/626832/30 "2012-07-02T14:15:14Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > “The sky was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel” meant the sky was grey and stormy when the book was written in the 80’s, but now almost every TV turns a pleasant sky blue when its turned to a dead channel. I’m imagining the sky is pitch black, except for a large grey rectangle, with the words ‘NO SIGNAL’ inside it. Much more ominous. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2012, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-consequences-of-modern-or-future-technology/626832/31 "2012-07-02T14:15:28Z")
You won’t pay gas taxes because fuel efficient vehicles reduce the amount of revenue for the govt. Instead, you’ll be paying a tax per mile driven. this will be calculated by mandatory GPS units on cars. FLA is already considering this technology. The side effect is that the govt will be able to track your vehicle and look up it’s travel history. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2012, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-consequences-of-modern-or-future-technology/626832/32 "2012-07-02T15:44:18Z")
making your mark will be the only handwriting people know. ---
**Author:** ![Flyer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/flyer/32/7298_2.png) [@Flyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flyer)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2012, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-consequences-of-modern-or-future-technology/626832/33 "2012-07-02T16:43:01Z")
> [@Mr.Me](#): > > I’m imagining the sky is pitch black, except for a large grey rectangle, with the words ‘NO SIGNAL’ inside it. Much more ominous. > **[Morning](https://xkcd.com/395/)** ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2012, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-consequences-of-modern-or-future-technology/626832/34 "2012-07-02T17:04:18Z")
> [@Winnipeg](#): > > There was a lever to pull for a new line. The carriage return, returned the “carriage” that held the paper back to the “start” position. On the typewriter I learned on, the carriage return was a lever that both scrolled the paper up and returned the carriage, aligning the left margin of the paper with the stationary key strike zone. [It’s on the left side of the carriage in this picture.](http://newmodelminority.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/underwood-typewriter1.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2012, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-consequences-of-modern-or-future-technology/626832/35 "2012-07-02T17:34:24Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Newspapers are already of dubious utility for proving that a kidnap victim is still alive; you could always take a photo, kill the victim, and photoshop the latest paper in. But if papers are gone, where will future kidnappers get the letters to cut up for their ransom notes? ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2012, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-consequences-of-modern-or-future-technology/626832/36 "2012-07-02T17:37:55Z")
> [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](#): > > But if papers are gone, where will future kidnappers get the letters to cut up for their ransom notes? [humorless pedant] Magazines were generally used for that purpose, not newspapers. At any rate, it is more common nowadays to send text messages. [/humorless pedant] ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2012, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-consequences-of-modern-or-future-technology/626832/37 "2012-07-02T17:38:30Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > How long will it be before Kids Today don’t know what that “save” icon is supposed to represent? What kids? A lot of the people I train in using computers are older than me (I’m in my mid-40s) and have no idea what that pic is supposed to be. Just last week, a coworker in his mid-20s helped me explain to a bunch of guys in their 50s and, after the class, told me “I’m suddenly feeling sooooo old.” ---
**Author:** ![Kevbo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e47774/32.png) [@Kevbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kevbo)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2012, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-consequences-of-modern-or-future-technology/626832/38 "2012-07-02T23:06:50Z")
> [@Jragon](#): > > I defer to you experience, either way, I’m just curious – it seems odd to call it the carriage return key if it performs more functions in one keystroke than just returning the carriage. It was actually the ASCII code 0x0D, which shows up as \ on the character tables, standing for carriage return. It is what a terminal or terminal emulator usually sends when you hit the enter key, though some translate the single keystroke into \ + \. (LF= line feed) In this case it is/was what tells you you hit the end of a line of a .CSV file, which is what his program needed to parsing for. But my point was that this person had never seen a manual typewriter with an actual carriage that you had to manually sling at the end of each line, and had no idea what CR stood for, and no idea why “enter” might be associated with the word for a vehicle pulled by a horse. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2012, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-consequences-of-modern-or-future-technology/626832/39 "2012-07-02T23:14:48Z")
> [@emmaliminal](#): > > Consequence already probably in place: You kids today don’t get the funny in [this](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fp6FpX0izjM), one of my favorite songs ever. Is that a UK thing? I don’t get the funny in that now, and I’ve been around for…quite a while. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2012, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-consequences-of-modern-or-future-technology/626832/40 "2012-07-02T23:34:58Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > Is that a UK thing? There’s a mash of UK landline telephone tones underpinning the song. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-consequences-of-modern-or-future-technology/626832.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mundane-consequences-of-modern-or-future-technology/626832.md?page=3)