# Technological advances and language. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [August 14, 2008, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technological-advances-and-language/459984 "2008-08-14T15:22:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2008, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technological-advances-and-language/459984/1 "2008-08-14T15:22:21Z")
It’s funny how terms like landline came into use when mobile phones became popular. “I’ll call you on the landline” etc. Another one I just noticed was CRT television. Cathode Ray Tube. Now everyone has those svelte flat screen jobbies the old tellies are called CRT tellies. This really does qualify for MPSIMS! Anyway, any other examples? I suppose wireless would count. Only people over a certain age would refer to the radio as a wireless, most nowadays would be talking about internets. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2008, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technological-advances-and-language/459984/2 "2008-08-14T15:23:55Z")
I’m pretty sure the Pony Express riders would be utterly baffled that sending correspondence through the modern-day USPS is referred to as ‘snail mail’. ---
**Author:** ![Helena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c68b51/32.png) [@Helena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helena)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2008, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technological-advances-and-language/459984/3 "2008-08-14T15:46:25Z")
analog clock? ---
**Author:** ![ChiefScott](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/58f4c7/32.png) [@ChiefScott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChiefScott)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2008, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technological-advances-and-language/459984/4 "2008-08-14T16:04:32Z")
Hopefully we’ll soon be recalling those persnickety “gasoline-powered” cars… ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2008, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technological-advances-and-language/459984/5 "2008-08-14T16:22:52Z")
Sure, I can send the document, but do you need a “hard copy?” ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2008, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technological-advances-and-language/459984/6 "2008-08-14T18:25:09Z")
Webster’s [retronym](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/retronym) example is “film camera”, which seems as good as any. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2008, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technological-advances-and-language/459984/7 "2008-08-14T22:33:00Z")
Acoustic guitars, pianos, etc. ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2008, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technological-advances-and-language/459984/8 "2008-08-15T02:04:41Z")
Should I transfer those files form a floppy to a CD? I think Floppy (disk) only had a shelf life of about 25 years… already obsolete --CD’s to follow, maybe?. My Great Nephew doesn’t know what a floppy is… it’s all DVD’s and Flash Drives… Maybe someday there will be Light Cubes? ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2008, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technological-advances-and-language/459984/9 "2008-08-15T02:18:29Z")
Landline was in juse quite some time before the advent of cell phones. I distinctly remember using the term way back in the 1970s/1980s to differentiate between radio communications and conversations over a telephone. ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2008, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technological-advances-and-language/459984/10 "2008-08-15T03:30:33Z")
Analog vs digital - I think analog will be an obsolete term very soon. But what will we call clocks with hands? ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2008, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technological-advances-and-language/459984/11 "2008-08-15T03:49:41Z")
[QUOTE=Scarlett67] Acoustic guitars, pianos, etc. [/QUOTE] Bass most commonly refers to a bass guitar, and not a double bass anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2008, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/technological-advances-and-language/459984/12 "2008-08-15T03:56:20Z")
[QUOTE=Dolores Reborn] Analog vs digital - I think analog will be an obsolete term very soon. But what will we call clocks with hands? [/QUOTE] Old fashioned. 😉