# "Things Babies Born in 2011 Will Never Know" **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 18, 2011, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-babies-born-in-2011-will-never-know/568040 "2011-01-18T03:24:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2011, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-babies-born-in-2011-will-never-know/568040/81 "2011-01-20T04:57:36Z")
I’m sure they’ll have them into adulthood. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2011, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-babies-born-in-2011-will-never-know/568040/82 "2011-01-21T19:24:37Z")
For some perspective here, see [_Going, Going, Gone: Vanishing Americana,_](http://www.amazon.com/Going-Gone-Vanishing-Americana/dp/B000IOEQCG/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1295637716&sr=8-2) by Susan Jonas, a book about all the things that have already almost completely vanished from the scene in what seems such a short time: Door-to-door salesmen, wedding-night virgins, men’s clubs, blue laws, girdles, boarding houses, etc., etc. ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2011, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-babies-born-in-2011-will-never-know/568040/83 "2011-01-21T19:45:22Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > For some perspective here, see [_Going, Going, Gone: Vanishing Americana,_](http://www.amazon.com/Going-Gone-Vanishing-Americana/dp/B000IOEQCG/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1295637716&sr=8-2) by Susan Jonas, a book about all the things that have already almost completely vanished from the scene in what seems such a short time: Door-to-door salesmen, wedding-night virgins, men’s clubs, blue laws, girdles, boarding houses, etc., etc. You know, several years ago my aunts were talking about velcro sneakers, and how kids wouldn’t learn how to tie their shoelaces pretty soon. My Grandfather pointed out that none of them knew how to use a button hook. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2011, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-babies-born-in-2011-will-never-know/568040/84 "2011-01-21T20:10:26Z")
> [@saoirse](#): > > You know, several years ago my aunts were talking about velcro sneakers, and how kids wouldn’t learn how to tie their shoelaces pretty soon. My Grandfather pointed out that none of them knew how to use a button hook. I’m not even clear on what the **word** means. :o Let’s see, [Wiki sez . . .](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buttonhook) 😕 They couldn’t just design garments with buttons you can work with your bare fingers?! ---
**Author:** ![filling\_pages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b9bd4f/32.png) [@filling\_pages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filling_pages)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2011, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-babies-born-in-2011-will-never-know/568040/85 "2011-01-21T20:28:44Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > I’m not even clear on what the **word** means. :o > > Let’s see, [Wiki sez . . .](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buttonhook) > > 😕 > > They couldn’t just design garments with buttons you can work with your bare fingers?! It’s difficult to fasten the buttons on gloves, for instance, without one. Think about it - by necessity, you’re using only one hand to do it. ---
**Author:** ![Prelude\_to\_Fascination](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a183cd/32.png) [@Prelude\_to\_Fascination](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prelude_to_Fascination)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2011, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-babies-born-in-2011-will-never-know/568040/86 "2011-01-21T20:56:50Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > For some perspective here, see [_Going, Going, Gone: Vanishing Americana,_](http://www.amazon.com/Going-Gone-Vanishing-Americana/dp/B000IOEQCG/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1295637716&sr=8-2) by Susan Jonas, a book about all the things that have already almost completely vanished from the scene in what seems such a short time: Door-to-door salesmen, wedding-night virgins, men’s clubs, blue laws, girdles, boarding houses, etc., etc. This is a good segue, because my thoughts on this topic are dangerously close to threadshitting, and I didn’t want to come across that way, and it’s not my intention to threadshit. But why is there this fascination with this? There was a time when kids grew up without TV, without radio, without electricity, without steam engines, and on and on and on. It’s natural, and technology will advance. It’s like the time I talked to my late uncle about politics. I was thinking it was amazing that in my lifetime, the Voting Rights Act was signed, guaranteeing blacks (and other disenfranchised people) the right to vote in a free and non-discriminatory way. He said, “What are you talking about? In MY lifetime, WOMEN got the right to vote!” Which was something I grew up taking for granted. Needless to say, I was more than a little humbled by his response. So while technology is amazing, it, like time, marches on. ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2011, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-babies-born-in-2011-will-never-know/568040/87 "2011-01-21T21:04:10Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > They couldn’t just design garments with buttons you can work with your bare fingers?! They did. We’re wearing them. Buttonhooks were handy for items made of leather and stiff fabrics. ---
**Author:** ![JoelUpchurch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f05b48/32.png) [@JoelUpchurch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoelUpchurch)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2011, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-babies-born-in-2011-will-never-know/568040/88 "2011-01-22T20:23:49Z")
1. Home Telephones. 2. Computer Keyboards. 3. Cursive Writing. 4. Paper Checks. ---
**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:** [January 22, 2011, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-babies-born-in-2011-will-never-know/568040/89 "2011-01-22T20:45:59Z")
> [@JoelUpchurch](#): > > 1. Computer Keyboards. Voice recognition has made some big strides in the last decade, but keyboards will probably never die. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2011, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-babies-born-in-2011-will-never-know/568040/90 "2011-01-23T00:28:52Z")
I’d say that a lot of the kids born now will never know faxes. A few business might use them, but hey, I’m 35 and I’ve sent precisely one fax in my entire life. I agree that neither mail nor watches will disappear completely, but they are getting gradually less and less common. But really, if you’re talking about things 99% of kids born in 2011 will never know, you’re talking about things that will have completely disappeared within ten years, and that’s not many things at all. Wired phones are still very common now, for example, so they’re hardly going to disappear within a decade. I’d say that most kids born now will never see a cassette/tape of any kind, not just VHS, unless it’s in a museum or as a curio. > [@panache45](#): > > Most kinds of invasive surgery will be obsolete. > > Dentures. > > Eyeglasses. > > Possibly obesity. What, those will all be gone within ten years? A hundred, possibly. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/things-babies-born-in-2011-will-never-know/568040.md?page=4)