Patrick's Place

(Link in meme-roll)
Sunday 7

Name seven of the "10 Fastest-Dying Industries in America" that you’ll hate to see disappear the most. (and I found another list here)

1. I'm going off-list for the first one: family farms. I don't have the stats anywhere, but since I live in a farming area, I can see the number of small farms shrinking virtually every day as developers buy land, and large conglomerates combine into massive "industrial farms." It's sad, and scary.


2. Newspaper publishing. And they brought it on themselves to a great degree, by not being straight with their customers about costs and burying their heads in the sand while the internet took over.


3. Anything to do with film cameras or processing. It's not just the processing--from the list--but the non-digital cameras that are disappearing. Not that I'm missing it, but my brother-in-law is a photography nut, used to have his own dark-room, etc., and now can barely find anyplace that will sell him black-and-white film, much less photo-processing supplies.


4. Anything having to do with pre-processed recorded media: DVDs, CDs, books. Why buy a CD when you can make your own collection of music you like by downloading single tracks from a variety of artists? Why buy a DVD when you can stream everything from Hulu? Why buy a (paper) book when "everything" is available online or on the Kindle? [be aware that I don't agree with the point of view of anyone asking these questions--I think people are not aware of just how much is NOT available anywhere but old-fashioned media]


5. Post office. I'm pretty sure this organization will be microscopic, not to mention pricey, in a decade.


6. Traditional phone and other wired services. Only the poor and those in very rural areas will be using these in five years. We are still holding on to our land-line, but I have no idea why. Even here in "almost rural" we have wireless choices for everything (if we are willing to pay). Now, if only we could get our electricity to work 24/7/365...to charge up all the electronics!


7. Going totally off-list again: anything made individually, by a person rather than a factory or even an entrepreneur. When was the last time you found something at a store that you knew you would never, ever be able to purchase anywhere else? This includes food, artwork, furniture, you name it. It makes me sad that there are very few handmade things in our lives anymore: I have a footstool my dad built (and my mom did the needlework on the top), and a couple of other things, but most everything we buy we could replace tomorrow if necessary. This is at least some of the reason I'm not into decor--I don't like to think about the same fripperies that I buy also being in someone else's home.