Unplanned Obsolescence | The Village Green

Unplanned Obsolescence February 20, 2008

Posted by Matthew Woolums in 21st-Century, Opinion.
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I ran across an interesting post on Infomancy today about obsolete skills. When I was a student, I was pretty good at threading film reels. I could also change the typeball on an IBM Selectric typewriter. I’m sure there are many other good examples of skills I picked up that are now obsolete. I’ve been able to move on and continue to collect skills that will probably become obsolete as well. For example, I can set a temporary greeting on my voice-mail when I won’t be at my desk for an extended period of time. Good to know for now, but for how long?

So I’m left wondering what skills we are passing along that are doomed for obsolescence, and what are we doing to encourage the skills that will allow our children to move on and continue to learn new skills as they become necessary. Below is a link to the list of obsolete skills, just in case you were wondering if any of your own skills are as obsolete as my own. I’m also sure that there are lists of skill we do need, but how long until those lists become obsolete?

http://obsoleteskills.com/Skills/Skills

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