Obsolete Technical Skills

Ponca City, We Love You writes "Robert Scoble had an interesting post on his blog a few days ago on obsolete technical skills — 'things we used to know that no longer are very useful to us.' Scoble's initial list included dialing a rotary phone, using carbon paper to make copies, and changing the gas mixture on your car's carburetor. The list has now been expanded into a wiki with a much larger list of these obsolete skills that includes resolving IRQ conflicts on a mother board, assembly language programming, and stacking a quarter on an arcade game to indicate you have next. We're invited to contribute more."

Comments

Re:Shorthand is not redundant yet

[Zugok]

I actually WANT to learn short hand. Then people don't bother asking me for lecture notes.

I'll add one

[edittard]

Here's mine: writing decent stories for slashdot.

Re:I'll add one

[edwardpickman]

Decent stories are more like Bigfoot. Lots of people claim to have seen them but there's no physical evidence.

Re:Navigating by compass is obsolete?

[jez9999]

Of course it's obsolete.

Another thing that's obsolete is like maths, because we always have calculators now.

Re:Shorthand is not redundant yet

[Wowsers]

[quote]My other half still uses shorthand at work.[/quote]

Kinky!

Another one

[L4t3r4lu5]

Voting for a democratically elected official?

Yeah yeah, Troll.

Re:Assembly isn't obsolete!

[MichaelSmith]

You never see it in web programming.

Well not reputable web programming anyway.

Re:Assembly isn't obsolete!

[bentcd]

Well not reputable web programming anyway. "Reputable Web Programming and One Hundred Other Mythical Beasts": a fantastic compendium of modern urban legends :-)

Re:Navigating by compass is obsolete?

[Opportunist]

Yes. Every day.

You know, there is this one leg of my table that's a little short, so the log table comes in handy.

Re:Churn butter?

[Farmer Tim]

I guess it just comes that way out of the cow now.

The surprising part is how butter comes out in those brick shapes. Surprising for the cow, that is...

Re:Navigating by compass is obsolete?

[groovelator]

You ever tried to write 5318008 or 71077345 on a computer and then turn the monitor upside-down? Calculators are not - and will never be - obsolete and there, gentlemen, I rest my case.

That's just great

[rbarreira]

I'm glad some people think that Assembly programming is obsolete. That way, it's much easier for me to get one of the many jobs which requires assembly programming.

Re:Assembly isn't obsolete!

[Lussarn]

then just tell you to buy a faster machine.

Well, you just told me to get a floppy drive.

Re:One more for the list:

[blindd0t]

I was gonna simply say sex, which became an obsolete skill once I got married.

Starting a fire with sticks

[gelfling]

Skinning a hide
Crushing a Mastadon with a bolder
Killing your enemies & impregnating their women
Being a Sun God

This is the list for morons.

[kabocox]

Guys print this out and hand it to your HR person. Here are things every new hire should know.

Balancing a checkbook
Clicking on the up and down arrows of a vertical scrollbar
Commuting
Extracting square roots

Handwriting (How to fill out forms and sign stuff and write notes.)
Having Cash (and how to properly make change)

Long division?
Look for a job in the classifieds?
Looking up a business on the yellow pages
Local Grocery Store?

Paying for something with a check
Playing solitaire with playing cards
Reading a paper map

Searching a card catalog

Using a cell phone to make a call
Untangling the cord of a telephone
Using a card catalog
Using a fax machine

Using the Dewey Decimal System

Zipping your pants

If your new hire can't do any of those, you do you really want them?

Re:Assembly isn't obsolete!

[Monsuco]

When you can write a bootloader that fits in the unused sectors on a floppy disc

If you can find a modern computer that still comes with a floppy drive I will be impressed.