Which of these Dinosaurs is dying the fastest (page 3)

jayhawk1

Once upon a time people believed television would completely replace radio. That hasn't happened. I suspect the same will be true of newspapers or magazines, land lines, and the postal system. The strong will survive and the weak will fail.

Reefton Jack

We are not likely to see the demise of the telephone companys:
- if only because the telephone circuits are also used for data transmission
(As I am currently connected to the Internet via a telephone dialler).

In fact,for at least the last fifteen years, telephone companys have been making most of their revenue from data transmission - rather than from the transmission of speech.

I am not even sure that newspapers will necessarily disappear:
- Newspapers have already adapted to the threat posed by TV by moving away from being a source of information, to being more like a source of entertainment.
(I know that ours have, anyway!)

In saying that though, I would have to volunteer that this is the reason why I seldom ever waste my time in reading a newspaper anymore.

Jack.

brinjen

I'd say for the US, it would have to be the landline phone. Not sure about Oz though.. Given the fact that landline is still virtually mandatory here if you want internet access. Unless you go for Telstra's NextG service which operates through the mobile network or something similiar and pay $200 a month for 3Gb of downloads... Think the newspaper would be the first to go here at this rate.

AllAlongTheWatchtower

Perhaps I'm a bit of a dinosaur myself, cause my guess would be post office rather than newspaper, which seems to be the popular concensus so far. I read the paper every day (usually only the front page stuff, a bit of the sports section during football season only, and I always do the crossword and look at the op-ed pieces). I very rarely however, use the post office. Most of the mail I receive is junk (ads, mailers, etc) and a few bills, although most of the companies I have business relationships with even have a 'paperless billing' option, where you just get an email saying it's time to pay-then I do so using their website. I haven't sent an honest to goodness LETTER in years.

Even so, the government may keep the fossil alive the way they have other things...in the states, there is quite the debate every few years or so as to whether the government should let Amtrak die of natural causes. Some think that if they stopped subsidizing it, it would make way for commercial rail developement on a par with the service that is available in places like Europe and Japan. Others say that if Amtrak collapses, nothing will fill the void, and it must be kept alive at all costs. That's probably the biggest dinosaur there is, here in the states at least.

Satans little helper

The landline system will never die because all broadband access to the home is through the physical medium of the landline network unless you are on cable. The broadband providers lease bandwidth from the telcos to provide you with the service, whether you use their landline system or not - this is true the world over, not just in Australia.

Newspaper will never really disappear, although I believe that circulation numbers are down over time. Alot of people get their news fix on the net now but there are still a large percentage of the population that don't sit in front of a computer every day.

If anything is going to die out, I think it may be the domestic mail delivery service. More and more companies are providing online payment options and paperless invoicing through email, having said that I believe that promotional mail and services to those who are not online or are rural will continue to make these services necessary.

Gill

I hope NOT the landlines!

Where we live there is no cable connection. Therefore all our broadband goes through the landline phone connection.

OnTheWayOut

I think business will keep land lines afloat for quite awhile. Virtually every home and every
commercial business still have plenty of land lines.

The postal system is a dying dinosaur, but junk mail will make it survive for years and the
fact that the government will see it as a thing to keep alive (more so than Amtrak).

Newspapers are still common, but easily done without. I see these going first.

Which of these Dinosaurs is dying the fastest