Have you ever found yourself on an unknown road without your navigator as your cell phone died or there is no network? Do you ever take a paper map when travelling?
Many will laugh and say that is archaic!
I used to love scouring large fold-out maps of places we would be travelling to by road; it was fun seeing them on paper and highlighting possible stops. That was until 2020, when COVID killed many tourist attractions that never opened up after the lockdown. I love Google Maps and Waze, and who needs those old fold-out travel maps and street map books? Well, here in South Africa, many road names and even names of towns and cities are changing, so the paper maps would need new editions numerous times! But it still felt like sacrilege when I threw out most of my collection in a big declutter before my move to a smaller home!
What if the unthinkable happens and one is lost on a dark, stormy night, not having a clue how to find their destination, and you discover you left your cellphone at home! A street map book could have come in handy, right?
As for writing, I know many children cannot write cursive, nor can they read it! Unthinkable before digital technology took that away. Talking about writing, don't you think hand-written letters mean way more than just a quick email or WhatsApp message? But hardly anyone writes a letter by hand.
Talking about this subject, there is a Hand-Written Community on Hive, take a peek if you enjoy reading anything hand-written.
My biggest bug-bear is that many people do not bother about spelling; is it not taught in school anymore? I don't think that will become extinct with spell-checks and Grammarly, but many people also choose to ignore that! Add to that the confusion of some between to and too, as well as of and off? I'm sure there are many other examples, but those are the standouts that really get to me. I'm sure there are similar examples in other languages.
About telling time back before digital clocks, we all knew how to read the time on an analogue clock. I was shocked when I asked a young person the time; there was no digital clock, and he could not tell the time! What the heck, that was unthinkable!
You may be too young to remember doing mental calculations; can we still do that, or are our brains becoming too lazy? Does anyone reading this remember doing mental calcs?
Replace or repair: When I was growing up, my Mom and my Ouma would often be busy mending torn clothes or sewing on buttons - basic skills that come in very handy. But what happens today? Just go and buy a new one, most would say!
Many things are on the brink of extinction, and while these may seem archaic in today's society, I feel we should ignore the naysayers, and not allow skills like that ever to die!
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I remember for my roadtrips back to Ohio in the 90's and early 2000's I used something called a TripTik. If you didn't have a navigator you had to flip the pages as you drove. I so much prefer modern navigation but am a little afraid what we'll do if something happens to the satellites and we lose GPS. Today's modern world would grind to a halt. So many of the things we grew up with have gone extinct. I miss relaxing on a Sunday morning with coffee and the newspaper. I've tried reading the newspaper in the last few years and it isn't the same. The news is already 24+ hours old by the time you get the paper and the newspapers have shrunk down to about 10% of the size they use to be.
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I also miss coffee with the Sunday papers, but COVID stopped that habit. Papers are back but as you say the online news is instantaneous!
A friend actually got lost one night during a storm because her signal went, but I think they've improved that, it was a long time ago.
I don't think we had TripTik, and the link isn't allowing me in because I'm outside US, weird🤷♀️
I can't travel to unknown places without my navigator! But still miss the maps.
I'm not good at reading maps and directions. Even with a map on hand I would still get lost if I'm not familiar in the place😬. Though it would still help knowing where you are at the moment. In spelling I sometimes do the short cut of it. Hehehe.
No problem with the shortcuts, and for a non-English speaker you're doing exceptionally well! You put many to shame, not that I'm the expert, haha🤭 English is not my mother tongue either.😉❤️
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Did you know that @stresskiller is also a witness now ?
For walking i always use either owntracks https://owntracks.org/ or https://www.openstreetmap.org because in forest area they show me were i can walk :)
Thank you so much @stresskiller and @ecency!
Ha, there you got some real points on what the "playmobils" around us are living. But hey, everybody "wakes up" at his own pace.
Personally i am traveling always with a paper map... even got a compass with me. Since a child i love to hike that way and also was in a orienteering club... that's some real life fun!
I love paper maps and still use them when planning ahead, but use a navigator when on the road. So you even use a compass, that's awesome!
Yep, a compass is such an awesome tool... and it'll never need any electricity. Somehow i feel we gonna loose all the power grids one day. That's why i'm equipped with all the necessary stuff for when that day may arrives. 🤷♀ 😎
By age, I am old school, so I do remember maps and still have a few, love a letter in the mail (that I never get anymore, but nor do I send...hmmmmm)...and I still like analog clocks. I have one over my stove in the kitchen and a small decorative one on my art table for quick glances as I play or cook. I actually like the way a clock looks hanging on the wall.
I'm not confident in the world as it is today and believe one day we could wake up and the ones that are left may no longer have these wireless connections, so keeping a writing skill and being able to use maps and the such, may one day be part of survival again. It's so easy to learn and it's often fun.
Old maps and writing are also good for making collage papers for future art too. 😊
I'm trying to keep all these alive! I have old fashioned clocks, and maps in my car. I rarely use a GPS, love to drive around a little lost in the hills around here. I'll always have the sun! I do as much math in my head as I can.
I was a math tutor ten or fifteen years ago. I had one student who was studying for a college entrance exam, the SAT. A star pupil mind you. He was every teacher's success story. He could not multiply a number by ten without his calculator.
Direction from a talking head off a phone I normally go astray, alas I rely on my map books which I still have close to hand.
Reality today is numeracy and literacy being lost quicker than one realizes, people rely heavily of tool (normally phone) at hand, not having the basics will be a great loss if not taught in the home.
Call us old-fashioned; cooking, repairs, darning or sewing saves money, each should obtain some knowledge, not only rewards it brings satisfaction in new life to an object.
Lizelle, I always had a map in my car and would get one for the state I'd be traveling through. I love maps and find them so much fun to read. You're so right about the clocks, & calculators have taken over thinking, cursive, lol, young people have no clue. My daughter-n-law is teaching my grandson how to write in cursive and I'm so proud of her.
I still repair all my clothes and sew my own curtains. Buttons lol, most of my clothes don't have those anymore. Times do change, but teaching the younger generation skills should never be left undone. This was such a grand read, my friend. ♥
I'm also an analogue dinosaur although I love the digital age. I had mental arithmetic drummed into me as a kid, I still use it a lot at work
I love maps!!! When my kids go on vacation they bring back maps for me. Maps of museums, of cities, of countries. I like knowing where I am. Taking directions blindly does not suit me, in life or on a GPS. Of course, I recognize the GPS can give traffic updates, etc. So, it is a useful adjunct.
The problem with maps today is, try buying a current one. They are often hard to find. It's a dying industry...current road maps.
As for spelling: mine has improved with spellcheck. I am a notoriously impatient person. I rush along with ideas and leave details behind. With spellcheck, I am reminded to 'check' my spelling, to pay attention to that detail. This has been a quite instructive experience.
And handwriting...oh, no, not me. Just dreadful. I tried writing something for the community, but these days, with cramping fingers, it just doesn't work. I do like to read that community, though. Something to be said for slowing down, and actually 'feeling' the words on a page.