There’s nothing like coming home from work to listen to some radio, or opening your algebra homework and puzzling out the tough problems along to your favorite songs. These days, though, doing so is much easier through a phone or computer than a portable radio.
While these symbols of a bygone era still have a few uses – such as relaxing in an area without cell access – tuning, power, and finding the right spot to grab the radio signal is usually more work than it’s worth with Spotify, Pandora, Bandcamp, and lots of other options at your fingertips.
The Number of Things Smartphones can do is Growing
Alongside phone jacks, cubbies, and phone books, another thing that used to sit next to the phone in the home was a little book that held favorite contacts: friends, family members, frequent take-out places, and plenty more.
With enough space in your phone to hold millions of names and numbers, a little black book is yet another thing the smartphone industry has done away with. You'd have to update the book every time someone changed their address or phone number, and cell phones have made updating so much easier no one is mourning this loss.
You Could Crate Other Things
We already mentioned milkmen are still around in a few small areas, but odds are you aren't part of the population that still requires the service. While plenty of people needed it in the fifties and sixties, seeing a milkman these days is cause for confusion and alarm.
Along with the decline of milkmen comes the decline of milk crates. These crates were commonplace once upon a time, but unless you're using them to store other items – and we aren't saying they aren't still pretty useful there – there's no real reason to keep them around.
The Time for These Clocks is Running out Fast
We're not asking you to part with your heirloom cuckoo clock, but if you're hitting up the stores for a new clock to hang on your wall, we hope you're an interior designer or you have a Doc Brown-Esque infatuation with ticking and time.
Not only can you pull your phone out of your pocket and check the time wherever you are – and it's practically guaranteed to be correct – you could also just ask one of the smart home devices that are becoming more and more prevalent. No hands required, either yours or the clock's.
There's No Need for These Metal Monstrosities
Antennas were something you could see on plenty of homes not too long ago, but with broadcast TV and other watching options blooming thanks to the internet, these big pieces of metal went from huge arrays to get a few channels to practically useless, not to mention expensive and even a little dangerous.
If you do still have this, it's probably topping your house. If you aren't still using it, you should probably get up there and take it apart to keep your home from looking too outdated. They're not the most attractive, and if you most commonly use Netflix to watch your programs, it's not needed anymore.