As technology evolves and information changes, many things become obsolete and disappear. Nevertheless, some things stick around even though no one seems to want or use them; this also applies to ideas that are so outdated and disproven that they strike most people as comical.
Some things are just around for longer than we expect them to!
It’s actually quite amazing that they still exist, and here are several that continue to hang on even though it’s 2024:
Fax Machines
When was the last time you used one as opposed to sending an email attachment? Still, many offices still have one. I suppose there’s an occasional use for one if they have it.
Iron Lungs
Just hearing the term might make you think of some clunky image from the distant past. However, there are uncommon cases that still require them, and today’s are a lot more efficient.
Flat-Earthers
Yes, there really are people who refuse to believe that the earth is a sphere. They even have “proof” to offer, which can be wildly fascinating to hear if you can keep a straight face.
Legal Child Marriage
Sadly, there are still children under the age of legal consent who are forced into marriage each year, and it isn’t just in thirld-world countries as you might think. Several U.S. states have laws permitting this under certain conditions.
Ticketmaster
If you’ve never heard a nice word about this company, it’s because it’s one of the most universally reviled companies out there. Why hasn’t a viable competitor been able to arise?
Expensive Weddings
Maybe I should specify that I mean expensive weddings for people who can’t afford them, as in people who will start their married lives in debt due to their wedding. That’s money that could have gone toward buying a home, not financing an elaborate party.
Child Beauty Pageants
Advocates for these events have all sorts of justifications and defenses for them. However, the rest of the world sees creepiness, exploitation, and the sexualization of young children.
Pagers
For much of the working world, pagers went the way of the dinosaurs long ago. However, you still see them a lot in hospitals for some strage reason.
Keith Richards
When I was researching this topic, this answer came up a few times and gave me quite a laugh. But it does make sense. If you know anything about the famous Rolling Stones guitarist’s life, you’re probably amazed that he’s still around. Richards is a living embodiment of the adage “It it doesn’t kill you, it just makes you stronger.”
Smoking
After all we’ve learned about the dangers of smoking and after how drastically we’ve raised the prices of cigarettes, it’s incredible that smoking, while way down, still isn’t that uncommon. In fairness, it’s incredibly hard to quit once you start, and it’s incredibly tempting to try when you’re young.
Slavery
IvanChernichkin/DepositPhotos.
Slavery in America ended more than 150 years ago, but it hasn’t ended worldwide. Every year, thousands of people are kidnapped, sold, and trafficked into various forms of slavery.
Door-to-Door Salesmen
It seems incredible that anyone can still make a living this way, but some still do. Some are selling actual products while others are trying to generate new clients for businesses offering landscaping, pest control, etc.
Online Booking Fees
Some businesses add extra fees just for the convenience of booking online. These fees often appear at the end of the process, when some people may just shrug and want to complete the booking by that point. Still, these businesses are losing untold amounts of customers who click away as a way to say “No thanks.”
Hunger and Starvation
With so many millions of people in this world living with some degree of malnutrition, you’d think there was a food shortage. There isn’t. Feeding hungry people faces a willingness shortage.
Handwritten Checks
Most people use cash or some form of electronic option for making payments, but people still do write checks. A lot of contractors do, and then there are the people in the grocery store that hold everyone else up as they dig about for their checkbooks and then slowly write out their checks.
Nazis
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With the Allies victorious in WWII, Nazism received a resounding defeat, and for a while, it all but vanished except in some of the darkest corners of society. Alarmingly, though, it has made a strong resurgence in recent years.
The KKK
Likewise, the KKK, once driven to the fringes and treated as a pariah, has been gaining strength again. Large majorities still despise the group and its views, but the KKK is still finding a growing receptive audience.
AOL
You might have thought AOL had vanished from existence, but it hasn’t. A lot of people who still have landlines actually prefer to keep their dial-up internet service because they’re used to it.
Phone Books
Every once in a while, you might find a phone book delivered to your home, and you’re speechless. Even more amazing is that some people still use them.
Employer-Based Health Care
No one except the insurance companies is happy with this system, and it often traps people in jobs they hate because they don’t want to lose their health insurance. The problem is that there’s fierce disagreement over how to fix it.
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