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TMCNet: Kuwait Times Badrya Darwish column

[March 17, 2013]

Kuwait Times Badrya Darwish column

Mar 17, 2013 (Kuwait Times - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- When was the last time you went to the post office I do not mean paying a visit to the post office as paying a visit to the museum. I mean when was the last time you went to send a letter or a parcel When was the last time you needed a watch to check what time it was and not just wear it on your wrist as a piece of jewelry When was the last time you printed pictures on a paper in a photo studio I did all these many years ago. The other day I was in London, I noticed that many post offices have closed down. The Postman Pat business has been shrinking and we all know why. Since the birth of internet, communicating with friends and family has become instantaneous. It is so fast and easy to do it through email or Facebook. Now you don't even need to be stuck behind your computer to send letters to your family. Today all the communication is done from your mobile phone.
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The post office business is not the only industry that is being hit by the advancement of technology. The watch industry has also been hit. People no longer rely on watches to check the time. They do not need them. Your mobile shows the correct time. Your iPad and iPod all show the time. I am sure that many in the watch industry have vanished or went bankrupt but we do not hear much about it.

The photography business has also been shattered. The cameras are there but there is no need to develop a film at a studio. You no longer have to rush to print your pictures in the studio a day after your holiday. It is all done from the phone. You can send the picture to your friends immediately. You can share the image with the whole world by posting it on Facebook.

We never think about the poor guys who lost their jobs in the dark studios developing films with pictures. Or maybe they have disappeared. Where is the watchmaker with his magnifying glass If you need one, you should look hard. You might find one in the country.

Cassettes and DVDs are a thing of the past too. I remember renting movies from a rental place and making a deposit which used to serve as an insurance that the movies will be returned. These are stories from the good old days. Maybe the young generations do not even know that these places existed Maybe they are today a part of the curriculum called: "science of the past". All these were here 10 years ago. Do we now look at them with nostalgia It is scary when I sit and think of it seriously. It is too fast. What would take place in 10 years and which industries will vanish Nothing is impossible.

___ (c)2013 the Kuwait Times (Safat, Kuwait) Visit the Kuwait Times (Safat, Kuwait) at www.kuwaittimes.net/ Distributed by MCT Information Services

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