Someone asked about things that are ‘basically on life support and we don’t realise it yet’ – 21 everyday features we’re about to lose

The world around us changes at such a breakneck pace that things that we thought would be with us long term are suddenly redundant.

Just ask anyone with multiple shelves of unwatched DVDs still cluttering up their living room.

So can we predict what’s next for the chop? They’ve been discussing this on the AskReddit page after user lilidarkwind asked this question…

What is something that is basically on life-support and we don’t realise it yet?

And lots of people who think they know what’s on its way out chipped in with their thoughts, like these…

1.

‘The Elvis impersonator industry.’
–SeaChallenge9977

2.

‘The open internet. It used to be millions of unique, independent websites. Now it’s just five giant apps sharing screenshots of each other.’
–AaronLoong

3.

‘Handmade anything – woodworking, embroidery, music, paintings, etc etc. I get the love of CNC machines and AI for shortcuts, but for fuck’s sake people, we still need the HUMAN HANDS to do these things.’
–Maelstrom_Witch

4.

‘Harley-Davidson. When the Boomers are gone, they’re gone.’
–Edward_the_Dog

5.

‘News Literacy. Regardless of what side of the socio-political spectrum you’re on, having the ability to digest news from multiple/opposing sources and use critical thinking to evaluate them is a dying craft. Everyone is entitled to an INFORMED opinion, not just an opinion.’
–Former_Argument3120

6.

‘Civic groups, be it church/faith groups, unions, working man’s clubs, women’s institutes, etc. Gordon Brown covers it in his new book and explains how it’s led to isolation in society.’
–LeadershipMammoth940

7.

‘Fax machines! If only the healthcare industry finally decided to drop it once and for all…’
–iamalext

8.

‘I’m going to go with family recipes. I was watching an old cooking show recently and heard a chef say “I don’t put lasagna on my menus because everyone has a grandma or aunt who makes it a very specific way that’s they’re favourite”.

I notice more and more people being unable or unwilling to cook and the rise of delivery and meal kits and microwave meals that I genuinely think we’re about to lose a ton of great family cooking.’
–beliefinphilosophy

9.

‘The for-profit news industry. Not just print newspapers, which we’ve known to be on life support for a long time. Print is largely dead, and what little money corporations could squeeze from web traffic and digital subscriptions is cratering as search engines pivot users toward AI information.’
–backpackeditor

10.

‘I’m quite surprised no one has really mentioned it yet. The postal service.’
–wisprZK

11.

‘Bees! Their habitats have been destroyed and now they are a rare sight in the wild indeed. Honey bees are effectively farmed for honey and so while they are unlikely to go extinct the population drop has been dramatic.’
–PbJax

12.

‘Some of these ai companies. Operating on net losses year after year. They built the tool before they knew the problem it was supposed to fix. So now they’re scrambling to find a way to force it down everyone’s throats because the 20/month subscription for a glorified chat bot ain’t cutting it.’
–Optimal_Box3703