Obsolescence

by Hla Min

Updated : June 2025

Opal

In our younger days, Opal was a decent car. But, when one jokingly calls someone “Opal” (or “O Pei အို ပယ်” then one is obsolete (good to be ignored for getting old).

T. O

• Technical Obsolescence
• Some artifacts can be found only in museums, antique fairs (by die-hard collectors).
• Some technologies are disruptive.
• Many automobile workers lost their jobs when robotics gradually displaced them. Those, who did not have alternate skills, were hit hard.
• Secretaries (experts in shorthand and typing) found that their skills have been marginalized by the word processors, voice-activated systems and similar advanced tools.

Thoughts

• On the flip side, I might not have a good memory and a hobby of “connecting the dots” of seemingly diverse topics if I had early access to the wonderful world of Internet, AI, and Gaming.
• Slate, Chalk & Talk, Log Table, Slide rule, Multiplication tables (up to 16), Grammar books, Pronouncing Dictionaries, and now hard-to-find artifacts trained us to remember (not rote learning per se, but using visualization and tricks).
• Some people thought that I am either “brain damaged” or have an “unusual brain”.
• One said, “You can write backwards faster than most of us can write forward”.
• A few were not impressed.
• A professor said, “You cannot earn money by being an expert in History in general, and History of Computing in particular.”
• A manager said, “What is the use of knowing the Trivia (e.g. hobbies, awards) of your fellow workers?”
• T.O. required me to unlearn some old skills, and to learn new “latest and the greatest” skills.

• For me, it’s easy to remember and too hard to forget. I know thousands of names.
• After procrastinating for decades, I had a wake up call to dump my Trivia.
• I have posted 2500+ articles and 220+ videos in the past few years.
• I remember and appreciate the good old days.