READING THE TEA LEAVES

I read with interest that 'they' are predicting the end of the wristwatch. Apparently, we will all be checking the time on our mobile phones rather than on our wrists. Personally, I don't think watchmakers need to become suicidal just yet though. There are still some 86% of us who wear a watch. I think the doom-mongers may have forgotten that wristwatches are not just utilitarian but are also very much fashion accessories. So hang on to your shares in Cartier or Rolex for the moment.

However, it set me thinking about which other everyday 'essential' items might become redundant in the future. Here are a few possibilities.

Books. Of course we are being led to believe that in future, we shall be reading our books on kindles so the poor booksellers and libraries might as well shut up shop. I've already expressed my opinion on this in an earlier post and I remain firmly convinced that this is nothing but sales hype from those who are trying to flog their new fangled kindle thingles.

Diaries and calendars. Now here I must confess that I have succumbed to the trend and my time management is totally electronic now. It is many years since I last bought a diary and it is one less thing to have to carry around. There are still times though when I think that writing in a diary was easier for some tasks - especially when making changes.

Newspapers. As with books, the suggestion is that we shall download our newspapers direct to our iPads in future. Hmmm. Maybe. But in my humble opinion, the only sensible way to do a crossword is with a pen, not a keyboard. There's another factor here. Old newspapers have always been extremely useful. My grandparents used theirs for lighting the fire with. There is also a time-honoured tradition of using them to wrap fish and chips in. Furthermore, what are you going to line the bottom of the rabbit hutch with pray tell?

Calculators. Any smart phone worth its salt has a calculator app and since the nature of the beast involves tapping on keys this may indeed be an item which will not survive the test of time.

Phones. I mean landlines of course. The kids today all have mobile phones so they don't need to pay out for a landline phone at home. Surely it can only be a matter of time before older generations follow suit.

So is anything future-proof? Which of the possessions which our ancestors used will still be around in the next century? The only thing which comes to mind is clothes unless of course, the naturists inherit the earth.