You Don’t Accept Checks? How Quaint!
“Absolutism” undermines innovation. Even with the dominance of planes for long distance travel, we still have trains. FM radio didn’t make AM extinct, but merely moved it toward talk shows instead of music for the most part. People still watch broadcast TV despite streaming options. And there will be internal combustion engine cars on the road for a long time as difficulties with supporting massive amounts of elective vehicles will have to be overcome (or, perhaps, hydrogen takes over).
Life is not an “on/off” switch, but rather a rheostat. Smart people realize that. Long ago people pushed for the US to “go metric” (and some still do) because most of the world uses that standard. Somehow, we’ll all muddle through using varied standards (and the British, post-Brexit, are considering going back to imperial measures, which I think are “pebbles” or “thumbs” and things like that).
My clients in various geographies tell me, “Oh, we don’t use checks at all, any more, just bank transfers.” Others have eschewed email for texts and instagram. Many find voice mail messages akin to a triceratops. Progress is about diversity, not singularity.
There are still propeller airplanes around that are needed for various chores. Some people still ride horses (and bikes). We need to stop thinking in terms of total replacements and understand that blends and synergies are what really constitute progress, not mass extinction.
