Obsolesence

What will disappear as a result of the Internet age? There is a generation of people who have no experience of vinyl records, have no idea of the link between a pencil and a cassette tape, whose jaws drop when you point out that there were only 3 tv channels 30-odd years ago, and that children's tv was only an hour at lunchtime, and Blue Peter and Crackerjack after school.

My father loved to write with a fountain pen, he wrote copious notes in longhand, writing and re-writing drafts before they were recorded for audio-typists to type in the typing pool. He sometimes typed himself at work, on a golfball typewriter, or a daisy wheel typewriter. How would he have adapted to Word and Publisher? 

Dad wrote so much that he wore nibs down on his fountain pens and had a stash of replacement nibs. These days my handwritten words are few in number, limited to a birthday card, or a To Do list for the morning, even my weekly shopping list is a spreadsheet with boxes for a tick. 

I still have some of my Dad's pens and propelling pencils, and I have 3 fountain pens of my own, one was a gift from Dad when I was in senior school - I used it enough to wear the finish off the barrel in part, but the nib has plenty of miles left, if only it were still working. 

When did I last handwrite a letter? Can't remember, these days I email or facebook, or text, though I still send Christmas cards out by snail mail. I have one letter from my Dad, written when I was visiting the USA on a four week exchange visit. He wrote it with a fountain pen.