From mix tapes to blind dates, from maps to cash, there are bits and pieces of our culture that are nearly or very much obsolete.

Freelance writer Anna Jane Grossman was online Monday, March 17, at Noon ET to discuss herWashington Post Magazinecover story.

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Anna Jane Grossman: Hi, I'm Anna Jane author of this weekend's Magazine cover story, Left Behind. I look forward to taking your questions.

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Washington: I thought the quote from the teen about preferring text messaging and cell phones and only using email with older people was interesting. Will kids grow up to expect instant responses from people or will they, too, discover that uninterrupted time is a valuable commodity? Or, will instant access always be expected and seen as normal?

Anna Jane Grossman: I think there's no doubt that everyone expects to get responses far faster than ever before. Just look at the medium in which we are talking right now! That said, I think that teens are developing there own ways to carve out "me" time. I know several teenagers who are logged into their instant messenger clients all the time, but keep an "Away" message up all the time. The modern version of "Gone Fishing." This way, they only have to respond to the people they want to talk to--everyone else thinks that they are unavailable. Adults do roughly the same thing by screening cell phone calls. We are always picking and choosing when we want to be available.

Anna Jane Grossman: I think there's no doubt that everyone expects to get responses far faster than ever before. Just look at the medium in which we are talking right now! That said, I think that teens are developing there own ways to carve out "me" time. I know several teenagers who are logged into their instant messenger clients all the time, but keep an "Away" message up all the time. The modern version of "Gone Fishing." This way, they only have to respond to the people they want to talk to--everyone else thinks that they are unavailable. Adults do roughly the same thing by screening cell phone calls. We are always picking and choosing when we want to be available. It's interesting--few people say "Hello?" anymore when they answer the phone. You know who it is, so you just say "Hey." My sister always answers by asking "What are you doing?" We are informal because we've already let people through that barrier, into our "private" time and space.

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Indianapolis, Ind.: What is interesting to me are the number of terms that are still in use although the technology has changed. "Dialing" a phone number, a new music release is an "album", and the concept of a "clockwise" and "counterclockwise" direction, are a few off the top of my head.

Anna Jane Grossman: Indeed! I've always loved rotary phones but actually never connected the word "dial" with the "dial" on the phone until I was doing this story. As a kid, my grandmother wouldn't let me use her rotary phone because she thought it was too complicated for a child to understand. Now the idea of thinking it'd be too hard for a kid to "dial" a phone seems comical.

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St. Louis, Mo.: Just wondering why you didn't include the newspaper or even the evening news on your list. I read several online newspapers throughout my day. In fact when my local paper was being delivered to my house by mistake, I called them and asked them to stop, since the only thing it was good for was lining my flower beds to keep the weeds at bay.

Anna Jane Grossman: Madeline Albright touched on the disappearance of the evening news in her quote in the story. I thought she stated it in a very poignant way. Why did we not mention newspapers? I can't say it didn't occur to us... maybe it just felt too sad and close to home to put into print? Sigh.

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Laurel, Md.: Am I the only person who still uses cash? I can't stand being in line anywhere and people are fumbling with debit cards. Cash is quicker to me. I don't even take credit cards out of the house unless I know I'm going to use them. And the worse is when I'm out to dinner with 4 or more friends and half the people half debit cards and half cash which is a nightmare trying to figure out. I know if someone steals my cash its gone forever but I'd rather lose $20 than $2,000 on my debit card from an identify thief.

Anna Jane Grossman: I'm actually a big fan of cash because I think it's easier to keep debt under control when you can actually touch the stuff you are spending. I actually got a very angry email from someone calling me a snob for saying that no one uses anything but twenty dollar bills. Of course I was being sarcastic--I for one definitely do not toss twenties everywhere I go. But it's harder and harder to get change, I find. Another interesting thins is how used to be that restaurants would prefer if you paid in cash; now many would prefer taking credit cards because it decreases the chance of theft by employees.

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Washington Area: I think the birth and death dates are totally dumb. Because these are THINGS not people they are not living things.

You didn't include 33 or 45 RPM records though. But what about Beanie Babies, Pet Rocks or Barney?

Anna Jane Grossman: Is Barney really gone? Or going? Ack! I just went to the Barney Web site to check and now my computer is playing Barney music. Thanks a lot!

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Falls Church, Va.: I have a friend who lives in Pennsylvania. Every since she transferred from my college in 1997 we have written each other letters. When I wrote her a month ago I asked why don't we just email each other? She said no way, she loves getting my letters in the mail. That one you can add to the list because I don't know anyway who does write letters anymore. I got more e-cards than actual birthday cards this year!!!

Anna Jane Grossman: It's true. I really do mourn letters. I think that one day I'll tell my grand kids about how I used to write postcards and letters to people and it'll be akin to how my grandpa used to tell me about looking out his window and seeing horses and buggies. Funny how impressed people get now when you send them a thank you not or postcard. I'm still kind of amazed by mail in a way that I'm not amazed by email. You mean if you I put a stamp on this piece of paper it'll reach the other side of the country in two days? More amazing than that is Fed Ex. Overnight delivery to the other side of the world? Amazing!

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Silver Spring, Md.: I'm surprised that nobody rang the death knell for the QWERTY keyboard. I did see that typing classes were on the way out, but I think in a few years, the classic QWERTY will be on the way out as well.

Currently, I'm having much amusement over driving my 12-year-old car into pay lots. The attendant comes over to the passenger side and I have to roll the driver side window down and tell him that I can't reach the crank on the passenger side!

Anna Jane Grossman: Crank windows came up a lot when I was discussing this article with people as I was working on it. Many people talked about how their children couldn't figure out how to open the window when they were riding in an "old" car.

As far as the QWERTY keyboard goes, I'm not really aware of that fading. It seems to work pretty well, and people type more than ever, no? However I recently saw one of those XO laptops that are part of the "One Laptop per Child" project and the keyboards are tiny. I suppose it's because it's for children but really, I think that kids learning about computers from those machines will one day be amazed to see how big REAL keyboards are.

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I know if someone steals my cash it's gone forever but I'd rather lose $20 than $2,000 on my debit card from an identify thief. : But you get the $2000 back, the cash is lost for good.

Anna Jane Grossman: I was amazed to learn that one-armed bandits at casinos now almost all only use cards, not coins. Theft of coins must be one of the main reasons. But how sad to lose the sound effect.

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Anonymous: I volunteer at a small museum and I still get a kick out of the fact that they will use a manual typewriter (not even a word processor) for some of their forms. There's just no changing some people, and that's the way it should be!

Anna Jane Grossman: They really are more useful for some things. Envelopes, for instance. Way easier to type one up on a typewriter than to figure out how to align everything correctly on the computer. Usually I just write out envelopes by hand, actually. Talk about luditism!

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Anna Jane Grossman: A word about the birth and death dates-- of course these things aren't alive. Buildings aren't alive but we etch the year they were built on their sides. But we were mostly trying to be playful and to give some kind of idea of context. In some cases it called for some real reflection. Sadness, for example--is it possible to say when sadness began? I suggested that the death of the dinosaurs was probably pretty sad. If you were a dinosaur. But my editor vetoed that. Or perhaps when Eve met Adam?

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QWERTY keyboard : since I'm a Luddite, I have to ask, is the Querty format used on the texting phones?

Anna Jane Grossman: It's not on all phones, but many phones have it. I've seem some people--particularly deaf people--who can "touch type" on a QWERTY keyboard without looking at it. Pretty amazing.

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Typewriters: My company still has one, we use it for filling out forms. There's actually software now that allows you to scan a form and edit on the computer, but unfortunately my company is too cheap to buy it.

Anna Jane Grossman: Silly companies. I have to send faxes all the time and it always amazes me that that technology hasn't been more refined. eFaxes are an improvement, but only mildly. Whenever one actually goes through to the other person in one try I think that there really must be a Fax God up there smiling down at me that day.

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Olney, Md.: I'm amazed at myself for hardly ever looking at a map anymore or a telephone book. It's interesting that in major cities in Canada, there are still phone booths everywhere (and actual booths most of the time). I think it's because they understand that tourists from other countries may not have working cell phones. And, incredibly, many of those booths have telephone books that have not been torn to pieces.

Anna Jane Grossman: I recently was in a situation where I desperately needed to make a call while I was at a Borders, but my phone was out of batteries. I tried to use the pay phone but it required some ridiculous amount of quarters to make one call, and I didn't have that much change. I ended up asking someone standing on line if I could use their phone. He was very nice about it. So you might therefore say that the death of pay phones is actually bringing us together in solidarity! Okay, maybe I'm pushing it.

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Tampa, Fla.: This article made me so nostalgic - and made me feel old at the same time. How I remember VHS, Instamatic cameras, 8-tracks, hauling my electric typewriter to college. Remember when fax paper came on a roll? I remember that the psychology department at USF didn't get its first PC until my 2nd year in grad school - and the secretaries fought like tooth and nail NOT to have them in their offices.

I still have many of my LPs from high school and college, but I can't play any of them anymore - I finally threw out my turntable 4 years ago. Although I find it funny that musicians still talk about putting out a "record" or releasing an "album".

But this article also made me reflect on the number of things that I DIDN'T have growing up in the late 70s that I couldn't live without now - ATMs, cell phone, microwave oven, etc. Makes me wonder what, if any, of these things will be on their way out in another 20 years.

Anna Jane Grossman: It's funny--we do associate "records" and "albums" with LPs, but when you actually think about the words, they both apply to CDs and many other media as well. Artists do still "record" music. And if an album is a collection of various things, then that's a word that still makes sense too.

It's interesting how much people have been talking to me about mix tapes since this story came out. Nothing has really taken their place. They were only around for a couple decades, but they really did define so many moments. Sad to see them go.

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Arlington, Va.: While I am not Luddite, one commercial that burns me up is the Visa Check Card bits which purport that people who use cash slow things down. Is there anyone out there who really believes that? I know that there is the occasional cashier for whom making change is a challenge, but there are many more benighted consumers who can not figure out the card machines.

And on the same theme, one more item for the dustbin is the legible signature. I can remember when I signed a check or bill I would take pains to see that my signature came close to my "official" signature. Now that we use credit cards for so many things, and so many times you are signing one of those infernal machines, just making a squiggly line has to suffice.

Anna Jane Grossman: I have to say, however, that the very idea of signatures has always seemed a little odd to me. Anything can be considered a signature, no? I mean, if everyone had their own personal cartoon character they had to draw in order to deposit a check, that'd be something. Is script even relevant any more? The lyric from Annie Gets Your Gun pops into mind: My uncle down in Texas/can't even write his name/he signs his name with Xs/and they cash it all the same.

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Davis, Ca: What happened to Bartleby the Scrivener? Didn't he just say, " I would prefer not to," to absolutely everything, and then die?

washingtonpost.com: Bartleby, the Scrivener, by Herman Melville

Anna Jane Grossman: He ends up in the dead mail department. Mail seems to be a theme in this conversation.

I've always been fascinated with the idea of just stopping, which is basically what Bartleby does. An improv group recently had all these people freeze for five minutes in the middle of Grand Central station. It was quite a sight. Stopping is such an innocent thing -- and yet it can be so shocking when people actually do it.

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Rockville: Why do we still keep getting 5-lb phone books delivered to our homes? Mine go straight to the re-cycle bin. What a waste.

Anna Jane Grossman: So true. They really do seem like a waste of paper. I suppose they give kids something to sit on. I can't recall the last time I looked in a phone book, but that might just be because I automatically throw them out.

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Richmond, Va.: You may laugh at land lines, but when storms hit and cell phone towers go out all of a sudden everyone wants to come over and use my "old" phone. Also, please note that companies will not guarantee effective 911 service for Internet phone service, only old boring land lines. You are safest to have one of each: cell and land. (the Internet service like Vonage isn't very reliable, don't bother)

Anna Jane Grossman: I recently got rid of my land line only because cell phone companies all are starting to have plans with unlimited minutes. As a reporter, I'm on the phone a lot and it just seemed like simplest way to go. And it's one less number to have to give out. Yes, in a power outage, you're screwed. Thank god there's still that one pay phone in the DC area!

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Anna Jane Grossman: For anyone who wants to see the clip of people frozen in Grand Central Station: http://improveverywhere.com/2008/01/31/frozen-grand-central/

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Alexandria, Va.: Put me down as one who hates using cash.

I AM one of those people in the Visa commercial who has seen people slow down the line using cash, counting out pennies, nickels, and dimes. BREAK A BILL! THE EXTRA CHANGE WON'T KILL YOU!

I already have my PIN keyed in at the grocery checkout before the cashier is done, so all he/she has to do is hit a key, print out my receipt and I am gone.

And, yes, I am signing up for the CLEAR program at the airport.

Anna Jane Grossman: Wow, are you really? I just can't imagine ever being that much in a rush that I'd want so much personal information on file at the airport. We all do so much to save time, but it's hard to say what we will do that time we've saved up. Sleep a little longer? Watch infomercials? An extra few minutes of yoga?

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Washington, D.C.: How about those navigation systems in lieu of good old maps?! I think the truck driver in Europe who decided to take his Garmin's advice on a short cut wished he had a map when he found himself stuck in a muddy field for FOUR DAYS!!!???

Not to knock the nav systems, in fact, I got one for Christmas and I love it. BUT, my dad always told me to have a map in the car.

Anna Jane Grossman: I think that GPS isn't quite perfect yet. It's still a technology that's pretty new and it'll likely improve. I was just talking to someone yesterday about how mine always gets me lost in cities but does okay on country roads. For the moment, probably best to have a map on hand too. Isn't that what the "glove" compartment is for?

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D.C.: No way are wristwatches gone - they've become "bling!" Look at the sale ads from any store that sells jewelry and you'd think we were each meant to have a dozen of the things in different styles!

Anna Jane Grossman: I think you're right in that they've become accessories more than useful items. Ask someone on the street what time it is and they'll nearly always whip out a phone. Their Valentin Constantine diamond encrusted bauble is too nice to expose in public. I love how my computer and cell phone automatically adjusted for Day Light Savings. Far cry from the days when men used to stop in the street and synchronize their pocket watches.

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Davis, Calif.: First of all, I really enjoyed this article. How much time did you spend researching/writing this article? Secondly, where did you find your quotes?

Anna Jane Grossman: The story took a few weeks to research and write up. It was a lot of fun to do so many mini research projects. The quotes I gathered from all the people who I quoted! People were generally eager to play the game. I actually had a lot of fun conversations with those who participated. I tried to include a wide array of people. (I should note that I did ask Maureen Dowd for a rebuttal after Ann Coulter called her obsolete, but she declined to participate).

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Anna Jane Grossman: Thanks a lot for all your great questions! Glad to see that this piece seemed to stir up some good thoughts. Please feel free to contact me through my Web site, http://AnnaJane.net.

Best,

Anna Jane

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