Jobs of the Past: What Will Be Gone in a Few Decades?

[lah214]

So I was thinking, there are probably a lot of professions that won't be around in a few decades. For example, the mail man. A lot of mail is sent over the internet anymore, so sooner or later we might not need mail men. A milk man used to be a common job a long time ago, but milk is no longer delivered. So what jobs do you think won't be available in the future?

 

[lah214]

A lot of mail is sent over the internet now.***

 

[Evo]

Physical mail (letters) will certainly decrease, but I can't see it going away, the postal service has already revamped itself to be more of a package delivery service, like UPS and FedEx. Due to the increase of shopping by TV and online, the need for package delivery has skyrocketed.

I always think back to the I love Lucy episode where she decides to invest in a hat store, the owner said you couldn't go wrong because people will always have heads, little did they realize that hats (head coverings) would go out of style after so many hundreds, if not thousands of years.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

I think that to a large extent actors will be disappering soon. The computer generated stuff is getting very close to looking real, and it has already been shown that computer generated faces can be more "attractive", or more appealing than real faces.

With this, it struck me that TV anchors may go the wayside as well.

TV repairman are all but a thing of the past. What repair is done is just module replacement.

Checkers and cashiers should mostly be gone soon. As it is I usually use the self-check lane at Wal Mart when I'm forced to go there. And before long, each product will probably be RFID tagged and everything will be automatically scanned and billed to your account when you walk out the door of a store.

Many forms of manual labor are gone or disappearing due to automation. Orville Reddenbachers [popcorn company] already has a lights-out plant that operates mostly without personnel - hence the lights are often off to conserve energy.

Meter readers for power and gas. I assume that many or most have already disappeared.

Mimes. I suspect that this was an art form that endured well past its time and died with Marcel Marceau.

Fighter pilots may disappear, but it appears that one plane with a pilot and numerous robotic drone planes may be a good combination for now. However, I think the age of pilots has in principle ended. How long will it be until we have completely automated commercial aircraft?

 

[arunbg]

I am afraid schools and teachers will be a thing of the past as well, with online resources, degrees, and maybe even virtual classrooms.

 

[rudinreader]

So I was thinking, there are probably a lot of professions that won't be around in a few decades. For example, the mail man. A lot of mail is sent over the internet anymore, so sooner or later we might not need mail men.

See what I just posted about yahoo. I would be extremely distraught if the mail man got replaced with yahoo. The difference is that the mail man doesn't open and read your mail. Every email you send through google,yahoo,msn gets read by an outside entity (data mining computer, in the least).

 

[Evo]

See what I just posted about yahoo. I would be extremely distraught if the mail man got replaced with yahoo. The difference is that the mail man doesn't open and read your mail. Every email you send through google,yahoo,msn gets read by an outside entity (data mining computer, in the least).

Boy are you wrong about mail (as I mentioned in your other thread). Reading your paper mail is the easiest and most common way to obtain information.

 

[dst]

The mail man still exists but he just codes in C for a living.

As long as third world countries hang around, there will be no getting rid of most jobs.

I imagine that 300 years forward, the world will either be a "too-lazy-to-even-procrastinate" person's dream or, well, in pieces.

 

[makethings]

12 Jobs that will never go away

http://jobs.aol.com/article/_a/12-jobs-that-will-never-disappear/20060920140509990006

I would agree with most of them.

 

[lah214]

I am afraid schools and teachers will be a thing of the past as well, with online resources, degrees, and maybe even virtual classrooms.

I really don't think teachers will ever dissapear.

 

[mgb_phys]

The list is a bit short sighted:

1. Doctor
Why it's everlasting: While humans pride themselves on being the most intelligent of species, we still have a mortality rate, and we still get bumped, bruised and diseased along the way. We will always need people to investigate and treat our medical conditions.

If you can't make an AI that is better at reading an X-Ray than my doctor we need to restart computer science from the beginning.

2. Teacher
Why it's everlasting: There will always be a need for education, and there will always be a need for people to do the educating.

We invented books to handle the learnign part. The keeping little monsters out of the way of real people until the turn 18 could be handled by robots with laser beams.

3. Mortician
Why it's everlasting: Unless a solution for mortality is found and available to everyone, there will always be a need for someone to care after the deceased.

Two words - Soylent green.

4. Waste Disposal Manager
Why it's everlasting: Humans create a lot of waste, biologically and otherwise. We'll always need people to maintain and relocate our messes.

You put out a consitently shaped bin in the same place at the same time. Add an RFID tag and an autonomous vehicle picks it up.

5. Scientist
Why it's everlasting: Humans will always ponder our surroundings and how everything works. We need people to dedicate their lives to the cause and effects of our actions and our environments to deal with changes.

Of course - they are in charge of inventing the robots.

6. Tax Collector
Why it's everlasting: As the old saying goes, "In this world nothing is certain but death and taxes." For all reported income, there will always be a form of collection to aid government programs.

Everyone is paid electronically, everyone buys goods electronically. A person is needed to track this why?

7. Barber
Why it's everlasting: People will always need to have their hair cut and groomed.

Probably true - personal services is going to last a lot longer than other jobs.

8. Soldier
Why it's everlasting: Even if world peace were a reality, there would still be a fear of future wars based on history.

Combination of remote operated vehicles and outsourcing to 3rd world mercenaries.

9. Religious Leader
Why it's everlasting: As people continue to ponder the meaning of their own existence, a majority find a need for people to assist them with a form of spiritual guidance.

You mean TV evangelsists aren't CGI ?

10. Law Enforcement Officer
Why it's everlasting: If we are dependant upon a system that governs, we will also be dependant upon people to enforce the rules of that system.

Probably I imagine the interference from the Taser could be a problem for a robot. Plus it's tricky to make a machien that runs on donuts!

11. Farmer
Why it's everlasting: One of the basic human needs is food and, even though farming is increasingly consolidated, there will still be a need for someone to grow it.

Two words - toaster pockets.

12. Construction Worker

Did you see the 'inkjet' concrete printer that could produce a home direct from CAD?

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Two words - Soylent green.

One word - biodiesel.

 

[makethings]

you ought to have some respect for the dead.

 

[Confused]

Pornstar.

 

[NeoDevin]

Pornstar.

Virtual Reality.

 

[lah214]

Pornstar.

hahahaha

 

[mgb_phys]

Virtual Reality.

Who is this quote from (someone at silicon graphics/Xerox parc? )
"When virtual reality means some slob from Queens can have sex with <insert name of 80s star> in his basement, it's going to make crack cocaine look like chia pets"

 

[NeoDevin]

Who is this quote from (someone at silicon graphics/Xerox parc? )
"When virtual reality means some slob from Queens can have sex with <insert name of 80s star> in his basement, it's going to make crack cocaine look like chia pets"

I don't know, but virtual reality and/or the holodeck will probably be societies last invention.