The source of this list is unknown.
1. The post office
2. The cheque
3. The newspaper
4. The book
5. The land-line telephone
6. Music
7. Television
8. Things that you own
9. Privacy
10. Joined handwriting
Readers are invited to add another ten items.
Eric Koch’s new book, New Beginnings, was launched on September 20. The book is available from 
Glad to see this. It’ll be historic. Lists of 10 things will soon be gone. They’re good because they involve suspense - we can only hold 7 things in mind at once, so a list of 10 shimmers at both ends. But lists fall way short of the oomph and variable intake our minds play with - no, need - in daily life in the natural world, or in our intensifying multicultural social world. Graphic word clusters, rotational graphics, interactive synaesthetic and tactile representations, connected pools of continuous data, will replace static lists. They’ll be as much fun. They’ll allow quicker person-to-person interplay.
Of course, none of these will encourage the kind of slow and rich inner gestation and maturing of one’s own thoughts that comes from contemplating a set list of items, each one a fixed starting gate, a door into another world, with as yet undiscovered streams and paths to its neighbouring worlds.
11. watches
12. self driven vehicle
And, just in case anyone is interested, joined handwriting is known as “cursive”, which introduces item number 13: elegant language.
Sharon, how will we describe the direction of rotation without “clockwise”?
Thank you for the entire notion of elegance.
Can one reasonably hope that the 11th is “Lists like this one”?
“Cursive,” though elegant, is primarily accurate. Several decades of deliberately pitching writing to Grade 8 and below has deprived subsequent generations of intelligent people of the vocabulary necessary to think and communicate other than banal thoughts. I blame it all on Hall-Dennis and their lemming-like charge toward ignorant mindlessness. The victims are smart people who are deprived of the tools to describe their natural perceptions and communicate their understandings. If what I read does not include words I don’t fully understand, I’m not learning anything worthwhile.
hair
teeth
eyesight
synapses
sense of humor
Rob Ford in the Star
I am surprised no one has challenged the selection in this list. Much as the readers of this blog may be smugly confidence in their knowledge of all things, the metrics do not support the inclusion of 1, 6, 7. Clearly, the words “Post Office”, are interpreted by some as “home delivery of the personal letter”, a distinct subset of “Post Office” activity. But the “Post Office” and all parcel delivery services generally have been given quite the boost by online shopping. Believe it was a link through slate.com that pointed out that surveys confirm TV watching is increasing, is increasing with aging demographics, and far exceeds all other “on line” activity. It is no longer “broadcasting”, and we control when we see it, and through which device. Finally music. We may not buy records or CDs in the same numbers, but we are “consuming” more music than ever, and according to a music industry site (accessed through slate.com) a much more diverse selection of music. (The decline of Rock & Roll has been predicted before…).
I agree with Horace Krever, can we hope lists like this disappear?
Long after humanity has exited (stage left)
Having fouled the nest beyond redemption,
Insects will still be making music
For themselves and whatever else cares to listen.
I agree with Henry Lotin - Frankly this is a dumb list. Music -
Music is integral, innate, essential - it is in our souls - however manifested - and no one can control live music or how people find ways to hear it - what is the point - the internet is alive with artists’ sites, or youtube, or other ways to access it - the way we access it changes - the music remains. Books - more and more I realize the blocks publishers put on ebooks will make libraries and hard format books more essential. Privacy - yes, we will have to fight to protect it in an age where Google and others track every key stroke - but nobody controls private thought. Things that you own? What does that mean? Newspapers - well - now there seems to be a divide online - Some allow limited access the demand subscription - others fund with online ads - but the newspapers are alive and well on the internet.
(p.s - lovely poem, curmudgeon)
Ah, a list I want to discuss. Top marks Eric. And I’m still thinking about Tim’s thoughts of lists ‘shimmering at both ends’.
The first 4 are paper-based and already transformed. So no points.
Music will never disappear.
Ownership, private property is so fundamental to capitalism it will still be here.
If you’re young enough: English as the business language, the CIA and NSA, and hopefully the use of dirty coal.