Obsolesence - a.k.a Where have all the Noses Gone

Have you noticed the evolution of the smiley face? Allow me to illustrate:

Old Happy :-)

New Happy :)

Why did we lose the nose? My theory is that twitter's character limit killed the nose.

New technology has a way of vaporizing more than noses - words lose their meaning all the time. Here are a few words whose meaning the Internet has eviscerated.

TV

People love video and will always love to consume video. But think about it - do you still say "let's watch TV"? Or do you now say "let's watch a show"? If you have kids under 25, what do they say?

There's a big difference between these two. The term television, or TV, carries meaning around the device on which the video will be watched and the network over which the program is carried. My family ditched DirecTV about a year ago because we decided it was stupid to pay $80/month when we could count on one hand the number of "shows" we watched AND when a large percentage of these same "shows" are available online. The ability to stream Netflix to our living room television set made the decision all the easier. Downside? My wife and I feel a little disconnected because we don't see any TV ads - he said gloatingly :) If you buy this argument, then it may be worth wondering if Google erred when they picked the name GoogleTV for their new living room video entertainment offering.

Telephone

My brother-in-law and his Brazilian wife recently moved from Raleigh to Sao Paulo, Brazil. We call them at least once a week, but not using the "phone." Rather, we use Skype. "Let's call Uncle Billy and Aunt Bete," my wife will announce, and the kids sprint to my wife's MacBook Pro, jockeying for the prime spot in front of the camera. That's rich, I think.