*Note: This entry is inspired by the movies 2012 and The Land Before Time
Extinction - the end of an organism or a group of taxa. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of that species. The largest mass extinction to have affected life on earth led to the demise of the dinosaurs and coincided with a large meteorite impact. This is called the Cretacious-Tertiary extinction event. This happened more than 500 million years ago.
Fast forward to 2009. With the onslaught of technological innovations, what seemed like the hottest gadgets just decades ago have already become obsolete (read: casette tapes, family computers, television without remote controls, floppy diskettes). In the working world, most manual jobs are already being done (especially in highly industrialized countries) by machines and even robots. With the rate of speed our technology is developing, a different form of mass extinction is again about to happen. Hence, this fearless forecast. In the next century, the following creatures will become extinct :
1. Teachers -Who needs to go to the campus when distance learning is fast becoming the trend? Class lectures, recitations and homeworks will be replaced by lesson modules and online discussions.
2. Stockbrokers, mailmen, insurance and real estate agents - who needs middlemen when one can communicate with another person from the other side of the globe using the internet?
3. Bank tellers - since a bank teller only performs the basics of financial tasks, computers and technology may make the need for tellers obsolete. Through online banking, one can transfer balance, inquire on bank account information, etc. The ubiquitous ATM has made cash withdrawals a lot simpler. Also, with the onslaught of easy-payment machines, important transactions can be accomplished by just pressing the right buttons.
4. Film processor - Who needs film when digital cameras thrive everywhere. Through digital technology, one can upload, send and even photoshop their favorite pictures.
5. CD/ Records Store manager - Since everybody will download from Limewire, Kazaa and other P2P downloading sites!
6. Publishers -will be extinct after the extinction of the printing press. We will run out of forest trees, hence paper will be scarce. Newspapers and Magazines will make the switch to digital paper. Ebooks will abound.
7. Housekeepers - technology will produce self-cleaning homes, self-motivated vacuums, washing machines and the like.
8. Orthodontists - a new 3-D simulation program which produces disposable clear-plastic aligners to shift teeth into its correct position is already in clinical trials. Expect this technology to spread worldwide in the future.
9. Drivers - all vehicles will be self-driven. Vehicles will travel bumper to bumper at the fastest speed.
10. Factory workers - will be replaced by robots
If science and techology can create a lot of new jobs, it could also eradicate already existing ones. The list of extinct jobs will go on infinitely. Hence, our labor laws may need to be fine tuned, if not completely overhauled as newly created jobs may entail new minimum work conditions. We may reach a point in time when labor will be dispensable, hence labor laws may also be a thing of the past (or history reading, perhaps). Are we ready for the future?
Sources: Wikipedia.com, Time Magazine
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