The phrase "OK, Boomer" is nearly played out, but still makes a point to an older generation about the way to do things. Playing on this, Bronwyn Petry at MoneyWise makes a list attempting to equate "old things" with "don't do this anymore" or "this is a good skill to have".
The weirdness of Petry's list is that it tries to ride a line between "things we don't need" and "things you should still know how to do". However, it is lobbed into a single list. Many of these are things modernized by current technology while others are things that simply aren't practical these days such as learning to drive stick.
Reading a map is, for real, #1 on the list. Yes, GPS and the plethora of navigation apps we have are amazing, but you still need to know how to read the damn thing in order to have any sense of direction.
Maps are large, fragile and frustratingly difficult to fold back up once they’ve been opened to their full size. It makes a lot of sense that few millennials know how to, or even want to use them these days.
MoneyWise
Say what?? Maps aren't that hard to fold up, given they have massive creases in them. Are they cumbersome? Sure when compared to a phone. But for a giant piece of paper, they fold up pretty compactly.
The list goes on, from driving a car, to using a physical dictionary, to balancing a checkbook. All these are a bit strange to me, especially because they're important life skills to have, even if you don't use them on a daily basis. Further, there is no need to say these "OK, Boomer" items are negative simply because they've been replaced by a digital equivalent. You wouldn't say watching a movie on film is different than watching it digitally. It's simply a different format. GPS and a map app are not much different than a physical map.