Over time, things that were SUPER purposeful during one time period, may fade away into obsoleteness, to the point where they may be really cool to look at, but don’t serve much purpose beyond that.
One example of this on our homes, would be the shutters many of us have hanging on our exteriors.
Where once upon a time these shutters were tremendously useful in guarding windows from approaching storms, today, I would venture to say, that north of 95% of the shutters we see are not functional at all.
The shutters are still nice attributes on homes, as many think (as do I) that they look really pretty when utilized in an appropriate capacity.
If we look around us, not only could we probably find things in a variety of areas of life that fall under this same umbrella, but we may also find things that are in the process of (for lack of a better term) working through a similar fate.
What comes to mind for me in this regard, would be the doorbell.
As I have had the fortunate opportunity to visit hundreds of homes over the years, as I have met people and discussed various projects with them, I have also rang hundreds of doorbells.
Even before the advent of smartphones and similar advances in modern technology, I have noticed that only a portion of doorbells on homes today are actually operational in the first place.
If you are reading this and your doorbell does not work, I assure you that you are not alone and are in very good company!
We have helped numerous folks over the years get their broken doorbells back up and running.
Instead of fixing them, because of the intricacy of a wired doorbell, many years ago, people began to shift to doorbells that worked off a radio frequency.
I was one of these such people, until, of course, the neighborhood kids discovered that several of us on the same street had the same type of radio frequency doorbell, and that when one doorbell was rung, all of us would come out at once to answer the door.
Apparently they thought this was funny (can’t say that I blame them!) and used to ring one of these such doorbells and then hide, sometimes repeatedly, so they could get everyone coming to run and answer the door at once.
The most modern versions of doorbells include features that alert us on our smartphones when someone rings the bell, they can then see who it is on video along with a bunch of other bells (no pun intended) and whistles that can make them super fancy.
I enjoy having a working, hard-wired doorbell on my home.
It could be just me though.
I would also be the type of person that would love fully functional shutters on their home as well!
The reality of life today, however, seems to be people using the doorbell as a thing of the past.
(Incidentally, I used to get annoyed when people would honk the horn trying to get someone to come outside, this is pretty much a thing of the past as well!)
With smartphones gaining steam in almost every aspect of our life, a quick call or a text message often takes the place of the use of the doorbell.
I expect this trend to continue…
Nowadays, when the doorbell is rung, people seem to get quickly on their toes as it just MUST be somebody trying to survey them or sell them something, correct??
Obviously I could be incorrect but my take on the situation that as useful as doorbells once were, today they are heading toward the land of purely decorative features, that no longer are relied upon to do what we once relied on them heavily to do – seemingly very much in-line with the ‘shutter’!
