Future Timeline

Scotland marks end to coal power as Longannet chimney is blown up

Thu 9 Dec 2021 15.40 GMT

Scotland has marked the end of its coal-powered history by demolishing the huge chimney at its last remaining coal plant at Longannet in Fife.

The chimney, which was Scotland’s largest freestanding structure, dominated the skyline for more than half a century before it was destroyed on Thursday morning with 700kg of explosives.

Scotland’s first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, who pushed the ignition button on the controlled implosion, described the demolition as “a symbolic reminder that we have ended coal-fired power generation in Scotland, as we work in a fair and just way towards becoming a net zero nation by 2045”.

The Longannet coal plant, which is owned by Scottish Power, was the largest of its kind in Europe when it began generating enough electricity to power a quarter of Scottish homes in 1970.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/202 ... coal-power

wjfox wrote: ↑Fri Dec 17, 2021 5:04 pm

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End of an era as New York removes last public payphone

Tue 24 May 2022 16.49 BST

New York City removed its last public payphone this week, discontinuing a relic from a more analog time.

On Monday municipal officials removed the last remaining city-owned payphone, located in the Midtown area. New York City began ditching its payphones in 2015, with officials citing a need for digital innovation.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/202 ... c-payphone



Credit: Brendan McDermid/Reuters

Floppy disks in Japan: Minister declares war on old-fashioned technology

By James FitzGerald
BBC News

1 hour ago

Japan's digital minister has "declared war" on floppy disks and other retro tech used by the country's bureaucrats.

Around 1,900 government procedures still require businesses to use the storage devices, plus CDs and mini-discs, Taro Kono said.

He said regulations would be updated to allow people to use online services.

Despite its reputation for innovative high-tech gadgetry, Japan is notorious for clinging to outmoded technology through its office culture.

Floppy disks - so-called because the original products were bendable - were created in the late 1960s, but were falling out of fashion three decades later thanks to more efficient storage solutions.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-62749310