Yeah, we wouldn't want to do that. It's not like being able to remember stuff is a skill that might come in handy later in life.

True, but you can walk from any point A to any point B without having to leave the sidewalk except to cross the street. Except for a few large cities (NYC, Boston, Portland OR), that is not the case in the US. At some point you will have to walk on a road with no sidewalks.

But then how will I keep in touch my friends in Alabama, Texas or Utah

There is only one science in which a hobbyist can do cutting edge research at home, with more or less no financial investment: mathematics. Google "Riemann Hypothesis" and then try to prove it.

I think the main nuclear powers have not been building any new nuclear warheads for several decades. The arms race these days involves mostly conventional weapons, and for any defensive weapon you build, someone will soon build an offensive one that can defeat it.

And that technology will become obsolete faster than a speeding bullet once you stop funding it.

Yeah, but Arizona has been on a roll lately. I think they should make skipping class a felony next, and give the police the power to break into dorm rooms and bring students to class by force :-)

Having just flown with US Airways over the weekend, I have serious doubts about that. The DMV is an example of politeness and efficiency compared to that airline.

Yeah, but that come at the cost of going blind.

Repeat after me: HI-RO-SHI-MA. See, that wasn't so hard. And now you know.

That is fine with me. Bring back the small movies. Where can I sign up to hasten that process?

I don't know were you live, but i am pretty sure it is not legal to be in the intersection when the light turns red. It might be customary (i.e. everybody does it and the police turns a blind eye) but legal it is not.

That would be the FCC

Wow, you really have a sense of history, huh? My father has been around since 1942, I guess he's halfway on his way to being a classic according to your definition of 'a while'.

Let me try to be more explicit: what I meant was that a classic is something or someone who transcends their particular historic and cultural context, whom people from different generations and different cultures find equally relevant to their lives.

You can throw all the insults you want at me, but that will not change the fact that the top two results for "Betty Smith" are this and this. Neither of those pages is longer than your average omelette recipe. That is a staggering lack of interest in a "classic" author.

Yes, because, classics, by definition, have been around for a while and have made it into school curricula, hence everybody, regardless of their erudition level, has heard of them. I don't remember studying Betty Smith in school. Maybe 100 years from now she will be a classic, but as of now, she is not.