@fred @compfu @david_chisnall Another very apt analogy: my mother tells me that, in her lifetime (1960s and 70s) one argument for phasing out Home Economics was because microwaves and ready meals were "the future" and "inevitable", and nobody was going to cook their own meals at home any more, a la the Jetsons.

And this - alongside things like washing machines - was sold as a wonderful, progressive, feminist thing because it meant women could work instead of having to be a housewife.