30 Various Hobbies That People Invested Hours And Hours In And Which They Now Regret, As Shared Online
Do you know what exactly some urbanists saw as almost the main environmental problem of big cities at the end of the 19th century? I'm willing to bet you're unlikely to guess! So, scientists seriously believed that in the future, that is, for example, at the beginning of the 21st century, humanity would have to urgently solve the problem of recycling... horse manure!
And it's true, these scientists argued - if the population of the Earth grew, then the number of horse-drawn carriages and cabs would increase - and numerous horses, of course, would pollute the city streets with manure. An example that clearly shows how far even the smartest of us can be from accurately predicting the future. So don't laugh too hard at the stories in this list of ours, which collects people's skills and hobbies that later turned out to be not even worth the time spent mastering them.
More info: Reddit
This post may include affiliate links.
In the 90s, my brother worked as fire watcher in Minnesota near the border. He lived in some remote location. Power but no phone. They cached his supplies for several months. Then nothing. Half-starved, he finally came out of the woods to see what was what.
He'd been laid off. No one told him. No money in his account. Everybody was laid off and gone. Office dark.
I took 2 years of French instead of Spanish in high school. I live in Texas.
Indigenous knotting.
I used to be able to make the most beautiful dresses, armors, and regalia using traditional knotting and beading techniques.
Broke my arm about a decade ago, got fat, and got arthritis. Now my hands don't even work well enough to teach the next generation how to do it.
Indeed, the progress of humanity has gained absolutely incredible momentum in recent decades, and it is almost impossible to manage with the baggage of old skills and remain relevant in the labor market for a relatively long time. It is all the more embarrassing, for example, for people who spent many years getting a college education, took out a student loan - only to discover with horror that their degree now does not give them any advantage in finding a job. Which, by the way, happens all the time.
Being a decent, hard working employee for a large multinational corporation
I built a customer service team from the ground up to support a client's new product. Became the highest rated customer service group in the entire business. One day our phones went dead, called to test the line, was routed to a different customer service team. We'd been outsourced and they didn't have the heart to tell us in advance.
Not hours per se, but lots and lots of money.
When I was a kid, CDs were king. This was also back when a typical cd was like $16 at Sam goody etc.
I’d mow lawns in my neighborhood - 4 houses on a weekend, and get $10 each, which was good for about a dozen albums a month.
My parents also gave me lunch money for school - $2 a day - which I pocketed for another album a week.
So basically I sacrificed nutrition and my weekends for the entirety of my middle school / early high school years to build up a massive album collection that was the envy of all my musician friends. It was glorious.
I thought for sure this would be the crown jewel of my adulthood and that I would pass them on to my kids someday.
….and then when the iPod / iTunes came out it was all pointless lol
I kept all my CDs and I still collect from my favorite artists. I don't care what the new technologies are it's still my favorite way to listen to music.
I did too. I have somewhere north of a thousand CDs. But they're problematic, I've pulled out a couple of the older ones and they've developed CD rot so they're unplayable. Sadly not all of the companies actually did quality pressings. I've been steadily turning my entire collection into high quality MP3 so at least if the CD rots now I've got a copy I can listen to.
Load More Replies...
I'm keeping my CD collection. I own it. I don't own any of the songs I bought in iTunes or rent on Spotify.
There's still something to be said for having the physical media.
I prefer LPs, but buy everything in duplicate on CD so I can compile the world's best compilation USB stick for my car. Over 1000 songs from the 1960s to last week, set on random. I don't pay streaming services and I can listen to music where there is no mobile signal or WiFi. Keep that CD collection. Subscription services suck.
I have a turntable that I connect to my desktop via usb and rip vinyl that way.
Load More Replies...
Keep them. And if you have DVD or Blu-ray, hold onto those too. Streaming takes away what you paid for randomly and the artists get next to nothing for it, you keep only what you own as hardcopy.
True. I have lots of films and series that aren't available on any of the streaming services. You can't be guaranteed that you favorite stuff will be on there always - and also, all the bonus content is typically only found on physical media.
Load More Replies...
An iPod with earbuds will never come within shouting distance of CDs or vinyl on a high quality stereo system.
both my wife and I have all our CDs and my son listens to them on a boombox in his room while he sleeps. Provides a good way to give him some sound to fall asleep to without it being from a phone or tv.
Plus you're sharing your life with him, not only the music you enjoy, but the way you listened to it when you were younger. It's hard to find an actual boombox anymore. It's all about mp3s and bluetooth speakers.
Load More Replies...
DO NOT get rid of your CDs, books, DVDs and VHSs. One day you may realize there's still some relevant uses. Last year I made that mistake with my movies. Got rid of a ton to declutter and well... Disney+, Paramount, Amazon Prime, you get the gist. Then I realized I could only watch any of these on my laptop. I bought a 55" TV a few years ago and I was hardly using it. My mom would come over to watch a movie I suggested and to her disappointment it had to be watch on the small laptop screen. Thank goodness for thrift stores. I got more movies than I've ever had and I can watch any of them whenever I want and they're mine. I don't have to worry about watching a bunch of favourites while they're still available on a streaming service.
If your TV is too old and "non-SMART" you should be able to buy a small set top box that will allow you to stream most of the services. There are plenty to choose from ranging from about $25 up to a couple hundred. Just lookup the one you're thinking of getting to make sure it has apps that support your streaming services. https://www.androidpolice.com/best-streaming-devices/
Load More Replies...
I own an extensive DVD/Blu-ray collection as well as a CD one, and have no plans to get rid of them. Because it's just that - I OWN these discs. I don't own digital/streaming content found today, and with my physical collection, I know the titles won't suddenly become unavailable because of rights and fees and whatnot.
I worked with a guy who couldn't pay his streaming service and had zero music to listen to until he did! I couldn't live like that. Music has always been my lifeline, especially when things aren't going well.
Load More Replies...
At one time you could "upload" a CD to Apple music and it counted as already purchased.
You can also just drag and drop any music files into the music folder on itunes and that works lol
Load More Replies... Nope. I still massively value and add to my CD collection. Spent a fair amount on it and it is quite large. Just like my DVD collection. There's just something about owning a physical copy of something that digital will never replace. Monetary wise the collection is probably nowhere near how much I've actually spent on it but will still be physical copy is best until I die.
You should see my record collection. Really proud of it. Not long ago I sold a duplicate of Atom heart mother pink floyd, american hardcover for 45 Euro. Not bad for an old record. I still have the other one of course. I have boxes and boxes full of records.
Not pointless at all. With the CD you own the music. With a streaming service they own the music, you pay a fee to access it and they can cut off that access anytime they want. Same with DVDs , same with physical books.
They can technically revoke the license key for movies on Blu and UHD with an update to the player (not sure about DVD). So it's actually possible for a disc that you own to be rendered useless as well. I really hate the whole digital content management (ie: antipiracy) agenda.
Load More Replies...
Why would you ever buy anything at Sam Goody? They are way over prices.
I know, right? I guess they'd never heard of Columbia House! 20 CDs for only a penny! LOL!
Load More Replies...
At least you learned a lesson--hard work to get what you wanted. Not just handed to you.
Can beat CD's in the car, wifi signal shocking so can't listen to the 100,000 tunes on Apple
Not pointless at all. I still listen to CDs and vinyl. I get more of a kick out of it than using downloads.
I, too, have kept my CDs and vinyl. Now the problem is I can't find a replacement stylus for my turntable.
Ah, but LPs have made a comeback and what did my daughter want for Christmas a couple years ago? A record player. I hope you didn't junk those albums
If you like CDs then stick with it. People are still trading nintendo cartridges that are way more obsolete than CDs. Unless you're one of those person who "made an investment" on CD and thought "it's the future". Good luck with bitcoins.
While I honestly prefer vinyl (there's just some artists and songs that you can't get the full effect from a CD), they're just too expensive (unless you happen to strike gold at a yard sale)
Finally an actual hobby, that someone might actually regret having done.
I feel ya. But my CD / vinyl collection still makes me happy. I am 56.
I keep all mine. So if my ipod crashes I don't have to rebuy anything for the umpteenth time.
And financial advisers always tell you to put your money in CDs. ;p
This is how, from the time I was a kitten until now (I'm 64) that I now have about 10,000 vinyl LPs. They are from all over the world Mono, stereo, quad, all the colors and pic-discs. When I was in school, I'd save my lunch money, walk to and from school in all kinds of weather, just to save for 1 or 2 albums each week. Then CDs came out and them MP3s and streaming and records were no easily found. But in the long run, I kinda got the last laugh as I still have them all and now the value of a vinyl original has gone way up in a lot of cases!
I could see this coming, and sold all my CD's bar a few keepers years before they fell out of use. At least got a load of money back secondhand. Did the same for DVD's a few years later. Knew streaming/downloads would kill those too.
Collecting records should be done out of passion for music. I still have all my cd's, vinyl records and cassette tapes as well as a quality hi-fi stereo, and I listen to them and enjoy sitting with the covers looking at pictures and reading lyrics and such. It is NOT pointless at all.
Keep them! Look at how vinyl is coming back after all these years. Your time will come back around
I had hundreds of cds and vinyls, then moved abroad and had to leave it all behind as it'd cost more than my own plane ticket to be dispatched, also would have nowhere to store it, so sold it all for literally pennies (together with books, clothes, shoes etc). In a way it was good because as long as I have a couple of home comforts and food for me and the cat, I don't care about any material possessions
I get it. I'm still doing this at 57. I have about 1,750 CD's. All burned to my iTunes library - around 28,000 songs.
Maggot Brain!!! I respect your collection and don't dispare everything is recycle in some way!!
I always keep my CDs because, my last husband fried my computer and I couldn’t back up/upgrade my iPhone and iPod!! I was pumping myself up thinking I had to reload EVERYTHING!! Then came the ability to do everything through WI-FI…… i’m not sure if I’m happy or sad about that because now I still have all these CDs.
"Certainly, it is a sign of the times - the constant obsolescence of skills and knowledge, and the concept of endless education is now more relevant than ever," says Vladimir Nemertsalov, a school principal and teacher from Ukraine, whom Bored Panda asked for a comment. "And if for some reason you drop out of this continuous educational process for at least half a year, it can be incredibly difficult for you to return to your job or even just maintain the required level."
"But there is another problem. Very often we go to college, guided not by a sober calculation of our strengths, but by the advice of relatives, family traditions or erroneous ideas about the future demand for this profession. Thus, the position of educational counsellor now, as it seems to me, is becoming increasingly more important for many people. However, even the contemporary world is still changing so quickly that the skills and knowledge that you once considered useless may well come in handy in just a few years," Vladimir presumes.
I got an aviation degree because it used to be the only way you could qualify to become and air traffic controller. The age cut-off is 30 and I graduated when I was 29. Well, they decided to “restructure” the hiring process mere months after I graduated and cancelled all hiring panels for 2 years. I aged-out and now have a f*****g useless degree that I still pay students loans on.
EDIT: First, thank you for the huge response. This happened about 11 years ago. I am making a lot of money doing something I love in another industry so don’t worry about me. It was devastating at the time but I’m content in what I’m doing now. (Had to edit that again because of all the people who are negative about hearing “everything happens for a reason” and “living my best life”) I’m happy and successful and if you can’t live with that, go be negative somewhere else.
To answer the most common question on here:
Why is 30 the cutoff age?: This is a very high-stress job that requires you to have a sharp mind at all times. It’s like playing a mathematical puzzle that kills 300 people if you f**k up. They offer/encourage retirement with pension at 55, but you need 25 years of service to be eligible, hence the oldest you can be to start the job is 30 years old.
I played around 12k hours of soccer, got pretty good at it but it didn’t worked out so now I’m an engineer that secretly can play soccer at professional level
Gordon Ramsey transitioned from being a football player to world class chef. Likewise David Icke transitioned from being a football player to world class fruitcake
Photography. Everyone with a phone thinks they're photographers these days.
Amen to that! I still have my very old 35mm film camera. No bells, no whistles, I learned to compose in the camera.
As for our hobbies, here, as usual, there are two sides of the same coin. On the one hand, we really spend time and energy on what we are interested in - and then, when this hobby goes out of fashion, we begin to suffer because we "wasted time." But damn it, at one time it really brought us joy or pride in achievement - even if it was some kind of video game, hopelessly outdated today! And that's why it's only human of us to get carried away - even if these hobbies are sometimes completely irrational.
There is such a thing as "alternative possibilities," and we very often fall into their trap, thinking later on how we could have better used our time and resources. But after all, these thoughts come to us based on later experience, and then, earlier, everything was perceived from a completely different angle. For example, we now understand that picking Hakeem Olajuwon in the 1984 NBA draft over Michael Jordan was most likely a mistake. After all, it was one of the greatest players in his position against the greatest in history, two league titles against six.
But then, in 1984, picking Olajuwon first was quite reasonable. Moreover, already in his second year in the league, Hakeem brought his franchise to the finals, while Jordan didn't have a similar achievement until seven years later. So who was more right, based on the layouts for the summer of 1984? Houston managers or Chicago managers?
Asian parent piano lessons. Didn't make them happy, didn't make *myself* happy, never got any good at it, gained no useful skills whatsoever for the several hundred hours per year for multiple years spent practicing
Forcing your child into any musical training more than giving a little push to get it started is always a good way to waste their time. If they're talented, after a short time, say, 3-4 months tops, they'll take off and fly with it. So yes, push them a bit to give it a go, but if they don't start enjoying it, there's no career or even just an advantage in it for them. Their time would be better spent on something else. You can't be truly good at creative stuff without enjoyment. I'd even go so far to say it'll be a hindrance in sports too. You can become reasonably good at your work even if you don't exactly enjoy it, but for some things you need actual talent and that can't be forced onto people
I worked in high tech for 40ish years. Almost everything I learned became obsolete. It’s a treadmill.
Before I read the description, I thought that was some impressive embroidery with fiber optics going on.
I got a B.S. in biochemistry, then drove a forklift for 14 years. Now I'm an electrician.
I hope you are happy! There are many career opportunities for biochemists. Not sure it would be a bad decision for all.
And yet, we often forget that even those hobbies that we now consider a waste of time brought us a lot of happiness. For example, in my youth I had a collection of several thousand audio cassettes, which years later I sold for next to nothing - because they took up a lot of space, and just one iPod contained almost the entire collection. But then, in the '90s, I rejoiced at every new cassette, and now, decades later, I remember these emotions with warmth. Perhaps this is the main significance of such hobbies...
Well, we all probably have some similar story, so please feel free to tell your own tale in the comments to this collection, but not before scrolling it to the very end. At the end of the day, we bet that it's definitely worth your time to read all these stories!
I managed to accidentally wipe the drive that held all my work. I'm a semi-professional game dev, there was 10 years worth of meshes, materials and code.
It's been 10 days, I've just been in a sort of state of shock, having tried and failed to recover the lost files.
I know all the tricks to make a website look as good in Internet Explorer 6 as in Chrome, Safari or Opera.
I learned Flash when I was a teen, thinking it would be the wave of the future. Then the iPhone came out with no Flash support, effectively killing it.
WoW. I haven't talked to any of my old guildmates in years. I got server first kills and worked my a*s off to be the top of my game, and it means next to nothing.
I look back on the time I spent fondly and wouldn't trade the experience for anything. But it really does nothing for me.
This is the life of a geneticist.
The field moves quickly with the technology and techniques, but they are all very complex and difficult to learn. More than once in my life, I have poured myself into a specialized skill to be the best in the building, only to have that skill be obsolete the next year.
It never feels that bad, though, because the replacements are almost always faster, easier, and get you better results or else they don't really take off.
Do we need to send BP a link to the definition of “hobby”?
I am a professional fingerboarder.
e: some [footage](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKZpk8ISwsM) lol
I almost didn't watch it because I thought fingerboarder sounded like something rude 😆
I spent half my Army career in various schools learning to repair nuclear missiles. Now I'm doing desktop support and teaching the new guys how to install printers remotely.
Flintknapping. It always was pointless(but not, eh? Get it?) but so much fun
I have a bachelor's degree in Astronomy from one of the world's best universities.
I now work as a software engineer.
My PhD. Its f*****g worthless and im done with academia. Now i work in a corp mindlessly filling excel spreadsheets for twice the money i was paid and i ve never been happier in my entire life.
EDIT: I ve got PhD in STEM, still its f*****g worthless cuz nobody is hiring out here and i dont have some crucial skills to move abroad and get a decent job. Im sick of working overtime for free, deans' stupid policies, falsyfing results. I got a notification on LinkedIn that a financial corp is opening new branch in my city, i applied for "Junior Data Analyst", but honestly all i do is filling excel spreadsheets, making bar charts and reporting anything unusuall.
Strange to see "Excel" and "never been happier" in the same sentence
I spent over a decade learning how to draw, studying design techniques, etc. Tried to work as a professional designer and illustrator and it was terrible and made no money. Now I'm a software developer. Every once in a blue moon it's useful for making graphics, but really just pointless.
I feel the same way with my many years of practicing to draw. I spent a lot of time drawing Archie characters, thinking I would become an illustrator for Archie comics. That never happened. Don't think it will ever. Most of the my artwork was never kept. The stuff I have is not presentable as professional stand point. Tried getting into oil painting and sell my artwork. Did a few commissions but didn't make enough to live off of it by a long shot. It felt icky to charge people for something I make for free for myself. Now, I hardly draw and barely have the energy to paint. I can't even use my creativity at jobs.
Self development books, psychology books, and biographies to find out what the f**k is wrong with me.
One 30second information video about ADHD changed my life. The clouds parted.
I'm now on medication, and living the life I wanted to create for myself by taking a simple pill every morning. It took 37 years, but I'm now the person I felt was locked in there since I was a child. I'm so happy I could cry. Well almost. I still haven't cracked the code on that one, but I'm pretty damned happy. Not to mention a better husband, father and worker.
EDIT:
The tik tok video in question just made me curious about ADHD. It basically said: "Hello you're probably seeing this because the algorithm thinks you have ADHD, look at my channel for more."
I scoffed, because I thought ADHD was something completely different, but I checked the channel out. There was this doctor (I think) listing signs and symptoms of ADHD. The videos made me curious enough to learn more about ADHD, so I took some online tests and read a little about it before contacting my doctor get a proper diagnosis.
I can't find the video itself, I deleted tik tok a long time ago.
Edit 2: If you suspect having ADHD, please get a medical professionals opinion. Do not self diagnose.
Tip: do a little research on your own beforehand, and make a list of the things you have problems with in life that you think can be traced to ADHD. It makes the doctor or psychologists job easier, and might speed up the process.
It could be things like;
not being able to hold a job, pay bills on time, stay in relationships, blowing money on new hobbies every month, not being able to study, lack of impulse control, and a lot more.
There is alot of different types of ADHD, it's a spectre. You can also have ADHD traits without having enough of them to get a diagnosis.
Thank you for stressing that people should not diagnose! I have OCD. I have been diagnosed with OCD. It has nothing to do with being a neat freak, and the next time I hear this, violence is likely to ensue.
Beta -> VHS -> DVD -> digital -> 4k
How many times?
When I was 20 I got a job at an up and coming tech company. 6 months later they went IPO in a big way, and I was worth $2M on paper.
6 months later the market crashed and the stock tanked. Before I was legally allowed to touch the shares
It took me 8 years to get my Chemical Engineering degree. I never worked a single day as a Chemical Engineer. I'm a Data Analyst now.
Sorting and organizing my mp3 collection
I still sort and organize Windows Media Player...I burn CDs and send my old friends a nostalgic mix with their Christmas cards. I love making burned cds. It's like a little window into what I was feeling that day.
moderated a subreddit
Note: this post originally had 40 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.
A lot of these are good life experiences and contributed to what you do now or might do in the future so please don't think of them as wasteful.
I totally agree. I don’t think their definition of useless matches mine.
Load More Replies...
As John Lennon is reputed to have said, time that you enjoyed wasting, wasn't wasted.
As I've often told people who've given me their unsolicited two cents worth, on the subject of whether or not I'm wasting my time, the only opinion that matters is mine.
Load More Replies... Too many of these were not hobbies. Since that's what I clicked, that's what I expected it to be about. silly me.
Late to the game, but..... I have a Master in Anthropology. Never worked in the field. After working in retail and HR ended up working in ICT. EVERY training I did for that is now obsolete. Next I taught myself web dev. Am now working as a hairdresser.
I have a degree in nutrition and dietetics. I don't like that field anymore and I'm trying to get books written and published instead.
Load More Replies...
I'm retired now but was a small animal vet! My dream job, I loved it so much, never got bit or scratched. My patients seemed to know I respected and loved them.
That's awesome, only certain people get to be animal whisperers
Load More Replies... Playing SuperCity and a few other games on FB. It got to the point where you just can't advance in the games without paying into microtransactions. I still have my account, but I don't think I've logged on since last year. Feels like I could have done something more worth my time. Despite enjoying the game.
The only time anything is useless is when you feel like it is. Having hobbies (though none of these really seemed like hobbies) is a great way to decompress and have little capabilities that may come in handy when you least expect it. There is no such thing as a waste of time, only your mindset on how the time was used.
Genuinely one of my few regrets hobby wise is taking a creative writing course at uni. It is a purely subjective subject and to grade it objectively kills the joy in writing making it hard to get back into writing. If someone criticises a fantasy piece for being unrealistic it kind of kills your faith in your writing abilities.
So often employers look at a college degree as a sign that you have the ability to finish what you start, what it's in makes no difference.
The title states hobbies, so of course educations and jobs are added to the pile...
Learning for the sake of learning is time well-spent, I personally feel... I never felt that I was studying at university to "get a job"...
A lot of these are good life experiences and contributed to what you do now or might do in the future so please don't think of them as wasteful.
I totally agree. I don’t think their definition of useless matches mine.
Load More Replies... As John Lennon is reputed to have said, time that you enjoyed wasting, wasn't wasted.
As I've often told people who've given me their unsolicited two cents worth, on the subject of whether or not I'm wasting my time, the only opinion that matters is mine.
Load More Replies... Too many of these were not hobbies. Since that's what I clicked, that's what I expected it to be about. silly me.
Late to the game, but..... I have a Master in Anthropology. Never worked in the field. After working in retail and HR ended up working in ICT. EVERY training I did for that is now obsolete. Next I taught myself web dev. Am now working as a hairdresser.
I have a degree in nutrition and dietetics. I don't like that field anymore and I'm trying to get books written and published instead.
Load More Replies... I'm retired now but was a small animal vet! My dream job, I loved it so much, never got bit or scratched. My patients seemed to know I respected and loved them.
That's awesome, only certain people get to be animal whisperers
Load More Replies... Playing SuperCity and a few other games on FB. It got to the point where you just can't advance in the games without paying into microtransactions. I still have my account, but I don't think I've logged on since last year. Feels like I could have done something more worth my time. Despite enjoying the game.
The only time anything is useless is when you feel like it is. Having hobbies (though none of these really seemed like hobbies) is a great way to decompress and have little capabilities that may come in handy when you least expect it. There is no such thing as a waste of time, only your mindset on how the time was used.
Genuinely one of my few regrets hobby wise is taking a creative writing course at uni. It is a purely subjective subject and to grade it objectively kills the joy in writing making it hard to get back into writing. If someone criticises a fantasy piece for being unrealistic it kind of kills your faith in your writing abilities.
So often employers look at a college degree as a sign that you have the ability to finish what you start, what it's in makes no difference.
The title states hobbies, so of course educations and jobs are added to the pile...
Learning for the sake of learning is time well-spent, I personally feel... I never felt that I was studying at university to "get a job"...
