You included “cobbler” only because it sounds old-timey to you, and I was pointing out that it’s not.
Repairing expensive shoes is not an automated process. It’s more like fixing a roof leak, landscaping, or changing a flat tire. Jobs for those things still exist and aren’t going anywhere.
You're nitpicking one of the given examples without engaging the user on the point they were trying to make.
To be nuanced, maybe they might have said, "cobblers are less in demand now that many people have moved from owning fewer pairs of shoes they make last through repair to owning more pairs of shoes that they tend to get rid of when they are worn out due to changes in construction materials used in production," but if people have to write like that to make points, nobody will ever make a point.
It's a nitpick, but a little bigger than that. It's as bad as including "bus driver" in the list. Cobblers just shouldn't be included in the category at all.
Cobblers are in just as much demand in most of the world as they always have been. They only fell out of demand in car-dependent areas, which is a small minority of the world population (but a vast majority of the HN commenting population since most of the USA outside of a few cities is car dependent)
I don't know if it has anything to do with construction but doubt it. If you actually walk everywhere shoes don't last very long these days, especially shoes under $100.
There are a lot of other urban services that exist in almost the entire populated world, but that most Americans think quaint because they are not relevant to a car dependent highway world.
All that said, this really is a nitpick and the original point stands very well. Some of us just don't like it when car-dependent people forget that they are a small minority worldwide and instead treat urban walkable people as the insignificant minority! Or rather, HN being a forum for all things interesting, we find it interesting to make it a teachable moment. What could be more interesting than finding out that something that has always seemed obvious to you is actually backwards?
> I don't know if it has anything to do with construction but doubt it. If you actually walk everywhere shoes don't last very long these days, especially shoes under $100.
By construction, I mean the material and design of shoes people tend to wear. I can't say I've ever met someone who takes sneakers or running shoes to a cobbler and these shoes are more common nowadays.
Those kinds of shoes you mention tend not to last very long at all and are not resoleable. If you walk a lot, you find yourself throwing away the $80 shoe after just 6 months.
These kinds of shoes are most of the market because most people don't walk much in the USA. If you walk a lot, you might still not change anything and keep buying the disposable sneakers, throwing away $160 a year.
But if you walk a lot AND are disposed to think critically about the situation, you find that if you pay a bit more for shoes you can make them last many years as long as you resole them periodically. And as I recall, a good $50 sole on a good $150 shoe costs half as much and lasts three times as long as a disposable $80 sneaker.
Not only do you save money (not really a ton) but it actually is more convenient, since even counting resolings, you get more miles between having to go repair or replace your shoe. And you don't have to wear in your leather uppers again. It is truly a luxurious feeling when you come back from the cobbler and have shoes that are worn in and fit your foot just perfectly like a glove... yet the soles are brand new and strong and comfortable and ready for another thousand miles.
Why do you think there's a stereotype of leather boots being popular in NYC? I'm sure the resoleability and longevity in the face of large amounts of daily walking have a lot to do with it.
No I included it because it used to be a common profession and now it is an extremely niche one. I could have also put chimney sweep in there knowing that it's still a thing.
Someone is still going to pay for a person to perform or create art for them. Some professional driving jobs will continue to exist long after most are automated. When I said "nobody", that's what's known as hyperbole.
Repairing expensive shoes is not an automated process. It’s more like fixing a roof leak, landscaping, or changing a flat tire. Jobs for those things still exist and aren’t going anywhere.