Status Skills, Obsolete Or Not

The notion of status skills isn't exactly new. As Trendwatching's report stated in September of 2006:

"In economies that increasingly depend on (and thus value) creative thinking and acting, well-known status symbols tied to owning and consuming goods and services will find worthy competition from 'STATUS SKILLS': those skills that consumers are mastering to make the most of those same goods and services, bringing them status by being good at something, and the story telling that comes with it."

When I first read that, I interpreted it as a growing, collective desire to acquire new skills. But after reading this Kottke post, I'm revising that original interpretation to include any skill, new or old... er, obsolete. I feel compelled to, because I may know more of these obsolete skills than I do these.