New technologies appear all the time, and when they do we swap our old tech with bigger and better gadgets. But what happens to the old tech? We often let them fade into history. A good example of this is the landline telephone. Some people still have them in their home but they’re being replaced by cell phones. And it’s not difficult to imagine that in the very near future they will no longer be a household item.
It’s an intriguing evolution that technology goes through. So we thought we would highlight a handful of the technologies that may vanish in the next ten years.
Fax Machines: Don’t you hate receiving or sending faxes? It’s not just you. The fax machine, once the height of gee-whiz technology, is now a pain in the posterior. Don’t be surprised if all our “faxing” in the future is done solely through e-mail.
Newspaper Classified Ads: The Huffington Post fairly recently listed newspaper classified ads as an endangered species. That’s largely due to the online garage sale that is Craigslist. By providing people the ability to advertise their used futons for free, Craigslist provided a fatal body blow to newspaper-classified sections across the nation.
Film-Based Cameras: Digital cameras have transformed the art of taking photos. Once venerable, Kodak has felt the impact of this revolution, and the company is no longer making cameras. Consumers like digital cameras because they can instantly print their photos, and they can dump photos that they don’t like without having to pay a cent. This has significantly decreased the lifespan of the traditional film-based camera.
The Calculator Watch: Remember when nerds everywhere wore calculator watches strapped to their wrists? There was no better way to calculate the tip on that burger and fries. PCWorld, though, recently listed the calculator watch on its list of the 40 biggest losers of obsolete technology. Blame both fashion sense and cell phones. Every cell phone today comes with its own calculator. And fashion sense? Well, those calculator watches never were that alluring.
The Video Arcade: The video arcade could be dying also. Older gamers remember hoarding quarters so they could later feed them into Pac-Man and Space Invaders consoles at their local malls. Those days have ended, though. Gamers today prefer experiencing their video adventures from the comfort of their own homes.